Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Oxymorons of Rejection

Cape Cod Weather Today: Started out iffy, but turned into a nice afternoon. Should be a nice sunset...

I received a really nice rejection letter today on my mermaid book. Sounds like an oxymoron, right?

"Really nice" and "Rejection." Talking about the same letter. Oxymoron.

Chris Richman from Firebrand had requested a full near the beginning of the month, and I've had my fingers crossed ever since. Tightly. Painfully.

Alas, although he says I'm a "strong writer" and the story had a "really nice pace"... and despite the fact that he admitted reading the whole thing to find out how it ended for the characters, even after he'd decided not to offer representation, ...it's still a No. He made great suggestions, though, which I hope to get cracking on pretty soon.

Really soon, since he says he has a client also working on a mermaid manuscript, and I just found another mermaid story at the library (albeit from 2005, that I previously missed.)

Soon. As soon as I stop feeling the disappointment so acutely.

The query process itself is laden with oxymorons, and would be a great blog topic. For a day I'm not feeling so deflated, perhaps.

On the bright side, I finished reading Marissa Doyle's fabulous Bewitching Season last night. It's her debut YA novel, and the second follow-up book is out in September. She tells the story of 18-year-old twin sisters in England during the early reign of Queen Victoria; a historical romance where the main characters also practice magic. Neat twist. Very nice writing.

And today, Marissa was the first author to respond to my call for Cape Cod authors on the New England Chapter loop of the Romance Writers of America. I'm a member, although I haven't been to a meeting in a year. The meetings are in Wellesley, for goodness sake. It's a long drive, and over The Bridge on a Sunday. Not fun. But I keep up by lurking via the group loop.

So I'm busy and uber-responsible with my magazine Editor position. Not so much with my career as a famous novelist. But I'll get there.

One oxymoron at a time.

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