The Next Circle of Hell

Much envy and love for that site. :] Super cool.

Feeling like poo. Tore my hip joint. Am hobbling around like a pirate all day and I'm not allowed to run. GUH! Running keeps me from eating the wallpaper. Perhaps I'll take up yoga. More likely, I'll make a pie.

MUCH LUCK AND GOOD THOUGHTS EVERYBODY!

(((Noompsy))) OW! Pie. I'm definitely voting for pie. Give yourself a chance to heal.

OUCH. That sounds highly unpleasant. I'm sorry! Take it easy!

And really lovely website, MadDabbler!

Beautiful website, Dab. Now I know why I don't construct them. I just couldn't approach such a look and add all the goodies (buttons).

tri

That's a sweet new website, Mad!

Good lord, Noompsy. HUGS.

HUGE hugs, Noompsy. So sorry to hear you're in pain.

Thanks for all the kindness re: my new site. I love it so much it's silly. I keep going back and visiting it and checking to see what I think. It looks like long-term love. Anyway, thanks for all the support. I need to get blogging again!

Nice work, Mad. Verra cool.

Sorry, Noomps Hang in there.

Do you know that sinking feeling you get when you've chosen the wrong paint color for a room, but you keep painting and painting anyway, telling yourself it will dry lighter or will look better in daylight? Current Feelings regarding WIP. Either it's going to dry lighter or I just wasted a WHOLE lotta time.

(((Noompsy)))

(((St22))) Hope it's 'lighter' at the end.

Great website, Mad!!!

st22 -- I hope it dries *much* lighter and look totally fresh in the daylight. I know the feeling, though. Very well. Shocked my socks off to hear one of my beta readers say it's the best thing I've ever written, so sometimes it's just our perspectives.

Thanks JBuck and HillaryJaques! I love the site and totally hero worship the designer. I can't stop visiting it daily. LOL

ST22, oh yes. I know this feeling well.

Put a note to myself in my outline that reads "DO NOT LOOK AT CH 1-4 ANYMORE. THEY ARE FINE!" I'm up to chapter 12 of my WIP. LOL.

I'm completely stuck. I can't go forward and I can't go back.

BTW- can anyone tell me how long you had to wait for editor notes? Is nearly a month insanely long? It seems insane on this end

st22, nearly a month is nothing. I know it's hard not to fret, but the best thing you can do is put it out of your mind and write something else.

Ok, I've done a really stupid thing.
While I've been waiting to hear back on my R&R from agent (for editor), I've been working on my WIP (3/4 done). Anyway, it's been kind of slow going and I've been wondering if I should just throw in the towel on this one because it's been a bit of a headache. Well, while I was all angsty and insecure about the wait for the R&R feedback, I decided to submit the first chapter and synopsis (of unfinished WIP) to a publisher over here (agent is okay with me submitting pubs here myself while she does the US) just to test the waters and see if the story is 'hooky' enough. It's a big publisher by the way and didn't think they'd respond anyway.
Well, they requested the full manuscript a week later and are 'very excited' to read it. Yikes!!!
So, I plan to drink/bathe in coffee and just do a huge weekender to finish the book, then use the following week to edit and read through as many times as the hours allow then friday sub. Phew!
But I feel really bad now for submitting a book that wasn't ready. I know that it's a huge no-no in the publishing world.
Oh well, I guess I should shut up and get to work. It might not amount to anything, but at least I'll have a manuscript in some shape or form at the end of it.
Wish me luck, guys!

Oh, wow, JBuck! That's awesome and terrifying at the same time! I wish you nothing but smooth writing, flawless editing and extra hours in every day. I know you can do this. I hope the publisher is blown away by the work! Good luck!

Hey JBuck,
Same thing happened to Alan Bradley (Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie) and he's a mega-author now! He submitted the first 3,000 words of an unwritten book to the CWA Debut Dagger and won -- then got requests for the entire book and had to whip it up in a hurray. (He sold 6,000 copies a week in Germany alone!!!!)

Go for it and good luck!

JBuck. Your back is against the wall, and lesson learned. You can still pull this off. I had to do it once many moons ago.

tri

Yeah, that's a hard situation, jBuck. Word to the wise, never sing about a great concept to your agent/rep until the (manu)script has at least a full draft for them to read.

*creeps in* Hi, everyone. I'm an incorrigible lurker here, so much so that I feel like I know most of you. I've been on sub for nearly three weeks now. It's not my first (or even second) time, but I've always found it to be a very special kind of agony, which is probably why I lurk on this thread in particular. Anyway--I just wanted to extend my greetings, sympathy, admiration, etc., and to join in a bit more than I have!

Welcome to Hell, Lachrymal!

Welcome to Hell, Lachrymal! It's definitely a great source of encouragement and level-headedness when you (okay...I) need it. This is the most wonderful group of people. I'm glad you've decided to join in!

Always room in the Hellish Sphere. Welcome. Bring plenty of ice cubes and a tall one.

Hello, lachrymal!

Thanks for the welcome, Mario, Peggy, Tri, and Mad! And good luck to everyone on sub next week as we exit the void of editorial silence that is BEA ...

Hi Lachrymal. Welcome! Yes, post-BEA gives me the jitters.

Hi All! I am a long time lurker, but not much of a contributor, but alas I find myself in need of some advice from fellow writers in the next circle of hell. I have been on submission for about 3 weeks, which I know is not very long at all. My agent only submitted to 4 editors, all of which are pretty big-time and she knows them personally and pitched my novel before they requested the manuscript, so she must have a good feeling about them if my first round of submissions is so small, right? At least that's my hope.

My problem is, my agent told me to keep writing while on submission (of course), but since my book is part of a trilogy, the next logical thing to work on is the sequel. I have been trying, desperately, to get focused and I have about 20,000 words on paper, which isn't bad, but then I keep getting side-tracked, thinking "what if the first book doesn’t sell?" because then there is no point in writing the sequel at all (except for myself). I feel like I should be working on something completely new, just in case this doesn't pan out and I need something else to present to my agent to pitch (wow, writing this I realize how paranoid I sound). But I fear if I stop working on the trilogy I will fall "out of character" and have trouble getting back into it if I need to in a hurry.

Any advice would be great! Should I stick to working on the trilogy or write something completely new to distract myself?

Thanx