Sunday, July 22, 2007

Cross your fingers

I spent the last three weeks or so getting another book proposal finished and in the mail. It's an illustrated journal, a spin-off of Pen on Fire. After Pen on Fire was published in late '04, I began receiving emails from readers who wondered if a journal was in the works. No, I'd say. And then more letters arrived and I started thinking, Hmm.....Maybe there should be.

So I teamed up with Andy Mitchell, a longtime student and illustrator (www.ajmitchellart.com), and put together a proposal. Of course it took longer than I would have liked. Doesn't everything?

But I got it into the mail last week and Delivery Confirmation confirms that the proposal was delivered.

It's a longshot. (Everything's a longshot, when it comes to publishing.) So we're waiting. Crossing fingers and waiting.

And tomorrow I will return to Starletta's Kitchen. In the hours before my son wakes up, that is. (I let him stay up late so he'll sleep in and I can use those early morning hours for writing.)

I feel so far away from the book now, having been away from it since June.

Have y'all read Mosley's This Year You Write Your Novel? I love that book. I should read it again.

How're your projects progressing? Do things slow down for you in the summer?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Oooo... Congrats! I love workbooks like that. Make me feel like I'm back in school (which, to an uber geek like myself, is a good thing).

Found a community on livejournal called "iwrislomo" in which we are encouraged to post our daily word counts. It encourages me to know there are people out there looking to see how I'm progressing (much the same way it did with the writing group). I've been plugging away and making steady, if slow, progress on the amulet book.

I was excited to find out that my partner in crime/designer for my magazine at work is a children's book illustrator! He was just nominated for a national prize for best Latino picture book. He wants to know if I need pictures for my book. ;) We'll see.

I really want to read Mosley's book. Just finished "Writing From the Inside Out" for the first time and I think it may have changed my life.

Anonymous said...

In the summer my work slows to a crawl ... I am a stay at home mom to three very creative, challenging, spirited, cool little boys and they make my days long and hectic. In the last week alone we have suffered a broken foot (from my 7 year old who attempted to repel down the side of the house using a creative -allbeit not very sturdy - rope made of belts. Not surprisngly while his 9 year old brother anchored the belts out the second story window - the belt failed and he fell ...) also a bee sting, a sliced open foot and one asthma attack. I'm lucky if I can brush my teeth ... my work will have to wait until the school year begins again. Bums me out sometimes, but I try to read more (at night when all is quiet), visit your blog, jot down ideas and copy articles that feed me with information. It's not much but it works ... Presently, the 7 year old has been duct taped into the dog's kennel while the 3 boys play "escape" ... must mean my 10 minutes on the computer are up! I love your blog, read it all the time (as well as Pen on Fire) and can't wait to read Starletta's Kitchen AND work through the Pen on Fire companion journal ~ LA

Deborah said...

good luck with the journal idea. I can see you do one for high school and middle school writers too!