Seven More Years

Waiting For Rejection

So I am all alone tonight.  Kim is off for a night out with the "girls," and Erin has long since fallen asleep to the soothing sounds of Miley Cyrus filling her room.  I probably should have taken the time alone to do something more productive, but I just kicked back with a movie off of iTunes.  I guess I am still riding the, "hey man, I just finished writing a book...let a guy have some downtime!" wave.  It's probably going to be time to pack that excuse away soon, huh?

Even that aside, though, I am really in a weird place tonight.  I'm checking my email at least ten times a day at this point waiting for my rejection from the super-agent I met at Backspace.  It's a strange part of this business that we are so quickly conditioned for rejection.  It's almost a relief in some weird masochistic way to get that little "no thank you" note.  It's like, "Okay, now I can stop lying awake at night pestered by that stupid little optimistic voice inside my head hoping for the best."

Also, tomorrow is weigh-in day for week number four of my new major fitness routine.  I've worked pretty hard this week--both with exercising and with what I've been eating--but still, that flat week is coming.  Either this week or next, I expect to get on that scale and see the same number I did the week before.  Like a draw full of rejection letters, it's just part of the process.  Still, it makes for a pretty sucky start to your weekend.

I've been working on a new article for my main blog but something is just not connecting.  I really like the overall concept, but I can't seem to get it to flow all together on paper.  I am getting pretty close to the point where I usually scrap it and move on.  It's a bit disappointing as I really like the idea...but I've really come to learn over last year or so that I can't force projects like this.  If it's not there, it's not there.

So, that's where I am.  Sitting alone on the couch, waiting for failure to knock my door and let me off the hook.  Damn that sounds depressing...

Breath, Breath...No Need to Panic

So I just got home from my first trip to the gym of the new year (2.13 miles in 30 minutes on the treadmill and four sets of curls just to feel manly, for those keeping notes.)  I popped open the MacBook to write a quick note for the site, and I noticed I had a few new emails sitting in my inbox.

...one unintelligible spam message <DELETE>

...one message from Writer's Digest promising me the secrets to getting published for $159.95 <SHAKE MY HEAD SADLY, THEN DELETE>

...one Facebook request...<FEEL HAPPILY INCLUDED, SAVE>

...a Staples.com flyer <SILENTLY GRUMBLE ABOUT THE BROKEN OFFICE CHAIR I AM SITTING IN, SAVE>

...a response from one of the agents I queried on saturday <COMPLETELY PANIC>

I spent about two minutes staring at the subject line of the email.

First I tried to be all cool about it:  "Oh my first rejection of the batch, that was quick...whatever." 

Then I some hope started creeping in:  "Well, you know it could be good...I've put a lot of work into this and those first few pages are really strong.  Maybe..." 

Then a little excitement: "Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, what if she wants to see more?  What if she wants a partial?  What if this is the first correspondence with my new agent which will grow into a long and rewarding professional relationship where the two of us reinvent the entire fantasy genre???  What if--"

And then the impatient cynic--who really just wants to get back to work--piped up: "Seriously guy, just OPEN THE EMAIL!"

So I did.  And...

<drum roll>

She wants the first fifty pages!!!  Oh my god!  Losing my mind, trying to calm down, really wishing someone was here to jump up and down in circles with me.

For the non-writers out there, this is what we call a "request for a partial."  It is not an offer for representation (so don't get too excited) but it is a relatively big deal.  Basically, based on my introductory letter and short writing sample, this awesome (and clearly quite talented) agent thinks my book is worth considering.  This is only the third partial request I've ever received.

The next step is I'll send in the first 50 pages.  She'll read those and if she still thinks there is something there, she'll ask for the whole thing.  Then after reading the entire novel, she'll make a final decision.  So there is still a long way to go, but this is a very exciting first step.

All right, I need to calm myself down and get back to work.  I'll keep everyone posted on this.

Man, talk about positive reinforcement for spending my lunch hour at the gym.