This family is sick…

We can’t get rid of strep around here.  Stay away if you’re smart. 

It all started with a friendly letter from preschool stating “someone” in Jake’s class had strep and to be on the lookout for it in my kids.

Sure enough, Jake got it, then Beth and I.  This better be the end of it, because I’ve felt like crap for six weeks now.  Very frustrating.

ANYWAY…

I’m rewriting the book that got rejected when my agent shopped it this year.  She’s going on maternity leave again, so that in combination with the work I need to do on my books she let me go.  She was nice about it…said to keep in contact, but she’s overwhelmed.  So it’s me alone again.

 But I took the feedback from the 10 editors who rejected it, looked for patterns, and have since rewritten with these changes:

Instead of three pov’s represented in third person, I’m doing one character in first.

I selected a few elements from the first book, combined it with the best elements from its sequel, changed the main character’s job so that it is a constant source of problems for her as a mom and a professional, and essentially written a new book from scratch.  Every once in a while I pull something from one of the other manuscripts, but for the most part I consider this a first draft of a new book.

MEANWHILE, my husband’s ex-uncle is taking a look at the second book I’d submitted to my agent.  She’d said it was quite good, but small and quiet…Bill’s uncle is a screenwriter…successful, etc. Of course I have my fantasies regarding his reading the manuscript “Yes, Kathie, I’m sending this off, NO, I’m driving this manuscript over to the Farrelly brothers’ office right now!  In fact I don’t even have time to speak right now!”

I’m well aware his reaction will be “eh!” with a shoulder shrug, or he’ll hate it, but what I’m really hoping for is a dialogue–what works, what doesn’t etc.  He’s a screen writer, but I think there’s a lot to learn from someone who has to write as tight and well as a screenwriter does. 

The best part of it is I have zero expectations for what he’ll think.  If he thinks he can reccomend it to an agent that will be heart-stoppingly tremendous, but if not, it was worth the try. That kind of thinking is unusual for me…

So, I’m putting together an agent package for the new book and will send it out mid-November!!!  If we can shake the illnesses…Man, that wipes me out.