A Note of Thanks

The manuscript is coming along, and things are really starting to look up for me. (I don't mean to imply that there is any interest in it. No one other than my critique partner has ever seen it and it will be A WHILE before they will). But things just seem so much more optimistic now and I have a lot of people to thank for that. I thought today I would take the time to do it.

First of all, I sent an email asking how to find an agent to Kami Garcia, author of Beautiful Creatures not really expecting a reply. I also emailed Robin Mellom, author of Ditched, with that question and a few others. They both took the time to respond to me. It was from them I learned about SCBWI, (a wonderful resource, if you don't know about it, check it out). Thanks to both of you, as I've been a member of this organization less than a month, met some great people and found opportunities I didn't know about.

Maggie Stiefvater, author of Books of Faerie, and The Wolves of Mercy Falls, (which you can find here) had some really great posts on revision (links in the blog from two days ago). Her posts gave me some really great insights to things I'd never thought of. They have me questioning my writing more and looking for ways to improve it, a must if one is to prevail. She also hosts a critique partner match up on her fan site, where I met Jessie Harrell, who introduced me to http://yalitchat.ning.com/ another great resource. Yalitchat has been invaluable to me. The support group is encouraging but there are so many people to ask questions of and they're all willing to answer. Thanks to both of you.

In fact, I met my critique partner, Angela, on YALitchat. She's great. She tears my writing a part and she is there to pick of the pieces when I'm ready to beat myself in the head with a baseball bat because my writing is in pieces. (That's not really a critique partner's job), so special thanks to Angela.

My thanks to Carrie Harris who has agreed to do an interview on my blog. Thanks to anyone reading this, and all of you who participated in my contest.

And last, but not least, thank you to Emil Fred. (No link, he doesn't blog). The person who endures all of my 2 A.M. temper tantrums because the words aren't right or the scene isn't coming together. The person who tells me to keep going when I'm ready to give up and the person who forces me to take a break when it's time to quit but my stubbornness won't allow me to do the logical thing. I love you Emil!

I'm less than a scene away from having what I think will be a completed manuscript, though I will have to piece it together. One month ago, this wasn't the situation. And even if I had finished I didn't know what to do with it, or where to start! I'm going to the Winter Conference now. I'm not sure how it will turn out, but if it doesn't prove successful this year, it will be important for my future success, something I no longer look at as a lingering possibility but a reality within grasp. It wouldn't be without the help I've received.