I'm in chapter 6 of Cog now and I've got just about 11,000 words, it's moving along well. The problem is that I'm enjoying working on Cog so much that I haven't been doing any more query letters.

I'm going to have to make myself do one at some point. I've got to decide between the old pitch and the new pitch though. The old pitch has the advantage of already being written.

set some sort of egg timer, Gud? work for n words, then write a query?

I just sent my agent the proposal and 24K word sample for the YA thing I've been working on. I feel a little dizzy.

Yay, Jilli! Breathe and have some chocolate. It's a proven restorative.

Good Luck, Jilli!

Awesome doings Jilli! I second the chocolate vote. Or... you know, cupcakes? Can't wait to read more Jillibooks.

Yay, Jilli!

Go, Jilli! I'm glad you got it sent off.

I've got to decide between the old pitch and the new pitch though.

Argh. I will give this a shot today, if you still want me to. I've been so scattered being sick and working on the second book.

Sure, that would be awesome, thanks!

I've read most of your story, Sox. Hopefully I can finish it tonight and get some comments your way soon.

Guys, I need a little feedback/thoughts.

Another new germ of an idea just hit me.

Just the character, mind you-- I have no concept of plot or ANYTHING, but get this: What if you had a character who was part of a small group of humans with the ability to "project?" Maybe it's a genetic mutation that mines some previously untapped aspect of the human brain and its abilities or something-- the one thing I know for sure is they have this ability.

It's like the ultimate "What if?" The projectionists are given information and are able to project the most probable outcome as a physical occurrence. The projectionist is literally part of the scenario, primarily as a passive observer, but depending on the nature of the projection, could potentially suffer physical harm. And even if they themselves don't suffer direct physical harm, the more physically taxing a projection-- such as if it's a war scenario and other participants are dying, the projectionist suffers physical aftereffects.

Imagine what an asset an individual like that would be for the military. Or conversely, what someone who's looking to make a handsome profit (say like a Donald Trump type) could do with an individual like that, essentially whoring them out to create dream scenarios to the highest bidder.

Think of sort of like a combination holodeck/reverse Inception. Instead of going into someone's mind to mine their dreams, they're physically creating a physical manifestation of a dream or scenario.

Whaddaya think? Again, this is so far out of my usual comfort zone, I don't even know if there's already something out there like this.