It's been awhile since I've updated here (yeah, so much for keeping on top of things), so I thought today would be a good day to get everyone caught up on the life that is mine.
...
And there you have it. Exciting stuff, isn't it? "But there's nothing there," you say.
Yep.
Sigh.
Truth be told, plenty is going on, just not in my writing life. And since this place is all about my writing life and not what I ate for dinner or how much time I spent driving kids to and from school this week, or stories about those two cute pairs of shoes I purchased not too long ago, I have nothing to report.
Noth. ing.
It kinda feels like I've landed in the Twilight Zone, where everything seems fine at first, but then bizarre things start to happen. Like that one where a boy had terrifying mental powers and could kill anyone just by looking at them, so all the adults in the world did everything they could to placate the boy in order to stay alive.
Or that other one where...and then, you know...
Okay, truth be told, that one with the boy is the only Twilight Zone I can remember right now. But the point is, just like that show, nothing in my writing life is "normal." It seems like I'm doing everything backwards. I am currently polishing a presentation I'll be giving at a writing conference, yet I still have no book under contract with any publisher. I am putting a whole lot of time and attention into a high-traffic blog about writing even though my own writing is being systematically ignored (no offence, editors who have it and are not reading it). I feel somewhat like a charlatan. All talk but no substance. You know?
But I suspect plenty of people out there feel that their road to publication isn't "normal" either. But no one talks about it, so we all feel like we're missing something.
Well, I decided it was time to welcome you all into my own little Twilight Zone, in the hopes that it will help all of us realize that normal is way over-rated. I might be doing things backwards, but at least I'm doing something. I've taken the proverbial bull by his proverbial horns, and I'm digging in for the long fight ahead.
I just pray the bull doesn't have any terrifying mental powers that I'm not aware of yet. I'm not sure if I could handle that twist after all I've been through. Or not been through, I suppose.
Sigh.
Wahh Elissa.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain.
Add to your list the sympathy of an author who is 25 books published here in NZ and Aussie and nobody is talking to the hand in your country despite the workings of our (yours and mine) wonderful agent.
And, the first book in the(my) series he’s representing has been: shortlisted for the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards, awarded a Notable Book awarded by the Storylines Children’s Literature Foundation and WON, yes! Won the YA inaugural LIANZA award. The book has been on the best seller’s list and the second, just published is receiving high praise.
Even then, I called the MD of the biggest publisher here in NZ to discuss why my book has only sold a couple of hundred copies in Australia (a land of 21 million) and it's all about 'well, love, you're not theirs. We struggle to get them to even look at our books!' Wahhh again.
I think back to the time when I was doing what you are doing (trying to be a writer with wee kids) and my advice is: Don't give up with the presenting and stuff. It 'gets your name out there'. I am often called to speak at library conferences or teachers' conferences or writery things because I'm willing and good and speaking ['it's shutting him up that's the thing]
And, don’t give up with the writing. Your ‘story’ of the publishing story becomes part of the marketing. Our man would not have taken you if he didn’t see what others obviously clearly see in you – talent!
I've been absent a bit from my blog too. Thankfully I have not been in the Twilight Zone...
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