Well, hello there! *blows away blog cobwebs* It's about time I came back, eh?
Unfortunately, my absence has not been because something cool happened, like I got a puppy or I eloped or I found a pot of gold or I got a phone call from Disney PLEADING with me to let them make PPP into a movie.
No, nothing like that. I've been gone because work has been sucking
Anyway, here I am, bright and early with a cup of vanilla chai and a little bit of time before I have to go start my day. I apologize for not keeping up with your blogs, but as I have a couple of reeeeeallllly long flights coming up in the next week or so, I'll have nothing but time to do that!
Many of you have been asking for news on the querying front. I have sent letters on PPP's behalf to a total of six people. So far, the results stand at: three immediate form rejections (like, immediate, which is great because it saves me time waiting and wondering), one partial request that ended up in a rejection with compliments, one partial request I am waiting to hear back from, and one revise-and-resubmit, which made me do an Irish jig around my office. (Have you ever seen an Asian girl do an Irish jig? It's not pretty - at least, not when I do it - but it gets the happy feelings across pretty well.)
So that brings me to my next piece of news: PUMPKIN PATCH PRINCESS is becoming... *drum roll* ....a MIDDLE-GRADE novel.
Yep, you read that right! My Cinderella retelling was originally meant to be a young adult book, but too many agents and too many critique partners have been telling me that the story is much more suitable for a younger age group (as indeed, I pondered back in June in this post here) and you know what?
I completely agree. I'm so excited to make the changes and to see what I come up with! This weekend, I'm going to stock up on fun notebooks and make a detailed outline of the story as it is right now. I'm going to take that outline with me on my vacation and see what alterations I can make to the plot to make it fit Noelle, my main character, who went from 18... to 16... to 14. I've already got some ideas rattling around in this noggin of mine.
I think PPP will be a much stronger contender for querying if it's pitched as an MG. (And I guess that makes me "an aspiring MG/YA author" now, doesn't it?!) I ran it past my most trusted critique partners and readers yesterday, and they unanimously said: "Yes. YES" or "I TOLD you!" to the whole thing.
So there's a little kink that has appeared in PPP's straight little road, and I am so happy and eager to follow it to where it wants to take me.
As you may have guessed, being so busy has meant that barely any progress has been made on ELEGY. I did not hit the golden 50K during Camp NaNoWriMo this summer, but I did make it to 35K, so I've got a pretty substantial chunk of the novel in the Stories folder on my desktop. I think it's going to be growing a little mold there for a while, since my priority right now is to revise PPP and get it back out the door. I'm gonna do my best to make this happen by Thanksgiving.
I want to see my book in my hands so badly it's like a physical ache. I know you guys know exactly what I'm talking about, because you feel it too. But the important part is that we're willing to work for it and no matter how many things stand in the way... like family or bills or jobs... we always come back to put some more words down on the page.
I've seen so many pictures on Facebook recently of my author friends and my author friends' author friends attending launch parties, signing their books, and hugging readers. I used to feel envious, but now, it's more motivating to me to hear about other people's success. It makes me so proud to see a blog buddy succeed, and what's more, it is proof positive that these things can happen to seemingly ordinary people who just happen to work really hard and be very persistent. And have a wicked way with words ;)
How are you guys doing? Any news in your writing world? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!
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21 comments:
Fantastic news about the interest in PPP! And it's wonderful that you're excited about the chance to revise and make it stronger - many would look at that as a setback, but I think your mindset is the correct one : it's a chance to make it EVEN BETTER than it was before!
Not much going on here with writing - editing short stories and waiting to hear back from cover designers for said stories.
I'm sure your Irish jig isn't that bad. Congratulations on the requests!
And just sent the manuscript for my third book to my critique partners.
Congrats on the requests! It's gonna happen, you know why? Because you are one of those strong people who want it so bad you're willing to follow that kink instead of marching across the tundra to keep going straight.
I'm so excited for you! Enjoy the re-write and keep us posted.
That's so exciting about the submissions! I admire your positivity about the revisions. And like I said before, I cannot WAIT to buy your book. I know that it's just around the corner for you!
hahaa, I'd LOVE to see you do a jig :D
What a positive attitude you have!! love it! I queried 8 agents with my book last Feb, but then ... just stopped querying. Completely. So I dusted it off just yesterday and decided to give another revision a try, and move it into a different tense (feels much more right). I love what time and distance does when it comes to helping us see the GOOD in our work, and how to make it even better.
Good luck to you, Julie!! I'm rooting for ya! I'd love Disney to make your book into a movie - I'd take my girls to see it opening night :)
Yes!! I am telling you, I could really see it as a Disney Movie--Middle grade is the perfect audience for your story.
Good luck!!
Shelley
It's great to have you back. I hope things at work settle down.
BTW, I think PPP as a MG is a great idea! I hope the editing goes well--stock up on chocolate. :)
Thank you for the update, Julie--I'm glad you're okay. And that is such awesome news about the R&R! I would have done an Irish jig too--and I'm sure it would have look 10x worse than yours, and I have an Irish mother!! :)
Sincere congrats to you, and I really hope all your hard work pays off soon! :)
Oooh! I think that will be great - and very appropriate for your story. I'm glad to hear you're doing well - I've been thinking about you lately and hoping that your corner of the interwebs is all good! (I was putting up a new design that had grey rain clouds and I totally thought of you, lol. I was thinking I should put on a silver lining!)
