Things are better with the new house, for those who are wondering! We have survived the first few days, which included a variety of plumbers trooping in and out of the house. And I really like my new room. You guys were right -- I just needed to relax and trust my instinct. Especially because the guy's house next door is a monster and blocks out any kind of a view from the other room I was considering.
On the book front, I'm working now on requesting author blurbs. It's both scary and fun. I admire all of these people that I'm writing to, so it's fun to hear from them, but also terrifying to face the possibility that they may say no. I'm also preparing my order for Earthly Charms, a vendor that creates promotional items. Right now, I'm planning to order bookmarks, postcards and key chains, all of them with the very cool cover that Gina designed for me.
Also, this week, my entries for the Poem or Page contest are due. As you guys probably already know, I'm attending the University of Madison-Wisconsin's Writers Institute in July. Every year they offer a contest where you can send in the first page of a novel, short story, essay, poem, screen play. I love this contest because unlike so many others, it's not geared just for short stories. And the first page idea is terrific because really readers (and editors and agents) form a lot of judgements about your work from the first page, like whether they want to continue or not. Two years ago, the first page of The Silver Spoon won third place. It was my very first time submitting anything to anywhere. I was thrilled! More importantly, it gave me the little boost of confidence I needed to keep going with The Silver Spoon. I think this year, I'm going to submit the first page of Bitter Pill and Sleep Tight, the first two books in the Rennie Harlow series. I don't feel I have anything else close enough to finished to do more. For anyone out there thinking of submitting to a contest, I highly encourage it. It's like getting your feet wet before you send out to a publisher or agent. And yep, you're not going to win sometimes. I've definitely lost more times than I've won, but I usually learn something in the process!
Kind of sucky news...only two people have signed up for my creative writing class at the Bloomingdale Park District. I need two more by the start of class or they'll cancel it : ( But if they do, I'm considering trying to run a class online, through email and such. If anyone is interested in that, let me know!
Stay tuned later today -- something really cool is headed your way (well, it will be on this site and if you come to this site...you get the idea) on June 15.
Talk to you later!
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