Rejection

So if you're in the query trenches, like me, you know one thing....

It sucks.

I cannot wait for the day where I can burn all my query letters - after I frame/hug/kiss the version that landed me my agent.

Anyways - I started a new ritual, and so far it seems to be helping a little.

The other day I got rejection on a full. Wah wahh wahhh wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I was glum.

Then, half a day later, I get a new request for a full.

Woohoo! Party times! Yay!

THEN that same hour - rejection on a partial.

Lame sauce.

My I-just-got-a-full-request dance stopped, and I pouted. For the whole night. I even thought "Well eff this noise - I'm not going to be a writer. I'm going to be a dancer. Or a comedian. Or a pastry chef."'  Then once I realized how long it takes to actually become a pastry chef, not to mention the fact that I can't really bake, I started scratching down a new story idea.

Anyhoo - let's move along, shall we?   So. I'm lurking on the WriteOnCon panel of the pros and an agent somehow describes my manuscript PERFECTLY. She says, and this is a copy and pasted quote from the chat, that she wants "Something contemporary with romance, maybe a twist of magic or something paranormal, but not too over the top"

!!!!!!!!!!!

So naturally I send her my query letter, quoting her in the beginning, and BAM. Full request.

Happy dance ensues. *  I kind of do this thing where I put my hands behind my head like I'm relaxing, squish my face, and put one foot up on an elevated object....then I kind of do this pelvic thrusting thing and i say things like "oh yeah"  and  "you're the champ".   It just as unattractive as you are imagining. *

This time, I write a quick "you're so awesome" note to myself, and take a picture of my smiling face.

Yesterday I got a second pass on my full BUT I reread my awesome note, recalled my sweet dance, and looked at my excited picture.

I  do not feel like a failure.

I'm not glum.

I'm awesome.

So.....to summarize this blog post, I've included a meme of the dashing Neil Patrick Harris.

Sun, Contests, and Gordon

Hey girl heyyyyyyyy (or boy- boys read blogs too)


So summer, august in particular, is known to be kind of a slow time to be querying. But you know what it's an EXCELLENT time for?

Contests!!

So far I've participated in #XmasinJuly, which was incredible. I was on team Michelle and she critiqued my query (and made it way better) and my first pages. I even got a full request out of the deal!!

Right now i'm in MSFV First Line Grabber. I made it past the first round with around...60 yes' and 20 no's. So that was exciting! Next round is the first three sentences which I'm a tiny bit concerned about. I feel like it's a little wordy - so I guess we'll see :)

Hahaha * sidenote *  I'm watching Hell's Kitchen and instead of saying goodbye, he ALWAYS says Fuck Off. I love him.

I've also entered my first 450 words in the Aspiring Author contest. The winner gets $1000 based on votes accumulated for the top five. How sweet would that be *mexico writing retreat* Short list gets posted tomorrow so it's a nice, quick wait.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Defy the Dark contest held by HarperTeen and Figment.com. It's running until Sept. 1 so you still have time to get your entry in! All you have to do is write a short story between 2-4k that takes place in the dark. It's for a YA anthology with some of the biggest YA names out there, so obviously your entries have to be PG-13, but they can be any genre!

How fun!

Here is a link to mine if you want to check it out.

http://figment.com/books/406061-Slim

The only downside is once you hit "Publish" you can't fix any unnoticed grammar errors, so please check your work carefully and don't point out my glitches or it will drive me mad.

Anyways. I'm back to stalking agent's twitters and refreshing my e-mail.

peas.