Woof - sorry. I had to hit send well before I was done; I'm asleep on my feet and we were cat wrangling the two who need to be isolated.

What I meant was, rather than second-guess, just work on what you're doing. You can go back to Lucy in another month or three, and look at it then. The novel's not going anywhere; neither is the market. They'll both still be there in a week, or a month.

And sweetie, a word of advice? If you start trying to break the writing down into chunks of time or math, you'll flip out. That way lies madness.

Well, I'm just feeling all gung-ho to get Lucy shipped out again, and for that matter to get some magazine queries and submissions for anthologies out, before the Player arrives. Because that way I can feel like I'm doing what I can to market my work, and potentially bring in at least some income, while accepting I'll be out of commission for at least a month or two. (And I know even if I did get an agent who quickly found an editor to buy Lucy, it'd be a long time before I saw the check. It's more the principle of the thing--I want to keep moving forward.)

This is all part of my panic of "dammit, I never ever want to go back to that job! Why was I not more organized about getting my freelance business up and running 6 months ago?"

Oof.

I wish I could hold a rational conversation right now, but I'm so tired there's no coping. Just stopped in to post a piece of news in Bitches, and then offline with me.

I understand--get some sleep/relaxation!

Hmm. Looking at this rationally, of all the things I can do now that might bring in money from my writing, selling a novel is both the hardest to do and the longest wait between completion and paycheck. So I should probably worry less about getting partials shipped out to agents sometime in March, and more about getting in magazine queries and the like, and about publicizing my resume service.

Well, I'd kinda like to find someone well-versed in the genre who hasn't read Lucy yet to get a second opinion on whether my misgivings are correct.

Susan, I can't speak for her, but Micole is very well read in the romance genre. She's also an excellent writer on her own, with a strong critical sensibility, and some background in publishing.

You might want to drop her a note at her profile address if you want an outside eye. You can tell her I suggested it, if you like -- we're good friends.

Susan, I'm also very well read in the genre, though my history is now rusty, and while I saw peeks while it was in progress, I haven't read it as a whole.

I also know exactly what things will make me lose interest in a book in terms of pacing, etc., and am willing to read and mark up with a red pen if need be.

susan, try me. can't do an indepth right now, tho.

Thanks, y'all. I should probably finish the re-read/edit I'm doing now and make the changes I know need to happen first, and get back to you then.

Interesting article in todays news paper (San Francisco Chronicle) probably at www.sfgate.com. The writer of the article is Adair Lara.

edited to tell you the article is about romance writers

Brand-new here. Saw the writing thread and decided to come on in.

Susan W., I'd love to hear more about Lucy and Mr. Wright. I was an editor at a publisher for years, and I acquired mostly romance, historical and contemporary. I'm home with kids writing now, too. Sounds like you're expecting any day now?

Historicals can be a hard sell. And Avon (while it's definitely a wonderful place to be published) is extremely hard to get into precisely because their romances are so successful.

I'll check back in tomorrow, or you can email me if you like. And if I'm making newbie mistakes all over the place, I apologize...