Tuesday, December 11, 2007

OMG! OMG! OMG!

Nathan Bransford mentioned me by name in his blog! Me and another woman asked in yesterdays comments if he represents authors outside of the US, and today he responded to us!

I know, it's not earth-shattering news, but... OMG! OMG! OMG!

In all seriousness, my main concern is our unreliable mail service. I can send things out via DHL or FedEx, but it's the replies I'm most interested about. I know some agents don't bother sending rejections, even if you do include a self-addressed stamped envelope, and my psyche can't handle any more stress than is absolutely necessary. More and more agents accept e-queries which eliminate mail for the initial stages, but I'm sure there will be a few that prefer snail mail.

I can't only stalk query Nathan.

I'm still months away from needing to worry about this, but I do want to start researching agents and figuring out who's best suited for my work. I'm closing in on page 200 of my edits (out of roughly 280) then it's onto the joyous rewrites! Heads up to those of you I've tagged as beta readers. :)

* * * * *

I did have my blood drawn today and only had a very minor incident. I tend to pass out when needles come within 5 feet of my body and today was no exception. I thought I was fine. I waited a few minutes in the lab after the nice woman finished the blood-letting, then Ibis and I started walking back to the car. We were half a block away when things started spinning and night came much too soon.

Fortunately there was a window ledge where I was falling so I spared myself the embarassment of napping on the sidewalk. Ibis ran to get the car and I was able to get up the 4 flights of stairs on my own. I'm fine now - I just have a teeny bruise to show for my efforts.

I forgot last week, but here's the latest weather report. It's cooled off a bit since the rain last week.

Temp: 87°
Humidity: 69%

Hope the rest of you are staying warm, or at the very least, dry.

8 comments:

Jenna said...

Too funny...your Nathan comments that is, not almost passing out.

Nathan is the first blog on my daily list so I read his post first then had to come directly here :). I would act the same way too...if only that man knew the effect he has on some of us woman writers ;).

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Mmm-hmmmmm.

political wife said...

That's great Melanie! Well...all you have to do now, is write the proposal and get that query off! :)

So sorry about the blood-draw incident...I can totally relate.

Be glad that you are in Mexico and not home in Michigan, where it is neither warm nor dry. Quite cold, wet and icy in fact.

Virginia Lee said...

Gad, Melanie! The next time you have to have any blood taken, have a small bottle of 100% orange or other juice with you to drink immediately. It's not a cureall, but it will help some.

Cool on the agent encounter too! I hope you did, at the very least, a happy in your chair dance.

Melanie Hooyenga said...

I thought about the orange juice but figured we'd be home in 10 minutes and I could make it. Guess not. :)

Yes, there was a happy dance.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the mention! Such a thrill!

I know a couple of writers who live outside of the U.S. but query within it. One has her cousin act as a U.S. mailing address: the cousin scans incoming mail into the computer. I don't know if that's something that might cut down your worries about get your mail, but it worked for my friend.

Rebecca Laffar-Smith said...

It's wonderful to read Nathan's comments re: International Representation. I'm still torn between looking for an Australian publisher vs. an American one. Ultimately I won't decide where to begin until my current WIP is ready to submit but these are questions that are worth asking from the beginning. If we specifically want to be represented first in a specific country it would be important to know in the early stages so we can write the book for that target market.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I'm a Canadian living in Sri Lanka. Even if I was still in Canada, I'd still be looking at US representation - I want the most bang for my buck, and that just won't happen with Canadian publishers.

Sri Lankan publishers... Well, let's just say that they don't pay you, you pay them. Advances are unheard of - literally. No way will I entertain the joke of publishing here.

So, still looking at US representation. Or UK. But either way, it's international, and with postal queries and submissions, the cost is going to add up.