Dreaded trek to the mailbox

And there you have it. Not a week after my first post, I've received another oh-so-polite rejection from an agency I was sure would love my crossover YA adventure Manas. As my mother and friends have said, 'It's their loss. be sure to send them a nice thank-you card after getting published.'

Thanks for keeping my head up and my eyes forward, ladies :)

Next steps for me include my Sunday-night pep talk with highly respected writer Sophie Powell, whose book, Mushroom Man, has garnered quite fantastic compliments from critics. I'm looking forward to her take on things and taking some advice.

Which leads me to a side point: Screw all of you high-horse writers who take obscene pleasure in being condescending and patronizing to aspiring authors like me who have the sheer audacity to ask for advice -- what's wrong? Don't want the competition? I've written another author, who will remain nameless, who basically told me to go to writers conferences and 'do what the rest of us have done -- keep working and moving forward.' Gee thanks. I really appreciate that. Spend lots of money to maybe get your work noticed, then sit back and watch the dollars pour in. Great. Not for nuthin', but I'm not an idiot.

Anyways ... I plan on snail-mailing out query letters to agents who I've been putting off because I don't like the idea of regular mail correspondence -- ironic for me since I'm the self-proclaimed world's best pen pal :) Aside from the environmental impact of sending all these queries out paper-wise, I also feel as though agencies who use mail only are stuck in the past. Then again, beggars can't be choosers... though I'm hardly a beggar at this point. Nah, I need a few more years to get to that point!

Also, I'm looking for some niche, boutique publishers interested in publishing my book, so please email me at amplante@gmail.com if you are a fan of any!

And, perhaps, if there is a good one nearby, I may go to a writers' conference. Ugh.

But, do I have another story in the works or what! I've been happily writing on it for a few weeks, and I am so proud of what I'm coming up with in my magical world of Enna that it's going to blow your socks off :)

So, don't fret -- things are moving forward and, though intensely disappointed over the falling of another agency request, I will persevere. Thanks for everyone's support :)

Hi, my name is... and other introductory info

I'm learning a hard lesson right now -- but one that is not wholly unexpected: Writing isn't the hard part when it comes to getting a manuscript published.

Quite the contrary.

You see, I spent about six months writing my debut work, a awesome fictional novel whose premise I'm not about to divulge online (because it'll get published one day...).

I delighted in the 'brain bursts' that led to multiple pages and witty dialogue, and I wallowed in the problems I simply couldn't solve. I planned my twists and discovered my main villain at about the same time I'd expect a very sharp reader to. To me, my characters became real -- their story more a personal memory of mine that made-up wanderings.

It was intensely fun and self-revealing -- and much easier than I expected it would be, considering all the work that went in to it in retrospect.

You see, I'm not only a novelist -- I'm also a mom of two very young boys, a wife of an exceptional man (and drill-sargent critic) and a full-time employee for leading out-of-home media company Captivate Network. I cook dinner every night, work out three times a week, and participate in leisure activities that include but are not limited to Facebook posts, weekends and nights playing Dungeons and Dragons with my husband and friends, weekly Rock Band 2 parties and, of course, my monthly facials and Friday night knitting group.

It's a lot to take on, but, as Tim Gunn would say, I make it work. I am a trained and naturally gifted writer -- come on, we all have something we're good at, and it's OK to be confident in your attributes. Some would say I border on cocky, but that's debatable.

But... the 'getting published' part. Well, that just has me a little apathetic at the moment, to be honest.

My novel, while very well written and based on a strong story, has garnered more interest than I logically had the right to expect and/or deserve. I am, literarily speaking, a nobody from nowhere who one day decided she was going to write a book.

But, that's not where the story goes bad -- I've actually had quite a bit of intense interest in my novel. It's just that, in the given market, no one is willing to commit to something they aren't wholeheartedly passionate about. Unlike like 99% of writers whose first books go unnoticed by agents and have to resubmit numerous drafts, I've been contacted by *four* separate agencies about possible representation. That's truly amazing and an incredible compliment.

It's just that three out of the four have now declined. After requesting the whole document, I was really thinking the last agent was going to be the one -- because, after all, it only takes one.

That may become my new mantra: It only takes one -- one agent to like it, one agent to sell it and one publisher to buy it.

It's time to keep writing my second novel and, while awaiting word from the last pending agency, keep moving forward.