No Cat Book thru Publications International

'Tis not to be.  Received an e-mail today from the Publications International editor that they've selected someone else for the cat book.  It's really been a marvelous week ego-wise for me as a writer. Don't know if I can stand any more bliss.

No worries.  That August deadline really had me scared.  And the editor did say the panel liked my writing and she wondered if I would be interested in applying to work on some inspirational/humor books they would be producing?

I jumped on the humor one and she is to e-mail me details later this week.  As for inspirational...not sure that's my thing.  My way of inspiring people is to tell them to get their heads out of their asses and get on with it.  But maybe if I wrote that and inserted something about the "heartbeat of life" I could get away with it? Hmmm....

Meanwhile, work is going swimmingly on the public speaking book.  I'm devoting at least an hour a day to it and it's amazing how quickly the words add up.  I'm also enjoying writing it (and amusing myself in the process) which tells me I'm on the right track.  I'm looking to get a few chapters written and then critiqued by my Writer's Group while I plot out a proposal to send to agents/publishers.  As I recall from the Lessons In Stalking experience, that's a good 6-12 month wait for replies.

That's all.  I'm working on an article for public speaking for The Toastmaster magazine that I need to get back to.

Manuscript Rejected

Not that I in the least feel like sharing this but I made a commitment to keep readers of this blog abreast of my writing highs and lows so I'll write today about a low.  My Millicent manuscript, the one for middle graders, received a rejection letter this weekend from the editor who had encouraged me to write a middle grade novel in the first place.

The letter itself is extremely helpful.  For those of you who have not yet experienced the joy of rejection, most of it comes in the shape of poorly copied form letters which state, "Dear Author, We regret to inform you..." and, if you're very lucky, is unsigned and smudged.

So this was a letter that actually gave advice, which is always great.  She felt the characters felt a bit too adult at times and that there were too many competing characters, making it difficult to focus on the main characters.  She recommended I look at Lois Lowry's ANASTASIA books (which feature lists as does my ms) for inspiration.

All in all, I'm pleased with the rejection letter.  And not surprised.  The work I submitted really was close to first draft material.  Certainly I went back and edited scenes and rewrote dialogue, but I have yet to do a major overhaul of the book.  To have been accepted for publication was a long shot.  (But fun to dream about).  And really, it's the right call.  I'm not giving up on the book, but am focused now on writing my public speaking book so Millicent will be put aside for awhile.  I hope for no more than 6 months before I haul her out for a dusting off and serious rewrite.

Newbie Dental Hygienist

I had my 6-month dental check-up today and a young girl dressed in sneakers and blue eyeliner, visibly shaking, informed me my hygienist was on vacation and she was subbing. Okay, "visibly shaking" might be a stretch but she was nervous.  Her opening chit-chat was a bit forced although she overcame this after a bit and told me funny stories she and her friends used to pull on one another in dental school (such as eating a bowl full of M&M's before a friend worked on your teeth).

Having her there made me appreciate the casual professionalism of my regular hygienist though.  It's not that this girl did anything wrong.  It was more that we were both just very aware of what she was doing.

"Doing okay?" she asked as the sharp pointy thing she was poking between my gums slipped a notch and almost took off my tongue.

"Ang-uh," I said.

"Oh good!" she replied.  "Now I'm going to use this mirror to move your tongue to the side.  Let me know if you feel a gagging sensation.  I had a second grader throw up on me not too long ago because of this very thing." 

It was a very loooong appointment.

My mouth hurt when it was over.  Not sure why as she really didn't do anything to hurt me.  Maybe an extra poke or two where they shouldn't have been but nothing drastic.  But I am much more appreciate now of hygienists.  There is a skill in learning how to get to all the odd angles of a person's mouth without flattening their hair or taking out an eye.  And maintaining a running chatter while scraping plague off teeth is an art form almost to be considered lost.

I liked this girl though and hope she does well.  Everyone has to start somewhere.

Making Toasts

I don't know what's scarier...having no ability to write toasts for a promised assignment or (gulp) discovering you might actually be good at it?

Not that I'm saying the toasts I came up with for the editor are good.  First of all, they all rhyme.  Every last one and I came up with about 6.  Even when I tried to sit down and write a sentence that didn't rhyme it would end up that way.  I'm not sure what this says about me.

They're all sort of cutesy rhymes too.  Who knew there was a Hallmark Tender Moments persona lurking deep inside me? (Get out!  Get out!)

But at least I have something to turn in.  The real nightmare would begin if they--God forbid--hired me for the job, eh?  Wouldn't that be a hoot?  At the very least I'd get loads of "I'm ripping my hair out" blogging material from it.