The Boston Marathon bombing was a horrendous tragedy, and plenty of folks more eloquent than I am have expressed their thoughts much better than I ever could. Why’s that? I write romantic comedy. I don’t do well with dark moments, tears and a heavy heart. My whole family’s like that. Read more…
Now I remember why I’m so glad to be off the dating scene. Rejection hurts. A lot. I’m sure I’m not the only one to equate the search for an agent to the search for Mr. Right — but it’s an apt comparison. You try to make a good impression Read more…
An e-mail arrived in my inbox today with the subject line: “Your Submission: …” Since I was at work at the time, I had an argument with myself. “You can’t open that! You’re supposed to be working,” the me with the Midwestern work ethic said. (It’s the same me that Read more…
After reading agent Nathan Bransford’s blog post on the importance of having one-sentence, one-paragraph and two-paragraph pitches ready for your novel (you never know when you’ll run into your Dream Agent in an elevator, after all), I decided to take a stab at crafting some of my own. One sentence: Read more…
The hits just keep on coming! That’s right. About 30 minutes ago, I put the finishing touches on the expanded draft of Bree & Mike’s story. It’s 56,000 words (on the shorter side of category romance, but still within the bounds) and will probably grow as I edit. Of course, Read more…
I got another rejection from an agent this morning. I’m beginning to think I need to set Brad & Erin aside and start querying on something else … I wonder if “Blind Date Bride” ready for the big-time? I know: If I have to ask, it probably isn’t. Today, I’m Read more…
My time away from the day job, fortunately, has not meant a vacation from writing. I must say I haven’t gotten as much accomplished as I’d hoped: A couple thousand words written in editing mode and three rejections received from agents. Still, at least I’ve been getting something done. That’s Read more…
How long am I allowed to wallow in disappointment before it morphs into full-blown depression? Right now, I can’t seem to concentrate on anything more taxing than a box of Chicken McNuggets chased with a carton of Ben & Jerry’s. I’ll give myself the rest of the night to sob Read more…
My heart picked up speed when I checked the caller ID and saw a number I didn’t recognize. It raced a little faster when I flipped open the phone. “Hello?” No, it wasn’t someone from the Golden Heart committee calling to tell me I’d finaled. It was Sean, from GoDaddy.com Read more…
… But somewhere between sitting in traffic for an hour and driving up I-17 at 20 mph, I forgot what I wanted to say. Maybe it’ll come back to me for a future post. I didn’t get a lot of writing done these last couple of days. I did, however, Read more…