The Rainbow

My life has undergone some serious changes lately. My son graduated from high school, I’ve been considering a major career switch, and the focus of my writing sharpened to finding an agent. So imagine my disappointment when the first rejection letter came.

“Not accepting new clients. Good luck with your writing.”

Ouch. Short and to the point.

Following that came a second letter, this one much more detailed but a rejection all the same.

“Quality writing, great plot, but not able to represent you at this time. Good luck with your writing.”

Double ouch. Added to the emotional turmoil of seeing my baby finish high school, these setbacks left me blubbering and crying out to God.

That’s when He reminded me about the rainbow. The promise it holds goes far beyond the absence of rain. A picture of hope and beauty, it reminds us of God’s faithfulness, His timeless, unchanging love, His magnificent ability to alter nature. If He would trouble Himself to bend water and light in such a way that I am reminded of His promises, why do I think that He would fail to hold my hopes and desires in the palm of His hand?

The problem is my timing is not always His. I’ll keep doing my part. I’ll send out the proposals and query letters. In the meantime, I’ve got to learn to leave the results of those letters up to Him. After all, He’s much better at handling them than I am.

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The Graduate

Meet the love of my life. No, I’m not talking about Dustin Hoffman. I’m talking about my son, Ben.

Ben is a senior this year. Along with all the things that accompany his last year in high school, I’ve spent hours filling out scholarship applications, college applications, ordering senior photos, graduation announcements…the list goes on.

I wish I could say it’s been fun. In fact, it’s been a whirlwind of emotions, activities, and responsibilities. I know I’ll look back on this year and remember it with fondness. Maybe. Right now, I’m just praying I’ll survive it (grin).

For those of you wondering if I will get back to my thread on agents, don’t worry. I’ve got one more week to go before school is out. After that, we’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming.

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Mother's Day

My mom is special.

She raised five girls all in the same house, with only one bathroom. She worked. She cooked. She cleaned. AND she came to all my high school plays, ball games, and competitions. She cried for me, loved me, held me when my son died, and cheered when my daughter was born.

My mom is special.

She never finished school, but she taught herself to speak English and became a Migrant Director helping other kids learn English as well. She worked hard, sometimes at two jobs, so that she could help my father provide a home for us and a few extras as well. She went to church on Sunday, kept up a garden on Saturday, but was never too tired to help a neighbor any day.

She remembers my birthday, my sisters’ birthdays, the grandkids’ birthdays (all fourteen of them) and all of her sons-in-law birthdays. She’s retired now, but she still sews, gardens, works at a church pantry, and makes her own Christmas gifts.

I love my mom. This year, I really want to tell her how much. After all, she deserves it, because…

My mom is special.

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I've Been Tagged by Jessica F.

Kids will be kids. . .and so will adults.

There I was, sitting on my couch, checking email, when WHACK! Something hit me.

What was that? I wondered innocently.

WHACK, WHACK!

There it was again. . .and then I knew. Jessica F. had tagged me! Not only that, she’s been hiding out, so I guess you can say she’s been playing hide and seek as well as tag. LOL! Okay, Jessica, here are my eight simple facts. And now, let’s see how fast you can run. . .

Here are the Rules:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

2. Players who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.

3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read read your blog.


Okay, so here are my eight random facts:

I’ve always wanted to do something really daring, like skydiving. Or belly dancing.

In high school, I was a band geek. Actually, I was the queen of the band geeks because I was drum major.

I’m not afraid of the dark, but I am afraid of snakes, spiders, sharks, and really big dogs whose name is Cujo.

My favorite movie ever is The Princess Bride. Scratch that, it’s Ever After. No wait, it’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman. What was the question?

When I was eight, I wanted to go to Hollywood to be a movie actress. Or was that yesterday??

I’m staying up late writing this because my son is at his senior prom and even though he is eighteen, a mom never stops worrying.

I hate ironing. Literally. If I could, I’d avoid it by throwing clothes away and buying new ones.

I love to travel. My dream is to spend a month traveling across Europe.

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Query, Query, Query

So I’ve decided if I ever want to sign with an agent, I’m going to have to get off the couch and actually start looking. Part of that process involves doing a bit of research. Each agent or agency has their own specific guidelines for submission. Is there a way to narrow it down, target specific agents, say in the CBA?

Yes.

One link I found particularly helpful is: http://www.christianwritersinfo.net/tips7.htm

This informational website lists several CBA agents, their websites, contact information, and much more. This site alone gave me the names and addresses of seven agents I wanted to submit a proposal to right off the bat. A quick glance at their submission guidelines, and voila! I have eight query letters sitting with eight different agencies as we speak. Tomorrow, I’ll finish off the rest, and hopefully have some answers back beginning next month.

A word of caution. . .not all agents want you to email them a proposal complete with sample chapters and author bios. Some of them request that you query first. If they are interested, they will request a proposal. Be very careful to adhere to their guidelines, since you don’t want to start off making a bad impression.

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