Etiquette?

Every cushion, mattress, and pillow has been overturned without any sign of the thumb drive with my most crucial MS. Perhaps it decided to sacrifice itself to the writing gods/muses/higher powers. I've started to rewrite the piece, which is coming a lot easier than expected, but now I have another dilemma.

What should I do about the request? If I let it sit for too long there's no doubt in my mind Deb will lose interest in the idea. I would like to send her a note stating my situation, but everything tells me to be professional. Excuses are not professional in my book, so I'm sitting on the fence.

I've read the submission guidelines at the Sourcebooks site, and they state when mailing sending the first four chapters is appropriate, but could I do the same electronically (when I've completed the first four) after a specific request for the full?

I'm about to write this off as a loss, no joke. My first request, and I have little more than nothing. I hope this doesn't brand me a tease in the world of writing. I don't need that kind of rep following me around. :P

~Hetal

Just remember to breath

Oh boy, I've really done it this time. For practice, I decided to post a pitch to Deb Werksman's pitch fest thinking no way in heck was I going to get the formula to attract the editor's attention. I've tried this pitch bit a few times with epic failure, but it seems I might have gotten something right this time. She asked for the full! Eep!

I know I shouldn't let this request cool for too long, but I really want to comb through some pages and make sure I've hit all the elements this time. After my light bulb moment a few days ago, I'm unsure I didn't totally foul up this piece. At a whopping 9 times longer than that short that tripped me up, there's more room for mistakes.

To do:

1. Send Doubt on vacation. Yes, the little hag's still on my back.
2. Get over this cold. For crying out loud, it's been a week! Go away.
3. Read, edit, read, edit, read...you get the picture.
4. Oh yea, eat, sleep, brush teeth, and all the rest of those little things.

~Hetal

Dust off that Manuscript

Knight Agency Agent Nephele Tempest is offering you the opportunity to pitch your complete, ready for submission MS for her "In the Mood for Love" submissions festival. If interested please visit her blog (click on name above) for all the details.
Also, Thursday, Feb 9th, two wonderful TKA agents will be hosting a chat to answer all of your publishing questions. Whether or not you're in the market for an agent, I believe they'll be providing valuable information to the masses.

Good luck!

~Hetal

Getting started with a BANG

I didn't mean that dirtily, for shame! Get your mind out of the gutter.  ;)

What I mean is that I think I've finally accepted that each of my stories doesn't start off fast enough. I've known for some time that I tend to write a lot of exposition in the start, believing that the set up should include pertinent historical details - historical to the characters, not actual history. But it tends to slow the pace down, something I've long ignored and assumed people would overlook due to my exceptional writing (I know, I'm laughing too).

I'm fighting my own nature here, trying to write action interspersed with the internal drama first, then following with the back story. I even wrote a new first chapter last night. Over 3000 words of drama and action...where the hero and heroine have yet to meet. Not good. In fact, if I kept my original script, they would now not meet until the third chapter - a big, huge, glaring no no in the romance industry.

I've read it time and again: have your hero and heroine meet as soon as possible. There are very few editors and agents who will hang on until chapter two or three for the life altering meet, even if the writing is that good.

So now I'm contemplating a brand new chapter one while preserving the rest of the piece. I seem to be working backwards, here, where I should be working forward. I had already mind-plotted (because I'm a pantser not a plotter - much to my own detriment) chapters to insert between chapters, but redoing the beginning was not on my original agenda.

As a result, I'm revising my original "submit MS by end of the month" to "submit partial by end of month". I think I'm breathing a sigh of relief on the inside. I have every intention of completing (after all, what if they like it? I want it ready to send off), while temporarily concentrating on the first three chapters.

I've already decided to target Silhouette Nocturne, but am keeping Dorchester and various epubs in mind, you know, "just in cases".

~Hetal

UPDATE: AAAHHHHH!!!!

So, I received a very polite response from the editor that my story was not chosen for the anthology.  *sigh*  I'll be honest, I kind of suspected as much.  I haven't looked at my piece since my submission, but glaring holes have managed to flash through my mind in the meantime.  I'll be going back and fixing those (and countless others) soon.

To the other chosen authors, congratulations and high fives.  I'm so excited for you all.  :)

Giving it a day, then right back to the writing board.

~Hetal


My nerves are killing me.  I should maybe find out tomorrow whether or not my story is a good fit for that anthology I mentioned before.  I have a feeling I'll be checking my email every hour or so hoping for good news.  But, even if I get the big "R" (the dreaded rejection), I have plans for expanding this novella into a full.  I have the backup, now I need the info.

Fingers (toes and eyes) crossed.  :)