Following on from my other post, I finally received that e-mail and it was a rejection. However, it was a very positive rejection and I had a huge smile on my face reading it. I received some personalised and very detailed feedback, a whole paragraph worth, no less.
Comments like- a sympathetic heroine and a strong, appealing alpha hero, The attraction between Sylvia and Sven is believable and compelling, and the situation they find themselves in tugs at the heartstrings - are pretty good for my first ever attempt at writing a romance novel :-)
So I will take that feed back on board and rewrite their meet. At the moment it does rely heavily on coincidences and whilst there are aspects that I will definitely keep, others will go. It was the one thing that had been niggling at me anyway, so will get off my backside and work at it to make the start stronger. Sylvia and Sven were strangers when I wrote that first chapter, but they are very dear friends now and Sven is far too sexy to not make it into a book ;-)
Onwards and upwards :-D
Friday, 28 January 2011
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Argh, I hate waiting...
I really, really do hate waiting. I am the most impatient person ever, when it comes to waiting, lol. Back in November I entered the Harlequin So You Think You Can Write Challenge, which involved sending in a first chapter and a Synopsis. We were guaranteed a reply by January 31st.
Now yesterday, several of my writing friends received a rejection reply, so they are obviously started replying to entrants. I am still waiting to hear and I'm sure my e-mail is going to go belly up in disgust at my constant refreshing ;-)
I just want to know! No news is good news I suppose, but some of the stuff that was rejected was really good in my humble opinion, so goodness only knows what's going on over at Harlequin. Guess only they know what they are looking for.
In other, much more pleasant news, I can go public and announce that we are expecting again. :-D I found out Boxing Day, with no idea how far along I was, which was a tad disconcerting to say the least. You'd think after eight kids I 'd know the signs eh, but I think I must have been in complete denial. Put all the symptoms down to stress with worry over Marcel etc.
So it was with huge relief, we had a private scan on Saturday and I now have a due date of August 13th or thereabouts. My ten year old is mega excited at the prospect of a brother or sister possibly sharing her birthday, hers is August 6th. In fact the whole brood is in a state of excitement. The eldest four have known for a while, but not the younger ones. We took Gabs (6) and Tj (3) with us to the scan and their face was such a picture when they saw the baby on screen!
Tj has talked of little else but the baby in Mummy's big belly. In fact he had me in stitches on Saturday when he watched me getting in the bath. "Baby having a bath too, baby in your tummy, Mummy!"
A very cute baby, if I say so myself.
Tj was most taken with baby waving at him :-D
Having gazed some more at that pic, I will now resume refreshing my e-mail...
Did I say I HATE waiting ;-)
Now yesterday, several of my writing friends received a rejection reply, so they are obviously started replying to entrants. I am still waiting to hear and I'm sure my e-mail is going to go belly up in disgust at my constant refreshing ;-)
I just want to know! No news is good news I suppose, but some of the stuff that was rejected was really good in my humble opinion, so goodness only knows what's going on over at Harlequin. Guess only they know what they are looking for.
In other, much more pleasant news, I can go public and announce that we are expecting again. :-D I found out Boxing Day, with no idea how far along I was, which was a tad disconcerting to say the least. You'd think after eight kids I 'd know the signs eh, but I think I must have been in complete denial. Put all the symptoms down to stress with worry over Marcel etc.
So it was with huge relief, we had a private scan on Saturday and I now have a due date of August 13th or thereabouts. My ten year old is mega excited at the prospect of a brother or sister possibly sharing her birthday, hers is August 6th. In fact the whole brood is in a state of excitement. The eldest four have known for a while, but not the younger ones. We took Gabs (6) and Tj (3) with us to the scan and their face was such a picture when they saw the baby on screen!
Tj has talked of little else but the baby in Mummy's big belly. In fact he had me in stitches on Saturday when he watched me getting in the bath. "Baby having a bath too, baby in your tummy, Mummy!"
A very cute baby, if I say so myself.
Tj was most taken with baby waving at him :-D
Having gazed some more at that pic, I will now resume refreshing my e-mail...
Did I say I HATE waiting ;-)
Friday, 7 January 2011
A happy post
After my rather emotional blog about Christmas, thought it was about high time I posted something happy.
I'm rather pleased with myself today, as I have this afternoon typed those marvellous two words THE END under my latest manuscript Too Cold To Love. It has been at times a hard slog, my H/H not making it easy for me to get them to their happy place, but hey I did it! :-D
Of course that means I now have to try and write the dreaded synopsis, but am putting that off for now. I would seriously rather gnaw on my foot then write one of them!
But this is a happy post, not a moany one and whilst I'm on the subject of synopsis (what is the plural for those?), I am finally happy with the one for Too Hot To Handle and will send it off to the powers that be next week. It would have been this week, had I managed to get hold of an International Reply Coupon, which seem to be gold dust. At least you'd be forgiven for thinking so, when I asked for one in our local post office.
It still makes me giggle, recalling the blank looks from the folks behind the counter.
"A what?"
"An International Reply Coupon?"
"Urm, what's it for?"
"To send abroad, so things can be send back to me, without them having to pay the postage."
More blank looks...
"Right.....we have gift cards!"
Cue, me barely holding back the giggles at the relieved look on their faces, when I said: “Never mind, I will ask at the big post office in town, shall I?"
The above is the short version; I spare you the many times I had to say International Reply Coupon veeeeeerryyyy slowly ;-)
I suppose, in fairness to them, it does state on the website that they are available from big post offices, but still. You'd think they'd at least have heard of them!
To further put me into my happy place tonight, my parcel arrived from Amazon the other day, containing all of Heidi Rice's back novels and well I just LOVE her! Nothing quite like a well written, funny, sexy, sassy romance that makes you literally go Aw at the ending :-D
This was the one I read tonight!
I'm rather pleased with myself today, as I have this afternoon typed those marvellous two words THE END under my latest manuscript Too Cold To Love. It has been at times a hard slog, my H/H not making it easy for me to get them to their happy place, but hey I did it! :-D
Of course that means I now have to try and write the dreaded synopsis, but am putting that off for now. I would seriously rather gnaw on my foot then write one of them!
But this is a happy post, not a moany one and whilst I'm on the subject of synopsis (what is the plural for those?), I am finally happy with the one for Too Hot To Handle and will send it off to the powers that be next week. It would have been this week, had I managed to get hold of an International Reply Coupon, which seem to be gold dust. At least you'd be forgiven for thinking so, when I asked for one in our local post office.
It still makes me giggle, recalling the blank looks from the folks behind the counter.
"A what?"
"An International Reply Coupon?"
"Urm, what's it for?"
"To send abroad, so things can be send back to me, without them having to pay the postage."
More blank looks...
"Right.....we have gift cards!"
Cue, me barely holding back the giggles at the relieved look on their faces, when I said: “Never mind, I will ask at the big post office in town, shall I?"
The above is the short version; I spare you the many times I had to say International Reply Coupon veeeeeerryyyy slowly ;-)
I suppose, in fairness to them, it does state on the website that they are available from big post offices, but still. You'd think they'd at least have heard of them!
To further put me into my happy place tonight, my parcel arrived from Amazon the other day, containing all of Heidi Rice's back novels and well I just LOVE her! Nothing quite like a well written, funny, sexy, sassy romance that makes you literally go Aw at the ending :-D
This was the one I read tonight!
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