From your judging experience, am I right about that?

I don't think so, not if the reader gets right away that Jack and Anna are the protagonists -- then that final page where they learn her husband is dead will be a corker. Remember, at least from a published book perspective, readers will have at least glanced at the cover copy and know who the couple will be, but if you make the attraction clear enough, anyone picking up that first chapter blind should be able to get it, too.

Does that help? (And go you!, by the way, on everything you're doing, and with a nasty cold/virus if my lurking in Bitches is anything to go by.)

That definitely helps! I was worried that people might be put off by a heroine who's still married to someone other than the hero at the start of the book, but if you avoid first chapter contests, it limits your options considerably.

I'm writing and setting goals for the next 18 months or so because that's stuff I can do perched in front of the computer or curled up on a couch--beyond the bare minimum of Annabel-wrangling, I'm avoiding anything resembling physical exertion. This stuff is fun, and much better for the virally afflicted than folding laundry or vacuuming.

It sucks mighty big ones to be sick when you have to baby-wrangle. I mean, it sucks to be sick anytime, but when there's a tiny person who completely doesn't understand that Mommy feels like a truck ran over her, it's worse.

t /natter

Ugh.

I'm completely burned out on the Lucy rewrite. What's more, I've decided it's just not a marketable manuscript. The characters and the writing are fine, but the plot is weak and disjointed, with insufficient conflict. I could probably write a decent story using the existing characters and premise, but right now I just can't bear the thought of rewriting it yet AGAIN.

But it's still with the major publisher editor I met at conference. And I said in my cover letter that I was working on a major rewrite that I planned to finish by 12/31. The last thing I want to do is make my name mud with anyone in the business, because I know that can kill all your chances at selling for years, if not for good.

So. Would I be committing career suicide if I called the editor first thing Monday and said something along the lines of, "I submitted a partial to you in early October for a completed novel I was in the process of rewriting. During the rewrite I realized the story has insurmountable structural problems, so I'd like to withdraw it from consideration and focus on my new work. Thank you so much for your consideration, and I'd love to work with you in the future when I have a completed project I'm confident about."?

Or words to that effect. If that'd be career suicide, I'll suck it up and potentially offend my in-laws by writing the entire time I'm in Tulsa, but I'm starting to hate the book and the process.

Susan, I wouldn't do that. One (hard truth): either she's not interested or hasn't read it yet, based on the time frame. If she's not interested, writing rejection letters is often last on the to-do list for any given day. If she hasnt read it yet, why jinx it? If she wants the complete, she probably won't be in touch until mid-January at the earliest. At that point, you'd still have a week (two at the outside) to get it to her.

Could you keep going at a slower pace, or are you really convinced it's just not going to work? Point being, I never, ever had an author call me up and say that. It's admirable and shows a great deal of integrity, but if she likes it, why not have it published? She might have revision notes for you anyway. I'm just saying, if there's still a chance she might like it, I wouldn't shoot it down myself.

t /my two cents

Well--it's just that I'm starting to loathe my heroine and the entire process. And I'm writing crap. Utter crap. It sucks. And the longer I have to wrestle with it, the longer it'll be before I get to write what I want to be writing.

Thinking some more...I'm probably about 100 pages from the end. I could set it aside, take from now till New Year's off from serious writing, and start Anna on Jan. 2 like I've been planning all along. Then if she does request the full, I'd find a way to finish it in 10 days or so. I could do it if I cleared my schedule, called in favors with all the SAHMs I know from church to watch Annabel for an afternoon, and made liberal use of the ending from the old version. Unfortunately, I can't just use the old version, because it's all Lucy, and now I'm alternating between Lucy and James.

Then if she does request the full, I'd find a way to finish it in 10 days or so.

It's entirely up to you, as you know -- I just wanted to give you my perspective. And I know what you mean about hating a book while you're writing it -- I've been there. But if you give yourself the holidays off to relax and have some time away from it, and then see what happens if she calls, you don't lose either way, you know?

Could be the one time you're happy to get a rejection letter, though.

Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon PopTarts:

Bwah! I just saw your post in Bitches. The courtesy phone. Hee.

Susan, if you're burned out, put it away. The rewrite I've been reading isn't crap, but it's making you miserable. Put it away for awhile.

And if she calls and loves it, you'll feel re-energised.

My three cents.