Long Time, No Blog

Have you been waiting on pins and needles for me to finally post? Have you been refreshing your page every five minutes hoping something would change? Has the tension been driving you crazy? If you can answer yes to any of these questions then you know how I've been feeling for the past 6 weeks waiting for the agent to get back to me. And after 6 whole weeks of being completely stressed I can finally say..........I still know NOTHING!! I've been putting off posting because I really wanted to be able to tell you something about it, but I can't put off posting anymore! So here is our past month and a half in cliff notes version:

I finished the fall semester of school getting A's in both of my classes. Sammi and Noah got on the honor roll at their school. The week before Christmas, Mike's grandpa Swain passed away. So throwing everything to the wind, we took an extremely quick trip to Colorado so he could be buried next to Grandma Swain.

The kids had a good time playing in the snow.

It was really great to see Mike's Uncle Spike and his cousin, Kyle.

Meanwhile, my mom and Glen, Sean, and Ryan, Wyatt, and Jason, Tiffany, Keyth and Annabella were all at my house partying without us! What compassion! LOL! We got back on Christmas Eve and were still able to visit with everyone. It was really great having everyone together. We got a Wii and Rock Band for Christmas. The whole family got their groove on!!

My sister Stephanie came for Christmas too with her two boys. My dad had all his children together so we took a huge family picture complete with Grandpa in it too!

Dad had all his grandchildren all together for the first time....EVER! So we took lots of pictures, Grandma would be so proud.

Look how many kids my dad has!! This isn't all my bros though, on my mom's side I have 4 more half brothers! So after the excitement of the holidays, things are finally getting back to normal...kind of!! School started again for the kids and I. We built a new room onto the back of our house. A friend of mine, Jennie Mercer, moved in with us for awhile. Sammi got a homework award at school. Mike has lost about 10 pounds since Christmas. After sinus infections, upper respiratory infections, and pink eye (that was just Mike and I!) we are all finally healthy and feeling good. I'll try to be better about updating now! (I say that everytime, don't I?) Thanks for bearing with me!

Another Agent Requested my Manuscript

My manuscript is now at the hands of another agent that wants it exclusively for four weeks. This agent also happens to be the agent of my friend Jenni James. Having friends in the business definately helps! Hopefully her agent will either be interested or be able to refer me to someone that might be.

It's crossed my mind that some of you might not know the process for becoming a published writer. It's something I've had to research extensively so now it doesn't seem so daunting to me. I will try to give a quick overview of the process. First you have to write a book. That is easier said than done! For the past five years, being a published writer has been my goal but I haven't quite been able to get past the first step until recently. I knew I wanted to write and had begun several books, but the "magic" never seemed to happen. If you've ever tried to take pen to paper then you know what I was looking for. I expected to suddenly be inspired to write and not be able to stop. Well it wasn't until I read a book entitled "Becoming a Writer" by Dorothea Brande, that I was able to find that magic. It is there, ready for the taking, you just have to be willing to do the work to find it. Her book helped me to harness my own magic. Another thing that helped me was online writing groups. They are full of advice and inspirational posts.

Second, you have to rewrite, edit, reread, edit, have friends read, edit, etc. Once your story is something you are proud of (not perfect mind you, because I could sit on my book forever with the excuse that it's not perfect if I let myself.) then you write a query letter. This is the point where you decide if you want to find an agent or send to publishers without an agent. I personally would love to have an agent. For one, some of your bigger publishers only accept agented works. For another, the book business is about connections, when you get an agent you are getting connections. This can only help. Plus the agent only works on commission so you know they will do all they can to sell your book and get you the best possible deal. Once you have decided which way you are going to go check out "Writer's Market" from your local library. It is full of advice on how to write a query letter and how to approach agents or publishers. It also has a full reprotoire of agents and publishers. It gives you detailed information on what each agent/publisher is looking for, who to contact, how to contact them, and what to submit.

So now that I am submitting query letters to agents, I hope for them to request the manuscript (which is what happened today) and review it. Now I wait. This is the hard part. Now let's say she likes my manuscript the next step is a contract, then she will give me some edits for my story to make it more marketable. Then I have to have a synopsis, and any other things the publishers may require, that I can give to my agent so she can get a novel proposal together. She would then approach a few publishers at a time using her connections. Once I land I publisher I am told the real work begins, but I'm not quite sure what that is yet. As I move through this process I will keep you all informed.

If you have any questions I will try to answer them. Also check out my friend Jenni Jame's website. www.authorjennijames.com There is a link to her blog on there as well. Pretty soon she will posting an interview from her agent about how the publishing world works. It should be pretty informative.

I feel so rejected!! LOL!!

So the agent that asked for my full manuscript said that it was a very strong concept and the writing was good, but it wasn't right for him. I'm up to 11 rejections right now and 15 agents haven't responded. My favorite rejection was today when I got a personal email, (not a form letter) but she put a different title down instead of Dream Swords. I couldn't help but laugh. She wrote back immediately and apologized for mixing it up with another story, but it was still a rejection. I wrote her back and told her that I've been dreaming about all the rejections I've been getting but I never dreamt I would get rejected for something I didn't write!! I thanked her for the laugh and the personal email. She wrote back and laughed with me. It was a good moment. If there are any good moments when your are being rejected anyways!!

