Disjointed
This entry is going to be a little all over the place. I feel like I'm coming down with something so my thinking is definitely not linear today.
Mexico
I found a link to a cartoonist's entries. He's in Oaxaca for a year with his family and has written a few thoughts on the conflict going on there.
Austin vs. Dallas
Got back from Austin on Sunday night and I was tiiiired. Not sure I'm recovered even now (perhaps that's why I feel like I'm coming down with something?). The book festival was good, a little heavy on politics, which is to be expected during an election year but not necessarily my cup of tea.
As we left, I felt quite ambivalent about Austin. To be honest, Nate and I have harbored fantasies of moving back to A-town, a city we both enjoyed and where we happened to fall in love and get married. Dallas is very spread out and thus is a car-centric town. In Austin, I was surprised by all the people walking around and on bikes, all the family friendly activities that brought people outside, and I loved that people are just out and about.
The bad side is that it now seems so incredibly crowded. A drive that used to take us 15-20 minutes took almost an hour; after ordering breakfast tacos at Taco Xpress, we waited for more than 20 minutes for our food; getting seated for dinner on Friday night took quite awhile, too. There are just a ton of people there now.
But then there are the odd, Austin moments. Looking over to the table next to us at dinner and seeing John Kerry drinking a frozen margarita; eating our breakfast tacos and seeing some old-school Austinites (aka, hippies) handing out roses to all the people in Taco Xpress. So I'm not sure. I really don't know if I want to live there again or not. There are condos sprouting freakin' everywhere, but our friends, they're always good.
We stayed with great hosts, Bill and Kimberly, and participated in their inaugural dinner for a supper club they've started. We got to catch up with some old friends at Gueros. And we were there for our neice's two year birthday party, which was a lot of fun (unwrapping the presents seemed to be more exciting than the presents themselves). We got back to Dallas and I felt, it's not as bad as some people would have you believe. It's really not that bad at all. We'll see if it grows on me over time (like a fungus, perhaps?).
In more recent, Dallas news, we had a few trick or treaters last night, maybe 10-15, about 30% in costumes. We almost gave away all our candy. I should have given more away at the beginning, I now know. I was trying to be conservative in case we had a lot of kids (three or four pieces per treater) but Nate was giving them bunches and gobs. I should have been more like him.
Lately, I've been doing quite a bit of reading. Since I'm done with the novel for now (unless an agent or editor asks for revisions--if I'm lucky), I've been relaxing and recharging. Hanging out with Nate, watching TV, and reading. I'm gearing up for my next project so I'm reading some other work for inspiration and ideas. I'm waiting for the story to gel and start coming together. I feel that happening. I should be ready to start soon; December, I'm guessing.
Wednesday
And it Begins
I've sent two full manuscripts off in the last couple of days. They went to agents I'd had previous conversations with who said they wanted to see the book when it was finished. Those are agents I'd met through nefarious means. (Actually, I met one at Bread Loaf, and the other is the daughter of a family friend). Those two constitute all of my professional agent contacts. So starting either tomorrow (if I have time; I'm packing for a weekend in Austin for the Texas Book Festival) or next week, I will begin sending out cold queries. That is, letters and sample pages to agents I've never met, and have no connection to.
Decent-case scenario: any kind of response at all. Good-case scenario: a rejection with some feeback or suggestions on making the book better. Excellent-case scenario: you are fabulous; sign on the dotted line.
Wish me luck.
Tuesday
Other Places
After I've left the other cities I've lived in, there have been things I missed. From Miami, I miss the Cuban coffee, the sushi, these little fried balls of meat and potatos I can't remember the name of, and the ocean. I miss the water there, feeling like you're at the edge of the world (or at least the U.S.) and hearing so many different foreign languages as you walk around. I miss feeling like part of the majority.
When I think of Chicago, I miss the Jumping Bean, the cool manhole covers in Pilsen, working at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, and this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that has some freakin' amazing chilaquiles. This morning I was seriously craving those chilaquiles with green sauce. I miss Lincoln Square, the huge park by our last apartment, and riding the el. I miss so many good restauarants you never ran out of choices. I miss friends.
When Nate and I went back to Guanajuato in August, I realized that I'd had several dreams of the Jardin (the central plaza in town; the place in the picture that's just past the steeple with all the trees). I know I've dreamt of walking under those trees. While we were in Guanajuato, I stopped at Truco 7, an old cafe I used to go to all the time. In January, it will be 11 years since I lived in Guanajuato as a student. Sitting in the cafe was interesting because I used to go their all the time to write letters, write in my journal, and try to write, period. It was while I lived there that I admitted to myself I wanted to write fiction. So it was interesting going back ten years later, having finished an MFA degree, having freelance writing and editing assignments, and having recently completed a draft (#5, I think) of my first novel. It felt like coming full circle in a way. Maybe also because I was with my husband and when I visited my old house mother, I was talking with her like another woman, not a student under her care. We talked a lot about family and children and she gave me some advice on being a mother. Her children have all left the house. They're all married and have babies of varying ages. Since I last saw her, I've lived in three different states, been published, finished a master's degree, gotten married. It definitely made me wonder ... what will be different for me in ten years?
