I'm back from Thanksgiving break, and I've got some great news: revisions on PPP are FINALLY done! It was a close call, though. I must have been half-asleep when I was packing to go home, because I lovingly placed my iMac and all of its assorted necessities into a box in the trunk of my car ... and like a total idiot, forgot the power cord!
Of course, I didn't realize this until I had arrived at my destination three hours later. Cue the frantic phone calls to Best Buy and Apple to see whether they sold the power cord alone and could expedite it to me (they do NOT, by the way) and the melodramatic rantings about how I had been so excited to work and now could not, since I'm spoiled and don't like writing on the PCs I had access to.
Long story short, I revised the old-school way: longhand, with a pen and paper. A week later, after driving back (and being reunited with my power cord), I spent the remaining two days madly typing up all of my revisions and... BAM! Done at last!
- Next step: rest the WIP for a week or two, add a lil' polish, and send it off to my critique partners. Hear their thoughts; revise some more.
- Next next step: Write a real, live query letter (eeeeeee!).
- Next next next step: Open an account on Publishers Marketplace and start making an agents-to-query list (double eeeeeee!).
Starting on the 17th, I will have a three-week vacation before I start my new job, both of which I am very excited about. Plenty of time to get PPP squared away so I can finally start querying.
I'll also be traveling for five days, one of which will be devoted to Harry Potter World, and I am out-of-my-mind pumped for it. I'm planning on picking up souvenirs and doing a blog giveaway upon my return, so keep your eyes peeled!
Aside from all that, I'm just going to thoroughly enjoy the holiday season. It's my favorite time of year: wrapping presents, baking cookies, quoting lines from "Elf" until people's ears bleed, attending Christmas shindigs, and going to the ballet to see The Nutcracker. Yay!
I probably won't be blogging all that much (except for this Dec. 16 blogfest that I will participate in), but I should be around, catching up on other people's blogs. Hope you're all having a happy, productive December, too!
24 comments:
Congrats! Harry Potter World... I heard about that. Don't forget to check out QueryTracker. I found it pretty helpful. :-)
Glad you were able to get those revisions completed.
Great plan of attack for that query. Elana Johnson, author of Possession, has a free downloadable resounce at her blog with tips for creating a winning query.
And have a blast at Harry Potter world!
This post made me all sorts of happy. :) Congrats!
Congrats!!
I really enjoy Christmas too. Good job on getting back to the longhand way of doing things. We do what we have to when we have to. :) All the best for the season!
Best of luck with the upcoming querying.
Yay, on the querying. I just started last week. My inbox is echoing nothing but silence (other than one request) due to the holiday season. All the fast responders aren't responding. :)
I've forgotten my laptop power cord at a hotel. Mailed it back to me and I got it the next day. :D
YAY!!!!!! That's what I'm talking about! Can't wait!
And what's this new job?
Sounds great Jules!!!! Can't wait!
Congratulations, Julie! Your plan sounds awesome and doable, and I wish you so much luck with the final round of revisions and your query making and sending.
Will we get to see the query or are you keeping that to yourself and the agents?
Congrats on finishing your revisions! Way to go. Good luck with the crits and the querying. =o)
Yay, congratulations on finishing your revisions! :)
Sometimes writing by hand is best! Congratulations. I know someone who does awesome query critiques when you're ready. Matthew at The QQQE.
Congratulations on your progress! Though I do know the panicky feeling that comes with forgetting your power cord. Eek! Still, you made it. Good luck with all the "next" things to come! :)
P.S. Soooo jealous that you're going to Harry Potter World! Please post pictures if you can!
Forgetting that cord would be so frustrating!! Glad you managed to edit longhand though. I'm excited about the coming month too - love all the chaos and fun :) Enjoy!
Jessica: Thank you! I'll add it to my list of useful links for when the time comes :)
Angela: That's right, thank you for reminding me! I've had Elana's site bookmarked for a while now and it'll definitely be a valuable resource!
Julie: Aw, thanks so much :)
Tiana: Thank you!!
J.L.: It was sort of nice not writing on a computer for once! I think I'm going to have to try this longhand thing more often.
Susan: Thank you very much! I'll need it!
Stina: So excited for you and I hope that you get responses soon! I bet the waiting's the worst part, huh? Also glad you were able to get your power cord back. I'm surprised that they don't sell them separately - what if your dog chewed through one? Would you have to buy a whole new computer?!
Don: Yay!!! Excited for you to check it out. I'll tell you all about my new job on gchat sometime!
Thao: Thanks, darling! <3
Sophia: Aw, thank you very much! I'm not sure whether I'll post the query letter - I think that will depend on how proud I am of it and how successful it is :) But if I'm ever lucky enough to have one that succeeds, I will 100% post it for everyone to read.
B.E.: Thanks for the well wishes! I will need all of this luck coming my way :)
Emy: Thanks, dear!
Alex: Oooh thanks for the recommendation. I've never heard of the blog but I'm definitely going to check it out when my letter's complete.
Shelley: Thank you, I'm really happy that things are moving along :) And yes, I'll post pictures of HP World for sure - if not here, then on my Facebook account. Are we FB friends?
Jemi: I'm glad I managed to do everything longhand, too! I hope you have a great holiday season :)
Congrats on finishing your revisions, and happy travels!
You have been busy!
I'm always so paranoid I'm going to forget a power cord. Writing longhand would be such a hardship for me - I type faster than I write. I'm glad you powered on!
I'm a new follower. Thanks for posting a comment about my book trailer over at Alex's blog. It's nice to meet you. :)
Talli: Thank you! Happy travels to you as well and happy holidays!
Theresa: I definitely have :)
Ciara: Welcome to my blog! It's great to meet you too. I really enjoyed your book trailer!
Congrats on the PPP progress! That's FANTASTIC!
Disturbing news that they don't sell the power cord separately. I need a cord for a camera so I can download pics from it -- now I'm worried I won't be able to buy one.
Vicki, thanks so much! Yes, I was really shocked that they didn't sell the power cord by itself. I'm not sure why. I hope they sell the cord for your camera separately! Maybe look up the manufacturer online... you might have to buy through a third party website or something, but I'm sure there's one out there!
Hi, nice to meet you and your blog! I'd love to see Harry Potter world. :) Have fun! Good luck in your finalization of your novel--QueryTracker.net is another great site for finding lists of agents.
Carol: So nice to meet you as well! Thanks for visiting :) I'll have to take lots of pictures for all of you who are considering a trip to HP World in the future! Hopefully I'll have great things to report. And thank you very much for the recommendation - I have bookmarked Query Tracker and it looks like a terrific resource.
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