Shizzam!
OK, I've probably had too much coffee. I stayed up late last night, until almost two a.m., pushing words across the page. Man, that felt awesome. Last night, I realized that my depression could be alleviated if I just sat down and got some writing done. I think not writing is why I GET depressed. I realize that every couple of months, it seems. Maybe this time the realization will stick.
A friend of mine from Chicago finished a novel last summer and sent it out to various agents. She got rejection after rejection, although they were the "positive" kinds saying things like the writing was excellent but the idea/tone would be difficult to sell. Some of the agents even called her, sort of agonizing over the fact that her book was really good but they just didn't think they could place it. She got discouraged and decided to set aside the novel for a while, work on another project, and then come back to the book with fresh eyes to see if she thought it needed rewriting or scrapping. She's sending it out again now and was kind enough to share her query letter with me.
Damn! That's why I started this entry with Shizzam! Her query letter is short, punchy, gets your attention, and doesn't bore you. My letter is easily twice as long. I'm going to have to rethink things and trim the fat. Luckily, I've sent out only three letters so far but I'm feeling a little silly. There's always something to learn about the business of writing. And improve.
Thursday
Wednesday
Two unrelated, but perplexing, things
1. Our dog Walker has the most odious case of gas I've experienced with a dog. We used to feed him Iams but his gas got really bad. We've switched to Nutro Max and that has seemed to improve gaseous matters somewhat, but Walker still can clear a room. Sometimes, we will walk through a room where Walker has been and will experience a smell so odious all we can do is grab our noses, say "Oh, God," and wipe our watering eyes. We call this walking through a "Walker pocket."
2. The low-rise cut. When low rise jeans first came out, I bought them. I have a pair. I even have a low-cut pair of kakhis. Here is the problem with the plumber's butt cut: everyone sitting behind you gets way too much information. Last summer when we went to a movie in the park in Chicago, a woman sat in front of us with low-rise jeans. We saw her entire ass. I can tell you the brand of her underwear (Victoria's Secret), the color (pink) and the style (thong, natch). During classes at SAIC last year, I saw more thongs and asses than I care to remember. I've got nothing against asses. Just don't want to be mooned everytime I go somewhere you have to sit on the ground. And crack is addictive. Once you start looking, you can't look away.
This weekend, I went shopping for some spring/summer work clothes. I couldn't find pants that weren't low rise, or extreme low rise, or XXX low rise. I was looking at dress pants, too, not jeans. I do not want to show my crack at work, so I bought skirts. I'm still searching for my elusive pants ...
1. Our dog Walker has the most odious case of gas I've experienced with a dog. We used to feed him Iams but his gas got really bad. We've switched to Nutro Max and that has seemed to improve gaseous matters somewhat, but Walker still can clear a room. Sometimes, we will walk through a room where Walker has been and will experience a smell so odious all we can do is grab our noses, say "Oh, God," and wipe our watering eyes. We call this walking through a "Walker pocket."
2. The low-rise cut. When low rise jeans first came out, I bought them. I have a pair. I even have a low-cut pair of kakhis. Here is the problem with the plumber's butt cut: everyone sitting behind you gets way too much information. Last summer when we went to a movie in the park in Chicago, a woman sat in front of us with low-rise jeans. We saw her entire ass. I can tell you the brand of her underwear (Victoria's Secret), the color (pink) and the style (thong, natch). During classes at SAIC last year, I saw more thongs and asses than I care to remember. I've got nothing against asses. Just don't want to be mooned everytime I go somewhere you have to sit on the ground. And crack is addictive. Once you start looking, you can't look away.
This weekend, I went shopping for some spring/summer work clothes. I couldn't find pants that weren't low rise, or extreme low rise, or XXX low rise. I was looking at dress pants, too, not jeans. I do not want to show my crack at work, so I bought skirts. I'm still searching for my elusive pants ...
Monday
Interesting News
My mom got worried when she read the previous post and another friend seemed concerned as well. Figure I might as well tell you guys: I'm still kickin'. When 90% of your life is going well, you can't really complain too much. I would say the 10% that isn't going is well has much to do with my work hours, which are about to change with the end of the season, and that will pretty much put me back on an even keel. So just hang with me, it's not too long now. Two weeks exactly until our last event!