After I've left the other cities I've lived in, there have been things I missed. From Miami, I miss the Cuban coffee, the sushi, these little fried balls of meat and potatos I can't remember the name of, and the ocean. I miss the water there, feeling like you're at the edge of the world (or at least the U.S.) and hearing so many different foreign languages as you walk around. I miss feeling like part of the majority.
When I think of Chicago, I miss the Jumping Bean, the cool manhole covers in Pilsen, working at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, and this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that has some freakin' amazing chilaquiles. This morning I was seriously craving those chilaquiles with green sauce. I miss Lincoln Square, the huge park by our last apartment, and riding the el. I miss so many good restauarants you never ran out of choices. I miss friends.
When Nate and I went back to Guanajuato in August, I realized that I'd had several dreams of the Jardin (the central plaza in town; the place in the picture that's just past the steeple with all the trees). I know I've dreamt of walking under those trees. While we were in Guanajuato, I stopped at Truco 7, an old cafe I used to go to all the time. In January, it will be 11 years since I lived in Guanajuato as a student. Sitting in the cafe was interesting because I used to go their all the time to write letters, write in my journal, and try to write, period. It was while I lived there that I admitted to myself I wanted to write fiction. So it was interesting going back ten years later, having finished an MFA degree, having freelance writing and editing assignments, and having recently completed a draft (#5, I think) of my first novel. It felt like coming full circle in a way. Maybe also because I was with my husband and when I visited my old house mother, I was talking with her like another woman, not a student under her care. We talked a lot about family and children and she gave me some advice on being a mother. Her children have all left the house. They're all married and have babies of varying ages. Since I last saw her, I've lived in three different states, been published, finished a master's degree, gotten married. It definitely made me wonder ... what will be different for me in ten years?
Thursday
Changes
More changes in the Stullover household. I mentioned the paint job that's finished in the front room. This weekend, it looks like we're measuring for drapes. I had planned on buying a couch or chairs for that room in November, but now it looks like that might have to wait. Because we bought a car.
Nate's been driving a ten- or eleven-year old Buick for at least the past six years, since before we started dating. It was our only car in Chicago (when we put less than 3,000 miles on it a year) and after we moved back to Dallas, we eventually got a second car. Dallas is a two-car kind of town, unfortunately. Nate's also been working at home for the past two years, so not having a snazzy, dazzy car wasn't a big deal because he hardly drove anywhere. But this past year, we've had to put quite a bit of money into the Buick. It broke down in August as Nate was driving home from the store with a trunk full of groceries. After several hundred dollars of car repair, it stopped running again on Monday. So we said fugget. Nate is now the driver of a new Honda Element, which is pretty exciting. It's the first new car he's ever bought.
In book news, I think the last thing I wrote about was letting people read the book and incorporating their feedback. I finished that draft. I think it took about two-three weeks. Then as I was doing a find and replace for OK (replacing all oks with OKs), I hit save. What I didn't realize was that a bunch of words were affected. So my manuscript now looks like, toOK, jOKe, shoOK, you get the idea. GAH! What can I say, it was late. So I've been going through and correcting my dumb mistake. I have about 200 pages left to read, the changes to input, and then that puppy is going out! I have a list of about ten agents who are going to be my first gauntlet. I'll wait a week or two and send out the next ten queries. So wish me luck. I hope to be finished with inputing the corrections by the end of the weekend. For those counting at home, I am now on draft #7.
More changes in the Stullover household. I mentioned the paint job that's finished in the front room. This weekend, it looks like we're measuring for drapes. I had planned on buying a couch or chairs for that room in November, but now it looks like that might have to wait. Because we bought a car.
Nate's been driving a ten- or eleven-year old Buick for at least the past six years, since before we started dating. It was our only car in Chicago (when we put less than 3,000 miles on it a year) and after we moved back to Dallas, we eventually got a second car. Dallas is a two-car kind of town, unfortunately. Nate's also been working at home for the past two years, so not having a snazzy, dazzy car wasn't a big deal because he hardly drove anywhere. But this past year, we've had to put quite a bit of money into the Buick. It broke down in August as Nate was driving home from the store with a trunk full of groceries. After several hundred dollars of car repair, it stopped running again on Monday. So we said fugget. Nate is now the driver of a new Honda Element, which is pretty exciting. It's the first new car he's ever bought.
In book news, I think the last thing I wrote about was letting people read the book and incorporating their feedback. I finished that draft. I think it took about two-three weeks. Then as I was doing a find and replace for OK (replacing all oks with OKs), I hit save. What I didn't realize was that a bunch of words were affected. So my manuscript now looks like, toOK, jOKe, shoOK, you get the idea. GAH! What can I say, it was late. So I've been going through and correcting my dumb mistake. I have about 200 pages left to read, the changes to input, and then that puppy is going out! I have a list of about ten agents who are going to be my first gauntlet. I'll wait a week or two and send out the next ten queries. So wish me luck. I hope to be finished with inputing the corrections by the end of the weekend. For those counting at home, I am now on draft #7.