As the title says, I need to share some good news about my writing. I spent several weeks reading through the draft of my romance novel, making corrections, filling in gaps, and generally tweaking anywhere that tweaking seemed necessary. I decided I was about ready to contact an editor and cross my fingers that they might want to work with me. I had two different teams/companies in mind, and decided to try the smaller outlet first. We exchanged friendly and informative emails, and then I sent them about 20 pages for a sample edit. They got through 14 pages in that first hour, and provided good and reasonable feedback.
We signed a contract last week — YAAAAAY!!!!!!
I’m going back through the manuscript again before sending it to them–first, to rework some of the part that they read, and second, to take one more chance to smooth out any remaining rough spots before giving it to them. I said I’d plan to clean up the first five chapters, then send that to them so they can dig in. I’m currently into chapter four, and it’s Thursday evening, so I’ll be submitting the five chapters sometime this weekend.
They have assured me my writing is not garbage, and this has bolstered my confidence a great deal. I had hoped to publish by the end of the year, but I don’t think that’s realistic at this point. However, I fully expect that I’ll have the book done–at least the Kindle ebook posted on Amazon–early in 2019. I know it’s hard to believe me when I say that, since I’ve been working on this novel for-ev-ah, but one of the reasons I contacted an editing team is, even if I don’t have firm deadlines with them, the fact that we have a contract and an actual professional relationship will force me to prioritize my novel over a lot of other “free time” activities. It is already working, in that I’m watching less television: I’ve cut down on my cable news consumption somewhat, and I don’t think I’ve looked at any of this fall’s new prime time shows. Also, NaNoWriMo is coming in a few weeks, which means in-person writing events and online encouragement from other Topeka writers. Instead of trying for “new words,” I’ll be going full-steam ahead on my edits. I can’t wait!
A couple quick notes about “the usual chaos” I mentioned in the title:
Kyle is in his first semester at Washburn University, and so far, so good; just ordered a calculator tonight that he needs before his math test next Tuesday;
Ryan is a junior, and has been running cross country, so his sports-related events are keeping us busy, of course;
Ryan had his last appointment today for his invisible braces, and they gave him his first retainer; I’m glad we won’t have any more dental appointments for him for a while;
October is open enrollment for health insurance through work, which of course means looking at all the different plans and vendors, comparing co-pays and deductibles as well as how much will come out of our checks every two weeks, going back and forth with Jeff about all the options, and ultimately making very similar choices to what we already have this year, but that feeling when I make my selections and submit them is like I’ve climbed a mountain and can finally rest;
and I could list ten or more other things, but instead I’ll just say that I am binge-watching a show for what might be the first time in my life, and it’s because Kyle got hooked on it and convinced me to try it, so now I watch it with him, and how can I say no when my child wants to spend time with me? It’s The 100, a show I’d heard of but didn’t know anything about. We’re four or five episodes into season three, and sometimes it’s confusing, with all the different characters and people switching allegiances, plus it’s set in the future–but I really like it. We’re going to watch our next episode tonight, as soon as I finish this, but then no more for me until I get those five chapters submitted to my editors!
In closing: be kind to yourself, because I’m sure you’ve earned it–and watch this space for more updates about my novel!