A love letter to JAlpha...

Actually it's a thank-you note and it's not just to JAlpha. It's to everyone here at the AW Forum, including--maybe "especially" but not in a butt-kissing way--the Forum creators.

Over the past two weeks, I was inspired to write and submit my ms. to an anthology that will be edited by a well-known writer in the erotica genre. It was a difficult process for me because the requested word count (3000-5000) was way out of my previous experience and seemed overwhelming. Also, because I am a procrastinator by nature, I let the call for subs lay around until "later", waiting for the courage to get started.

Finally, I decided to take a chance and... I did it! I finished with 4,580 words (19 double-spaced pages), a properly-formatted ms., and a competent cover letter. I mailed it all with an SASE on Saturday.

It took five drafts (far fewer than my anal-retentive self was comfortable with) for me to get into the rhythmic flow of how my characters wanted to be seen and heard. The last three days were the worst of all. I got about 15 hours of sleep in that whole 72 hour period. I know I nodded off while editing at least twice and almost gave up more than a few times.

But there was something that kept me going, something I saw here on the boards some time ago. It was written by JAlpha and kept popping up in my mind every time I was ready to pack it in. I'm not kidding when I say it kept me chugging along:


"Here's the irony of that statement, I'd put the talented writers who procastinate and don't submit at a very high percentage as well"


So JAlpha, this is for you:

(Here's a link to that whole thread for anyone who wants to read it:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24876&highlight=percentage)

This one is for the AW Forum creators because without y'all, we wouldn't be here. (Uh oh. I'm ing.)


And this one is for everyone else here because I am truly thankful to have a bunch of folks to share with and learn from who understand.

Really, I couldn't have done it without any of y'all.

I'll let y'all know what the outcome is, but like JAlpha shared with me earlier, I've "already won something just by submitting".

Amen.

Thanks everyone for your support.

I haven't heard anything but I feel okay about that. The thrill was even getting it done. I still can't believe I did it.

Now I feel like it was all a dream in which I observed some other writer's life.

Many thanks to everyone. It's wonderful to have a support system, even if it's mostly virtual.


I'm currently re-writing a short sci-fi that I've subbed twice and gotten two rejections. It's not a major re-write. I'm mostly taking out adverbs. (You know who you are and thank you. )

I'm also waiting for a check for a sale, my first of the year.

howdy y'all

I know we're not supposed to double post stuff. I wanted to share an update with y'all so here's the link and I hope it doesn't count as a double post: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21001&page=6

Thanks again everyone.

an update

Hey good folks at Absolute Write! I hope y'all are enjoying the warm summer days and keeping clear of any bad weather heading your way.

I just wanted to drop by with an update on this one...

Can y'all believe I haven't heard a word back from these folks yet? And this is a subsidiary of a major publishing house. I've called and e-mailed but have yet to receive a response. I've also contacted other authors whose work was accepted for this same project and they too have heard nothing after the "congrats" e-mail and the e-mail with the contracts attached.

I've Googled the anthology (and editor) online and it appears that the editor is still working on this project.

I think part of the reason is that the anthology is a part II to an earlier one by the same name. Maybe they don't want to put the second volume out too soon? Or maybe the editor is just swamped and has no clue when the book will go to print. Who knows?

In the meantime, I'm working on my novel and other shorter works.

Hugs everyone,

Bliss

p.s. I just referred someone to this forum cuz I know y'all will take really good care of her here. She's an aspiring writer who works at our local library.

More later...

My apologies.

It's been a while folks but I'm back with an update.

In June 2009 I was notified (by another writer, not the publisher) that the anthology had been published and was on store shelves. And yes, my story was in it.

As I had not received a signed contract, my check, nor my promised five copies, I got on the horn and shot off a few e-mails.

Turns out it had all been mailed to me a few weeks before. Apparently the publisher had not heeded any of my change-of-address e-mails (nor did they respond to them) so my package was misdelivered.

Thank God we were still living in the same neighborhood. My husband was able to track down the package and all was well.

The pay was good for my first attempt at a long short story. However, with only two updates from the publisher in the three years that elapsed, it was a frustrating wait.