song

"Now would be a good time for anyone not a musician to leave the room. Or for any musician who values his hearing. Anyone not me, really."

It probably hadn't ever been done. The equipment was ancient, the sound man deaf. The proportions of the room were exactly, precisely wrong. And the gear got swapped out every week.

But it was time. We tore out the cables, labeled everything, taped it all down. Cleared the stage, tossed the trash, unearthed mysterious stashes of golf balls.

And rang out the system. The noise was shrill, but momentary.

Afterwards, the room sang.

Bah. Two more rejections. One from my former editor (although I was an inherited author, not one that she initially bought, so it's not a total shocker).

I want someone to buy my pretty book!

Ugh, sorry, Barb.

Gud, you *didn't* fall off a ladder, right?

Oh, Barb, that's too bad. Your book is pretty! Someone will buy it!

Sorry Barb, May the next email be a sale.

Drabble theme for today: blink ? How's that?

That's a good one. I was drawing a blank.

Gud, you *didn't* fall off a ladder, right?

No. I'm actually really safe on a ladder because of my phobia. I feel like I'm tipping backwards the whole time so I can't even get up the ladder unless it's really, really secure.

Chapter 17 and 18 are in the bag. I actually used a paragraph from my rough draft in 19, a rare event.

Sorry about the news Barb, I hope the next communication is more satisfactory.

Thanks, Gud. And glad to see that the ladder didn't claim you as a victim and that you're making some progress.

As far as the Rs, they are what they are. I also just found out today that an editor to whom my agent had submitted the manuscript was just let go from his house, apparently for creative differences. Which happens. We'll just find someone else at the house to submit to. I feel bad for one of my good friends, because this was her editor and he currently had her option book and was about to take it to committee, so now she's sort of back at square one until they decide who's going to be looking at his former work.

Would I be welcome to discuss my non-fiction writing in here? It doesn't really fit the thread description. But I'm embarking upon the long, lonely life of an independent researcher and writer, including beginning work on a book. I see my non-fiction writing very much as a craft. Also, I'm from a writing family - my father is a published non-fiction writer and poet, while my stepmother writes fiction and is working on getting her first publication. So I know quite a lot about the whole, long, soul-sucking process...!

Currently, I'm trying to get past the appalling writer's block that is stopping me from writing up my dissertation. Then I'll be beginning the book process. Am debating whether to contact publishers with a proposal, or write some chapters first. I think it will depend on how far the associated research gets in the first couple of months.