Following Austen

On plumbers and book proposals

I've been woefully absent here lately, and missing the writing and blogging very much.

I woke up this morning for the first time in three weeks without a deadline hanging over my head. It was the best feeling in the world -- this little gap to squeeze in some of the things I love. I'm incredibly thankful for the work, so I'm not complaining. As a freelancer, it's a gift to be busy.

I'm finding that I need a lot of quiet in order to write -- or, in order to write books. Articles aren't really a problem. But, for this project, I have to be able to get into a soul-quiet space somehow, with permission to ramble and explore.  Which is impossible when the heater is broken and your roommate discovers a leak in her bathroom and the person you need to interview for a piece just refuses to return your calls and your deadline is tomorrow.

And then there's the fatigue thing.  On days I've not been able to work, I've been on the couch worrying about the deadlines I'm pushing back.  On the days I get back at it, I work late and struggle to catch up and often find myself working weekends because I just can't get everything done any other way.  I feel like I'm running constantly -- in slow motion, everyone still moving so much faster than I am.

I got feedback from my agent on the book proposal. It's nearly ready to go, just a few small tweaks and she will be Fed-exing it to acquisition editors. I've been dying to work on it.  So, that's my lofty goal for this afternoon.  Right after I meet the plumber.  And set up interviews for another article.

Here's to more energy and more quiet, both of which I hope are right around the corner.

Floating

It's been a quiet week here on the blog, but there's been lots going on behind the scenes.

The big news here is that I'm officially working with a real, bonafide agent (!) who's enthusiastic about the project.  I'm stunned, and feeling a bit floaty.

I can't tell you what it's like to go from working on a huge project like this on your own, wondering if it really does have potential, to having someone join you and believe in it with you.  Someone who knows the publishing industry and thinks it's worth pitching--thinks it's sell-able.  (Not that my faithful blog readers aren't great, but I have a suspicion that most of you are on my short list of close friends and you're sort of required to like it. ;-)

I'll be editing, writing, and reworking over the next several weeks to get things market-ready.  I'm hoping to get back to posting regularly in the next week or so, but things may be a bit sporadic.

In other news, my chronic fatigue is back in force, which is so incredibly frustrating.  I'm running a fever.  I've had a string of days when taking a shower and actually washing my hair seems to use most of my available energy.  It makes me a little crazy (some days, more than a little). I keep hoping that tomorrow will be better.  And maybe it will.