Thanks for all your encouraging thoughts and words!!

Another Update

Life is crazy here! Let me give you just a quick update on my agent searching endeavors then I have to get back to studying for finals next week. I have queried 20 agents in the past week. I have a total of 7 rejections so far, and one agent requested my full manuscript!!! I sent it to him today. I should hear back from him by Dec. 23rd. So keep your fingers crossed for me!! I can use all the help I can get!!

Writing update

Well I have finished editing my book for the third time. I sent out query letters to seven agents on Fri. So far I have recieved my first rejection and that's it. So now I just get to sit back and wait. Oh, and get another list of agents together for my next round of letters I will be sending next week. Thanks for all your help and support!! I will continue to keep you informed, but I won't bore you with every rejection letter that I get.

Summary of my story

Once again I need everyone's help. I am writing a query letter to send to agents and the summary of my book needs to make them want to read it. So I am pasting my summary below and if it made you want to read my book go to comments and say "It worked". If not, please, please tell me why so I can fix it!! This is VERY IMPORTANT. I will be sending query letters next week!! Please help me!!!
Thanks!!

Mikayla is a normal twelve year old girl with an average, boring family; at least that’s what she thinks until her grandmother dies. Trying to make up for the loss, her father takes her to the annual Renaissance Festival she normally attends with her grandmother. The festival takes a different turn this year when she is given an extraordinary sword with mystical powers that allows her to enter the dream realm. Before she knows what’s happening, Mikayla is escaping from kidnappers, fighting duels, training for battle and balancing the good from the evil that controls the dreams of the waking world. And as if that isn’t enough, Mikayla’s dad has his own sword and could save her—the problem is, his sword fights for the wrong side.

Wow! Here's a nice article Thanking the Mormons for help in fighting Prop. 8

Evangelicals Thank LDS for Proposition 8 Work, Call for Christians to Stand Against Attacks

John Shroeder, Article VI11/12/2008 01:59 PM MST

Though Proposition 8 has caused divisiveness in California and within the Church, one incredible by-product of this campaign has been increased brotherhood and unity among Christian churches. While the LDS Church has been under attack, prominent priests, ministers, and writers—as well as common members—have come out against such attacks and shown their support of the Church.
The following blog entry, communicating such support, was recently posted by John Schroeder, a well-known Presbyterian and an Evangelical writer, on his Article VI blog. It is reprinted with permission:
Proposition 8 is now a part of the California constitution!
That is probably the best news from an otherwise difficult election for conservatives and Republicans. In very large part, we Evangelicals must thank our Mormon cousins for that fact. They, along with our Catholic brethren, were better organized than us and that provided a base from which we could ALL work together to get this job done What more, as we have chronicled here, Mormons took the brunt of the abuse, derision, and even threats of physical harm that came with this effort.
And like us, they have given thanks to the Almighty that is ultimately in control, even if their understanding of that Almighty is a bit different than ours.
I cannot help but wonder how much more thankful we ALL might be today if we had been more willing to embrace these religious cousins a few months ago - but alas, politics is always about governing today and looking forward to the next election.
Said John Mark Reynolds:
“In the battle for the family, however, traditional Christians have no better friends than the Mormon faithful. It would be wrong if that support were taken for granted. We are intolerant of the false attacks on Mormon faith and family. We stand with our Mormon friends in their right to express their views on the public square. We celebrate the areas, such as family values, where we agree.
“A heart felt thank you may not win points from other friends who demand one hundred percent agreement from their allies, but it is the decent and proper thing to do.
“Thank you to our Mormon friends and allies!”
Hard to do better than that. The “Ruth Youth” ministry proclaimed yesterday “International Mormon Appreciation Day.” Very appropriate, yet still inadequate.
In addition to our thanks, Mormons deserve our protection. They have been oppressed in ways during the Prop 8 campaign that this nation has not seen since the 1960’s and the civil rights movement. The rhetoric has been deplorable, but moreover. we have seen instances of vandalism, property destruction, and some leaders in the fight currently find themselves with armed protection because of the threats made against them and their families.
Our nation will not and cannot tolerate this sort of behavior - it is incumbent on all of us to stand against it, and the best way to do that is to stand between the Mormons and the forces that would perpetrate such evil.
Now I am sure the Mormons can, and probably want, to take care of themselves, but as a Christian, it is my duty to protect the innocent and free the oppressed. To turn a blind eye in this circumstance is not only ungracious, it is simply un-Christian.
Make all the theological distinctions you want, but in the political arena we are yoked with the Mormons (he said borrowing some religious imagery) and it is darn well time we started acting like it.
Absolutely, positively thank the Mormons - but don’t stop there. Stand up and be counted against the evil that has been perpetrated towards them in this campaign.
As Christians we can do no less.
*To read what has happened since this entry was created, click here.

Nikki here - Whatever your view may be on this topic I think we can all agree that violence is not the answer. Let's continue to love the people even if we don't agree with their actions.