Out of the Cave

I feel as if I’ve been hibernating for the last few months. As I stumble out to blue skies and bright sun, I know this: It’s good to be back. I’ve missed posting on the website, but there’s an excellent reason for my absence. I’ve spent the last three months wrapping up my novel. I… am… finished. That is, I’m as finished as I can be at this stage. Writing a novel is a lengthy process that keeps churning until the last possible moment before the book goes to print. When it finds the right home—and editor—at a publishing house, I’ll have more work to do, but I welcome the effort. That’s how a book moves from good to great, provided you have something good from the onset. Right now, I’m preparing packets to send to agents, depending on their submission guidelines. I’ve spent numerous hours researching the appropriate ones to target, however, that is also an ongoing task as it can take a while to connect with the one meant for your book. Like the appropriate editor at a publisher, the right agent will have valuable feedback to elevate the book as well to make it more marketable. If any of you have relationships with reputable agents, I would love to hear from you. But even if you don’t, I still want to hear from you. Learning what’s happening in your lives, and sharing in your successes, is just as important as me telling you what’s going on in mine. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: life is not about money and accumulating stuff; it’s about good relationships and accumulating experiences.

Speaking of relationships, many thanks go to all my friends and family who’ve supported me in this process. Also, I could not have done it without my writer friends offering encouragement and lending critical eyes to help improve the novel. If you are an emerging writer who is giving due diligence to the craft, you owe it to yourself to find kindred souls on the same journey so you can help each other succeed. We all have blind spots. The key is to find the right people who will point them out in a nurturing manner.

One writer friend said I should do a post on the lessons I learned while writing the novel, insights I could only discover by immersing myself in the process. Sounded like a great idea to me, so look for that topic in the near future.

But for now, back to our regularly scheduled programming… Summer School – Part 3 coming soon.