Last Thursday, I heard a lot of news. Some of it I can share now, some of it I might share later if things do end up panning out. But it definitely seemed like an unusual day, like there had been a jam in the universal pipe and all of a sudden things got cleared up and flowed out. Some examples:
I'd sent a couple of chapters to an agent back in January. I knew of him through some mutual friends. A couple of weeks after I sent the packet to him, he sent me an email saying something like, "You're at the top of my to-read pile and I'll get back to you next week." Well, I didn't hear from him. And I just sort of figured, either he got busy or he wasn't interested, and I was so busy myself I didn't pursue it.
He called me on Thursday and said he'd been meaning to get back to me for a while. He said the writing was "very good, smooth, disciplined, and easy to read." But that he wasn't the right person for it because he tends to like dense, more complicated writing that he then has to "work like hell to sell." We talked for a while and I got the impression that he likes to work with edgier material and that my stuff is perhaps too mainstream for him. Then he gave me the name of three editors who are actively looking for work like mine, which I greatly appreciate. And he said he would write them a note telling them he had recommended I send them my chapters. I'm working on query letters this week.
I also got my hair cut on Thursday. I chopped off about 7 inches of hair. I love it.
I've been on a waiting list for a weaving class since January. On Thursday I got a call that there is finally an opening and I started class on Saturday.
I have two meetings this week, which, if they go well, I will tell you about in the next few days. Those also got set up on Thursday.
While I was getting my hair cut, my car got hit in the parking lot of the salon, but no one left a note. My car is now in a body shop, getting an estimate on the damage and I have a rental. (The damage isn't too horrible and the car is driveable. These kinds of things are what insurance is for, right?)
So that was last Thursday. A very busy, news-filled day.
In home news, we've almost finished my office. We are still waiting on some custom blinds we ordered and we have little paint touch ups here and there. Also, we're looking for a rug. But Nate put all the new hardware on the doors and I think my new office looks really snazzy. Perfect environment for my creative goals.
So, life is sweet, and change is on the horizon. The wind is about to change ...
My mom got worried when she read the previous post and another friend seemed concerned as well. Figure I might as well tell you guys: I'm still kickin'. When 90% of your life is going well, you can't really complain too much. I would say the 10% that isn't going is well has much to do with my work hours, which are about to change with the end of the season, and that will pretty much put me back on an even keel. So just hang with me, it's not too long now. Two weeks exactly until our last event!
Last Thursday, I heard a lot of news. Some of it I can share now, some of it I might share later if things do end up panning out. But it definitely seemed like an unusual day, like there had been a jam in the universal pipe and all of a sudden things got cleared up and flowed out. Some examples:
I'd sent a couple of chapters to an agent back in January. I knew of him through some mutual friends. A couple of weeks after I sent the packet to him, he sent me an email saying something like, "You're at the top of my to-read pile and I'll get back to you next week." Well, I didn't hear from him. And I just sort of figured, either he got busy or he wasn't interested, and I was so busy myself I didn't pursue it.
He called me on Thursday and said he'd been meaning to get back to me for a while. He said the writing was "very good, smooth, disciplined, and easy to read." But that he wasn't the right person for it because he tends to like dense, more complicated writing that he then has to "work like hell to sell." We talked for a while and I got the impression that he likes to work with edgier material and that my stuff is perhaps too mainstream for him. Then he gave me the name of three editors who are actively looking for work like mine, which I greatly appreciate. And he said he would write them a note telling them he had recommended I send them my chapters. I'm working on query letters this week.
I also got my hair cut on Thursday. I chopped off about 7 inches of hair. I love it.
I've been on a waiting list for a weaving class since January. On Thursday I got a call that there is finally an opening and I started class on Saturday.
I have two meetings this week, which, if they go well, I will tell you about in the next few days. Those also got set up on Thursday.
While I was getting my hair cut, my car got hit in the parking lot of the salon, but no one left a note. My car is now in a body shop, getting an estimate on the damage and I have a rental. (The damage isn't too horrible and the car is driveable. These kinds of things are what insurance is for, right?)
So that was last Thursday. A very busy, news-filled day.
