This Blog Does Have a Purpose.

Random Thought: I Like Broccoli. I admit it; I do. I also like lima beans, brussel sprouts, and most legumes. I like vegetables in general. I'm one of the few people I know who does.

So the main purpose of this blog is to follow my progress as I attempt to publish my first book. I have a website for my childbirth business, so this blog is specifically focused on my publishing journey. So here goes.:)

It all started Sept. 11th (sorry for the significance of the date, but it's true) 2005, when I woke up--before my infant son which almost never happens--from an amazingly vivid dream that was fading even as I tried to grasp onto it. I went out to my kitchen to jot a few sentences down about it because the idea seemed so compelling. Thirty minutes later I got up from the table with three pages of notes, a chapter outline, and a basic character sketch for the three main characters. It wasn't hardly anything like the dream I had (all of the physical elements changed) but the basic idea was there and was growing like zuccini in my mind. (If you haven't grown zuccini, it totally grows out of control with just a small bit of nurturing from you.)
It started out very small. It was supposed to be one book and all of the names and places, etc. that I had were very simplistic and skeletal. As I started writing I realized that my story had matured into something that deserved better. So I changed a lot of the phraseology and turned my city names into real cities. About this point my characters took over, telling me what they were going to do instead of the other way around. (Ever lost an argument to a character who is a figment of your imagination? It's very disconcerting.)
My 15 year-old brother in law was my first reader and from the first segment that I printed out for him, he loved it! As I approached 80,000 words and realized I was less than halfway done with the story I had a very hard choice to make: one book or two? After weeks (seriously, weeks!) I decided for sure to split it into two and the ending for the first book came so naturally to me that I am so glad that is what I decided to do. (Not to mention two shorter books are way more saleable than one long one.)
I have a wonderful, fabulous, beautiful friend name Stephenie Meyer, who is a very talented writer who schooled me in the basics of publishing and strongly recommended that I try to get an agent. (She also put my manuscript on her agent's desk, but the agent has not even gotten around to reading it. Whatever!:)) But based on her advice, that's what I started doing. For anyone who wants to get an agent, I really very, very heavily on agentquery.com for relieable info. I have to date sent out 106 queries and currently have partials out to 7 agents and the full manuscript out on exclusive to one.
Meanwhile, the sequel (The Cymbals and the Crown) has just passed 63,000 words and is still going strong.:) It is an exhilarating and devastating process. An acceptance makes my day, and rejections, while not depressing, are really discouraging when they start to add up. I've had about 75 so far. But I am trudgind on. Onward and Upward!

Ciao!