Still Waiting...

One word of advice to would-be authors: If you're not a patient person, consider a different career. Nothing moves very quickly in the publishing world. It's like being pregnant for three years instead of nine months. You write a story, send it to a few agents, and then you wait. And wait. And then, miracle of miracles, the agent says "yes, I'll represent you." And then you scream and dance around the room, and then you wait for a contract. Then you sign the contract, send it back, and then you wait for your agent to send your manuscript to publishers. And then the real waiting game begins, which is where I'm at in all this madness. A few weeks ago my agent met with Editor X at Book Expo (BEA) about my children's picture book. This is what my agent had to say in an e-mail about their meeting:

"She likes the book as she told you, and she really "gets" it, loved the newspaper story from which it was developed. She has not however yet read the revision, due to her commitments to get everything ready for BEA itself. We definitely had a great impression of her as a person, both Linda and I liked her very much, she is enthusiastic, pragmatic, sees and understands the story in the marketplace. We wanted you to know all this news which we feel is good."

I like good news just as much as the next girl, but now I'm here, still waiting. I'll let you know when the waiting game is over...

Flu Reading

I spent all last weekend in bed sick. Not a pretty sight, was I. Reading Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (http://susanbethpfeffer.blogspot.com) while in the throws (no pun intended) of the stomach flu may not have been the best idea, but I did it anyway. Hey, I was already feeling like I was going to die, so why not throw in a little end-of-the-world reading as an escape? So, in between trips to the bathroom, when I was actually feeling like a human, I experienced, through 16-year-old Miranda's journal entries, what life would be like if an asteroid hit the moon. This may be a bit of a spoiler, but let me just tell ya, it's no picnic, folks. In an instant, the world changes forever. Millions of people on both coasts (and of course, in other parts of the world) are wiped out by tsunamis and earthquakes. Then volcanoes start erupting, and volcanic ash covers the sun. All the while, Miranda keeps her journal, which goes from being a typical teen-ager diatribe on parents, dating, friends, and the like, to a minute-by-minute fight for survival. Pfeffer so perfectly nails the voice of her protagonist that I was totally drawn into Miranda's world, cheering for her family as they lived like pioneers in modern-day Pennsylvania. A thought-provoking journey, to say the least. Almost made me thankful that all I was doing was puking my guts out and not experiencing the end of the world (although at the time, an asteroid to the head would have been welcome). Highly recommended reading for all those who want to experience contentment in their present circumstances.