Quick to No

Okay, first query sent off in 2010, response in 4 hours, "No."
Impersonal response reminding me it's better to "know" than wait for a personal gentle let-down.
Hmmm. Not sure about that. The limbo of querying, in which all is possible for weeks until the reply comes back, was truncated today. After 4 hours, Grace was back in my court.

Time to serve an ace.

This is why having 10 queries out at a time is such a good idea.

5-Year Plan

New Year's resolutions are not enough: I am formulating a five-year plan. I have given myself to the end of January 2010 to design it. I plan to buy a Levenger (great notebook source) 5-Year Diary, so every day will show me not only where I am but where I'm heading.

My last 5-year plan (1980) had a single goal "get a job in the fire service." I accomplished that one in 4 years. Published a book on arson in 1982, joined the Bellport Fire Dept. as a volunteer in 1982; became an editor with the NY Fire Dept. --temp, 1983; full-time, 1984.

What does a five-year plan have to do with Grace at War? Everything! For 2010: have at least 10 queries out at all times; sell the book. See it in print by 2012. Meanwhile, get the new novel ready to send out before November 2010.

I'll post my progress!

Flamingo Poem

For Christmas I wrote a friend a poem. Then I thought blog readers might enjoy it too. So today, thinking of David, who always celebrated the Solstice, and is still doing so as part of the Universe, I suspect, here is a poem about light.

November Evening at the National Zoo

Thin grey light sifts through paddock and cage.
Locks snap shut.
Visitors hurry to the gates, while
wild deer watch in the shadows.

You and I are lost. Again.
Another wrong turn, another mis-read map and
we circle the locked bird house, a dead-end.
Then, just ahead, a vivid cacophony calls us.

On a wave of joy we surge forward.
Dazzled, we drown in a shimmering
flood of flame-pink flamingos,
aglow from within.

At last, surfeited and sure-footed
we find the path to the gate
Pass through it into the dark.

Incandescent.

—Susan Moger

"I encourage you to continue to submit elsewhere. "

That's just what I plan to do! On Queryday, aka Tuesday. For now, on the other weekdays, I am applying everything I learned writing Grace at War to the new novel, the NanoWriMo(www.nanowrimo.org) novel-in-progress. One book feeds the other.

Keeping On

A nice, positive rejection yesterday has generated renewed energy in sending out queries. As my confidants continually point out, I am still in the early days of my selling Grace campaign.

Grace Makes an Impression!

Catherine Adams, http://www.inkslingerediting.com, an editor who read Grace at War in July 2008, wrote this to me recently:

“There have been these strange moments when visions of Grace and her brother have popped up this summer. I've been working on a book about war (nonfiction), so that's probably why. Still it shows how the book sticks--it's those odd compelling images....One of those images that keeps coming back (and remember, this is memory, so it may not be exact) is Grace floating in the water and looking up....It's like I'm there, my ears below the surface of the water, time stopped, only the ripples of the water letting me know that this moment--like everything--will pass.”

Thanks, Catherine!

Won a Contest ... and more!

This came last week:
"Dear Lori, Nikki, Lisa, and Susan:

I am thrilled to announce that the four of you are the winners of the very first Backspace Agent-Author Seminar Scholarship Contest!

The four of you will be receiving a scholarship to attend the 2009 Backspace Agent-Author Seminar, taking place on November 5th & 6th at the Radisson-Martinique Hotel in New York City.

Chris and Karen from Backspace will be in touch with you shortly to discuss the details.

And Joanna and I both look forward to meeting all of you in person in November!

Also an agent requested full manuscript of Grace at War!