Boy do I need PiBoIdMo!

   Three months since I've blogged.  Three months of rejections!  All the favored pitches came to naught.  Still, I entered another pitch contest and now I'm waiting to hear on two more faves.
    BUT--the bright spot on the horizon is that it's almost time for PiBoIdMo!  A whole month of ideas and support!  I was attended the regional SCBWI schmooze last weekend, and got lots of positive feedback on a story that came from a PiBoIdMo idea from last year, so I'm very ready to be inspired again.
    And actually I had a great moment in September when I visited my kids and grandkids in Seattle.  I walked into my son's house, and heard "Look what came today!" and it was the High Five for my granddaughter, with a poem by me in it!

Twitter Jitters

   BAM!  It seems to happen so fast, unlike every other aspect of this wacky writing/revising/submitting business.  You describe your story in under 140 characters, send it out on Twitter, and that very day, sometimes within the hour, your idea is touched by an agent's fairy wand!  Favorited! Sprinkled with Twitter glitter!
   BAM!  You speedily submit your story to the interested agent, and then...sometimes a conversation begins, and hopes are raised.  Sometimes, there is absolutely. no. word.  I've had both situations happen this summer, and I still remain hopeful.  Somehow the waiting seems harder when the initial contact was faster than a melting mocha milkshake. 
    I've reduced my submissions to a trickle and have been sending poems to magazines while I wait.  And I try to work on my fitness and health--finished my first 5K this summer!  (OK, I came in 310th, but I made it!)

 

   I remember thinking the finish line would never come into view, but it did, and I'm sure I'll eventually hear back from my pitch pickers, too.  How do you handle the post-pitch-favorite blues? 

A Check!

   Being an older writer has its upsides.  I got a check for $125 today for my story on roadrunners which appeared in the March issue of Appleseeds.  I'd completely forgotten that they hadn't yet paid me!  Such a lovely surprise.  Next spring, I can hide my own Easter eggs...

National Donut Day Just Got Sweeter!

   I take care of a baby girl on Friday mornings, and today little Nettie and her mom had coffee and a donut waiting for me.  Then in the afternoon, I got a contract from Highlights!  It's for a poem I wrote for their baby magazine, Hello.
   That makes one, count it, ONE sale so far this year after 30 submissions--but it's a good one!  I'm always proud to sell a piece to the Highlights family.

Touched by a Fairy Wand?

    Well, that's how I picture it anyway.  One of my PiBoIdMo ideas practically wrote itself into a picture book this month, and I made an illustrated dummy--and it fit!  It's called Tough Toast.  My critique group loved it, but it got a 7 from Rate Your Story.  Bleah! 
     But I'm still really liking this story, so when I read about a pitch event on Twitter, I decided to enter with my tweet "A bagel and a square piece of bread discuss their differences in 132 words in Tough Toast."  And within an hour, I got a notification that it had been "favorited" (here's where I picture the fairy wand) by a lovely agent.  I sent her the manuscript and told her I had also made a dummy.  She wrote back and said to please send that, too   And then I had to go to work before I could get it together--ah, this pesky making-a-living thing--but I drew a smaller version and scanned and sent it when I got home.
     I haven't heard from her since, but I know she's at BEA this week and very busy, so I'll just hope to hear from her soon.  Even if nothing comes of it, it feels very good to have had my tweet chosen, favorited, and touched by a fairy wand.

Treated LIke Royalty!

   Last year, the royalties for my 5 little easy readers with Continental Press totaled $70, for all four quarters. 
    Then on May 4th, the mail brought 1.) a rejection and 2.) a first quarter royalty check for $220!  I have no idea why, but each of the five books sold a LOT of copies between January and March. 
    Rejections are soooo much easier to take when they arrive the same day as a royalty check!  I bought myself a ticket to see my grandkids in Seattle.
    Gotta love the educational market!  These books began appearing in the catalog about 15 years ago.  I've submitted a new story for the John &Lucy series, but so far, no response.  Wonder what the next royalty check will be?

Finally...attended a regional SCBWI workshop!

   It was so good to meet local authors at the Rocky Mountain SCBWI spring workshop!  Got a very encouraging crit from author Wendi Silvano, and also had her sign a book for my grandson Dylan.

Wendi feels my Cowboy Shorty story is ready to hit the trail, and she looks forward to seeing it published!  Me, too!!