I hope you're feeling better, I know what you must have felt like. I have severe pain in shoulders, arms and neck and the therapy makes it more painful for the time being.
I enjoyed reading your post and it's good to see you back.
Take care and God Bless.
Yvonne.
Congratulations on getting such good feedback on your query! Even though you're revising now, a 50% request rate is fantastic. I bet it's a sign of good things to come. And, hey, the I-told-you-sos are probably worth it if your book is improving.
Good luck! I know that soon you'll be one of the people sharing your good news on Facebook, Twitter, etc. and people will be cheering for you.
Ooh, things do sound exciting on the PPP front. I think the MG-ing works great too. The sort of whimsical tone of the novel did make me think more MG than YA. Excited to see what you do with it!
As for Real Life, oh man, I'm sorry you've been having such a stressful time! I've been up to my neck in day job stuff as well, and yesterday, I somehow pulled my shoulder. I honestly think it has something to do with how I hunch over my desk every day. :P What is it about the end of summer huh?
In any case, glad you're getting some rest soon (yay for vacay! me too!) and that you'll be diving into PPP! Good luck & keep us posted! :)
P.S. My sister and I are all caught up on the Walking Dead. I thought of you when I was watching it because I remembered your zombie run and your blog post!
I would have liked to see that Irish jig!
What great stats on PPP so far! Turning it into a MG novel sounds like a great idea--I'm so excited for you!
That's wonderful you got a revise-and-resubmit request! Good luck with all that. I think you should post a video of you doing your jig!
Good luck on your goals and I hope you're feeling better.
Revise and submit requests also make me giddy.
Happy writing and querying.
I love middle grade!! That's wonderful you got such positive feedback. I'm excited for you to finally have PPP in your hands, too! You're well on your way, Julie. It'll happen!!
And achieving 35K for Elegy is pretty darn good!!
That's so exciting!!! And great stats on your queries too, btw. I can't wait to see what happens with PPP. Kudos on your flexibility. Hope all goes well with work too. :-)
Welcome back! Glad to hear you got the feedback you needed for PPP.
Ooh, congrats on the querying successes, and good luck on transitioning the book from YA to MG, Julie!
What awesome news!!! (though really should also get a puppy). A revise and resubmit is almost as wonderful as an Asian girl doing the Irish gig (pls. post video).
I had a similar revelation with one of my books - submitted it to a contest in YA category and it came back with "resubmit as MG" - but of course!
Louise: Thank you so much! I've known for a while that PPP would be better suited as an MG (ever since I sent out my first draft to critique partners and they planted the idea in my head), so I'm prepared. I'll keep a YA version and an MG version and compare the two!
Alex: Thank you, and I hope you get some great feedback on your new manuscript!
Charity: I really, really appreciate that... thanks for the kind words. I'm going to try my hardest, that's for sure!
Meika: You sweet friend, thank you <3 I don't know what's around the corner but I'm crossing all my limbs that I get see this in book form one day.
Marisa: I loved your query letter. Loved it. I hope with my suggestions and some time, you'll decide to get back out there and send it again. Your story is one that needs to be published!! Fairy tale powah! *hugs*
Shelley: Oh man, if I were ever lucky enough to see this as a Disney movie... *dies* My life would be complete!!
Connie: Got my supply of chocolate ready to go! Thanks for the encouragement :D
Colin: HAHA I'm sure your jig would have been just fine! All happy jigs are probably not as graceful as they can be. Thanks so much for your kind words. I'm really crossing my fingers for this.
Tiana: AW! Thanks for thinking of me and asking about PPP. I hope you're doing well, too! My email inbox is always open if you need another eyeball on your draft!
Yvonne: I'm so sorry to hear that! I hope you're feeling better. We have to remember to stretch and take care of ourselves.
Caryn: Thank you so, so much! I've been DRAGGING my feet with querying. I know I should be sending more out there, but I've only been emailing people who I feel completely positive would be right for the project. Of course, I was wrong half the time, as it turns out... but I was onto something with the other half, so I am happy!
Krispy: Oh, yay, glad you can see PPP as an MG too! It makes a lot of sense, I think. So sorry about your shoulder - I hope it's feeling better by now! Do a lot of stretching and icing. So glad you've gotten into the Walking Dead... we will have to discuss!
Stephanie: Thank you <3 I'm so nervous and excited. Trying to stay calm and do a good job on these revisions!
Cynthia: HA! As much as I want to share my jig with the world, I'm afraid it'll be permanent if I post it on the internet!
Medeia: Thanks so much! R&Rs are pretty great.
Laura: Thanks, peach! I'm really happy about the feedback and I hope you're doing well, too!
Jessica: Appreciate the encouragement <3 I think things are going to get better from here on out with work, and as for PPP, I guess its fate rests on me so I'd better get cracking! LOL! Hope you're doing well!
Nicole: Thanks so much!
Sophia: You're sweet, thanks for the kind words :D It's going to be fun making this an MG.
Margo: YES. I like the way you think. I should treat myself to a puppy! Hahahah no video forthcoming unfortunately, but that would really be something, huh? And glad you're in the YA-to-MG boat with me... maybe I'll come scream and cry on your shoulder if I need to during the process. *hugs*
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