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.
Wednesday
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.
Speech Police
How do you make sure everyone agrees with you? Have them arrested if they don't. A man gets arrested for criticizing Cheney.