In home news, we've almost finished my office. We are still waiting on some custom blinds we ordered and we have little paint touch ups here and there. Also, we're looking for a rug. But Nate put all the new hardware on the doors and I think my new office looks really snazzy. Perfect environment for my creative goals.
So, life is sweet, and change is on the horizon. The wind is about to change ...
Tuesday
Almost There
I think I've been a very boring person lately. All I've done is work, complain about working so much, or sleep to try to recover from work. Not too much fun. But, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have only four more events in the next three weeks and then we are done for the season. One of those events is tonight.
The events themselves are almost always interesting or funny or both, but the hours are hard. About two weeks ago, I was really tired from all the late hours. I woke up on Saturday morning and didn't get to sleep in because Walker keeps puppy hours and he usually wakes up between 7 and 7:30 a.m. I got up because Nate had some family in town and we needed to clean the house, go shopping, and get ready for the dinner we were having for them. So we ran errands and cleaned and all day I had a headache that got steadily worse and I felt pretty dizzy. By the time dinner rolled around, I could feel my body sort of saying: That's it for you, lady. You keep treating us like this and we will shut you down. We served dinner and I think I had two or three bites before I couldn't eat anymore. My stomach couldn't take it. Then I had to go lie down because I felt sick. I excused myself, made my apologies, and felt like a horse's ass. But then I had to get out of bed to puke, so I know I did the right thing instead of staying with the party and getting sick at the table (imagine the dinner conversation!). Still, I've never been so exhaused that I threw up before. Luckily, those hours are behind me. I'm still very busy at work, but not vomiting busy.
This past weekend we painted my office. It's a very bright turquoise sort of blue. Nate says it "glows" but that it's also soft "like birthday cake." I don't know if that's good or bad but I love that color. I have three windows in my room but they're all in the shade of an enormous oak tree so I don't actually get much natural light. This glowing color makes it seem bright in there even if it's not.
So other than painting my office, I'm sort of waiting for my life to return to "normal." Or, at least, normal working hours. Then I think I'll be able to have a regular writing and workout schedule again. Wish me luck.
Edited to tell you that Nate has a picture of my office-in-progress on his site. Also, you can see how Walker, at 8 months, is now bigger than Sophie. Look at the May 3, 2005 entry.
I think I've been a very boring person lately. All I've done is work, complain about working so much, or sleep to try to recover from work. Not too much fun. But, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have only four more events in the next three weeks and then we are done for the season. One of those events is tonight.
The events themselves are almost always interesting or funny or both, but the hours are hard. About two weeks ago, I was really tired from all the late hours. I woke up on Saturday morning and didn't get to sleep in because Walker keeps puppy hours and he usually wakes up between 7 and 7:30 a.m. I got up because Nate had some family in town and we needed to clean the house, go shopping, and get ready for the dinner we were having for them. So we ran errands and cleaned and all day I had a headache that got steadily worse and I felt pretty dizzy. By the time dinner rolled around, I could feel my body sort of saying: That's it for you, lady. You keep treating us like this and we will shut you down. We served dinner and I think I had two or three bites before I couldn't eat anymore. My stomach couldn't take it. Then I had to go lie down because I felt sick. I excused myself, made my apologies, and felt like a horse's ass. But then I had to get out of bed to puke, so I know I did the right thing instead of staying with the party and getting sick at the table (imagine the dinner conversation!). Still, I've never been so exhaused that I threw up before. Luckily, those hours are behind me. I'm still very busy at work, but not vomiting busy.
This past weekend we painted my office. It's a very bright turquoise sort of blue. Nate says it "glows" but that it's also soft "like birthday cake." I don't know if that's good or bad but I love that color. I have three windows in my room but they're all in the shade of an enormous oak tree so I don't actually get much natural light. This glowing color makes it seem bright in there even if it's not.
So other than painting my office, I'm sort of waiting for my life to return to "normal." Or, at least, normal working hours. Then I think I'll be able to have a regular writing and workout schedule again. Wish me luck.
Edited to tell you that Nate has a picture of my office-in-progress on his site. Also, you can see how Walker, at 8 months, is now bigger than Sophie. Look at the May 3, 2005 entry.