Thursday, July 13, 2006

Insomnia sucks.

What does not suck is the letter I recieved yesterday from an agent requesting the first five chapters of my novel.

Yippee!

10 comments:

Uncle Zoloft said...

Congratulations on the novel! What's it about?

I have been waking up at 4:30 for the past week. My time clock has been on and off for the past two years. You've got my sympathy.

JanetLee said...

Thanks. The novel in a nutshell is about a young woman's descent into and rise out of an abusive relationship.

Insomnia. I've struggled with it on and off all my life. I work nights, so I keep a tight rein on my sleep habits in order to stave off problems. But with holiday and a co-worker out with a broken ankle, I am working odd shifts and it is wreaking havoc.

Unknown said...

I'm excited for you! Congratulations. I'm sorry about the insomnia, though. Any chance it's related to the news?

April said...

Congratulations! (on the novel, not the insomnia)

April
http://www.meretrice.com

Anonymous said...

That is so exciting. Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the agent! Exciting!

Anonymous said...

Congrats Joan on the novel achievements. I have often wondered about publishing, but since I don't write very much that will not happen for a while.

As to the insomnia, I can relate as I think I was up at the same time...mind reeling, and unable to think coherently all at the same time. Let us know when it publishes so we can all run out to promote and give positive reviews for you on Amazon.com! :)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the novel! That's fantastic news.

Anonymous said...

Very fun news! Best of luck with the process! I'm curious - when this happens, does it help motivate you to write more?

Sorry that I couldn't make it on Thursday evening - it looks like everyone had a really nice time.

JanetLee said...

Thanks everyone. I'm glad I got that as one of the first letters back as I have received five "no, thank you" letters since then.

Don't look for it at Barnes & Noble soon, next step is to see IF this agent likes the five chapters. She may decline or want to see the entire manuscript. Then IF she wants to represents me, she tries to sell the manuscript to an editor at a publishing house. Then IF an editor likes it, he/she pitches to something like a 'new aquisitions' committee. IF they all like it, they will make me offer. Then IF the project survives the in-house editing process (and the editor doesn't switch jobs in the middle of the process, leaving me orphaned), then the book will be published. From where we are right now, if everything goes right, it could be two years to see a copy on shelf.

Pam- it doesn't so much 'encourage' me to write more, but the bleak prospects for any new writer spurs me to just continue plodding along. I'm working on the next novel, slowly, but you have to keep moving.