All Work and No Play Makes Jenni a Dull Girl

Spring is in the air and I'm trapped in a dark cave all day with no windows, surrounded by the grey carpeted walls of my cubicle. The fact that I can't go out and soak up some much needed rays of Vitamin D fills me with resentment. Fortunately I have awesome co-workers to keep me from falling into a pit of grey carpeted despair.

I've been reading everything I can about getting published and the publishing industry, as The Guide instructed, but everything I read is rather depressing. It's all about how difficult it is to get an editor to even look at your story, and how you're probably really a shitty writer and need to write and complete several practice novels before you try to submit a legit novel for publication and even then you'll probably be rejected by everyone. Now, I'm someone who needs a lot of positive reinforcement in my life. I already do a good enough job at second-guessing and beating myself up, and I am not currently accepting applications for that position. What I need is one of these "experts" to say "Hey, you know what? You might actually be good enough, and you might actually have a really great book in your hands." I just need someone to believe in me.

And I don't mean that to sound pitiful or pathetic. I'm just speaking plainly.

I need someone in my corner shouting at me to keep going and willing to squirt water down my throat and apply the enswell to my swelling face. "Cut me, Mick!"

I was lucky enough to have a cutman with me today, who was able to pull me out of my melancholy state of mind. And it wasn't the first time she's done this either. You know who you are, and I thank you. :)

So - where are we on this Path to Publication?

I revised my first chapter and just reposted it to critiquecircle.com. It will go up for review on May 11. I'm also re-reading my second chapter and trying to revise that as much as I can before I submit that for review as well. It's kind of like cleaning your house before the maid comes because you don't want her to think you're a slob - completely nonsensical but it makes me feel a little better about myself. The biggest thing I'm working on is psyching myself up to begin searching for a literary agent. The process of searching for such a person is called "query-ing" or so I've read. It might be my southern accent but query-ing is hard for me to say...so I'm probably going to do the typical Southern thing and just completely make up another word for it; I'm leaning towards Q-ing.

When I begin the process of query-ing things are going to get interesting again, I am sure of it. I just hope I don't face plant. ;)

Thanks for reading!