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Monday 7 June 2010

A series of (unfortunate?) events linked very loosely together

Well, after a long and exhausting weekend involving house-hunting, I've returned to the blogger-world. House-hunting is so much fun, but also very stressful because there's so much you have to think about, you have to face the possibility of loving a house but not being able to get it, you have to face that all-important fear of what if I can't find a job? and so on. 

Conclusion? Being a Real Adult in the Real World is scary. Personally, if an agent would get back to me, say he/she loves my novel, wants to represent it, and somehow wrangles me into a situation where I can be a Real Author Who Lives in Fictional Worlds, I'd be very happy.

Fingers crossed. Still haven't heard back from anyone who has my manuscript. When does it become okay to write in and say 'just making sure you received it...'? After eight weeks? I'm not quite there yet!

I bought another load of books last night, and am so excited to get to them! Well, actually, Steve bought them for me, which made me very very happy. Ah, he knows me too well. Among them were two books I've already read before, but don't own: Agatha Christie's The Labours of Hercules and Georgette Heyer's A Civil Contract. If anyone likes mysteries and a nice dose of humour (Christie), or historical novels and a sweet and also bittersweet love stories (Heyer), I'd highly recommend these!

Lately I've been doing more revisions on ECHOES and writing bits and pieces of HALF and TEA WITH DEATH, DESIRE AND RAGE. In an earlier post, I mentioned my dilemma about going back to ECHOES when I'd already worked it to the bone and it was out on submission. In the end, I decided to make the small revisions that were keeping me up at night, just because if I felt that made the story tighter and better, it had to be the right thing. I've resisted the urge to pick at things too much, though, so as not to lose the book entirely.

I guess that means that while I haven't quite achieved the frenzied writing state I usually work best in, I'm not living in my totally dry spell anymore either. So, woo!

Monday seems a strange day to reflect back on things that have been happening of late, but apparently it's what I've done. Ah, well.

10 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about it being hard to resist the temptation to keep picking. *raising hand* Sometimes I have to strap my wrists together! :)

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  2. Yeah, being a fake adult in the real world is pretty scary too. But it has it's advantages.

    I'll leave the business of being a real adult to them that wants it. ; j

    So what kind of house are you looking for?

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  3. I should probably strap my wrists together too, Jessica, it's ridiculous how nit-picky I get.

    Hi, Alesa! Yeah I'm tempted to revert back to fake adulthood!

    We're just looking to rent a place we like, we don't really have any big fixed ideas - just anything we love, really. It's got to be fairly close to where Steve works too, but that's really the only requirement :) Think we've found one we want, actually - only question is, will we get it? Here's to hoping!

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  4. Nodnod, being close to where you work is invaluable! I used to be able to run to and from work in 20 minutes, I loved that.

    Well, for what it's worth, I'm right there with you hoping for you guys to find an ideal spot. : j

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  5. Oh dear house hunting can be sooo stressful...although fun, too. Tiring, mostly, especially after, say, house nr 3 or so.

    I think most agents/publishers give you an approximate response time? Don't succumb to temptation and ask after your manuskript before that time has run out!!

    As for picking at everything, at least you get something done and then pick it to the bone. I write a chapter and pick, pick, pick away at it...not very constructive, but I can't seem to help myself.

    *sigh*

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  6. Ugh, nitpicking a MS is SO freakin' draining. I didn't realize I was nitpicking mine until several weeks ago - when, yanno, I realized there was NO forward momentum! Got plenty of that now, doing the pantsing thing, but I'm so worried that when it's REVISION time, I'll nitpick myself to a bloody pulp. Ack. Good luck on the house hunting - sounds like it's a stressful parallel to waiting to hear back from the agents. I cringe when I try to imagine how I'll cope with all that waiting. Sigh. Hugs!!

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  7. Being an adult is scary. I'm 36 and I still don't feel like an adult! And I so feel your pain about house-hunting. It's a horrific task - almost as bad as querying!

    I've heard that you should hear 'nos' from at least 25 agents and then maybe reassess your MS or query. Good luck!

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  8. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the pair of you! Being an adult? I don't think it applies to me, I'm 43 and still waiting for maturity to set in.
    I'm going to have to give Georgette Heyer a try, the covers always look a bit lame to me so I imagined twee romances.
    Vix
    xxx

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  9. I adore Georgette Heyer so much. A Civil Contract is one of my favourites but it's not to everyone's taste, nor is it particularly typical of her other works. Must have a reread of it though.

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  10. I think I was 30 before I felt like an adult, and 40 before I felt like I was any good at being an adult. So, never fear... you have plenty of time to get into it!

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