What Makes Me a Happy Girl

What is on the iPod? Believe by Staind

Finding Natalie is the title of book one. I would love for another title for reach out and slap me, but nothing has done that yet, so...

I am nearly 50,000 words into book two. I have written, this week alone, 25 pages. Trust me, this is a lot for someone who has been out of the game for almost a month. I cut some dead weight and I added some enticing elements. I am reworking some stuff that wasn't grooving too well and I am making a background player into more of a presence. I am feeling pretty damned good about the direction things are going. Jared, Rebecca and Christian are making me very happy.

However, book one is still the pink elephant in the room. I sent 17 query letters, got three requests for more material and some very kind rejections. This, under no uncertain terms, has pissed me off. Why? Because the book is something that I would buy for myself. You have to write something that you would enjoy reading if you want success with it. I walked away from Natalie for three months. I did not touch it, I did not send a query out, I left it alone and poured myself in book two. Still, Natalie and Rob would not go away. There were certain elements of the book that needed to be reworked and I played and replayed plot lines, possible consequences of changing the parts that needed to be changed and decided to go for it. I pulled out my trusty flash drive yesterday and reread the book in the entirety. This morning, I spend hours tweaking. I can honestly say that the product I have now is worthy of a spot on the shelves of any major book chain in the country. Hell, why stop there, I may as well conquer this continent while I am at it. It is worthy of a spot on the shelves of any North American chain there is. I would love to reprint it and give it to the four people who have read the original to see their reactions.

Any given day of the week I would buy this book for myself. Why? Because at the end of the day, you care about Natalie and Rob. You want happiness for them both. You think Lisa is probably one of the coolest girls ever and would love to have her as a friend and you would love to have her car. You think that Jack may not be such an ass after all. You think that Amelia and Jackson are the kind of kids you would want for yourself. You actually go on the UNOS website to do a little research into transplantation because that is one of my original purposes for writing the book. You google University Memorial Hospital and no, it is not a real place. Truthfully, University Memorial is a split between Duke University Medical Center and UNC Hospitals at Chapel Hill because, although I did not truly define the area Natalie lives, she would be close to both. Rob is closer to Raleigh as is Lisa but Natalie is about 20 minutes away from University Memorial, so I combined them. My fellow North Carolinians know that for all the rivalry between the two schools, Duke and UNC are actually only 20 minutes away from one another, and that is allowing for traffic, which is hell on a good day.

Not only have I completed one novel this year, I am almost two-thirds of the way through a second and I have read probably close to 250 books this past year, all the while raising two children (and leaping tall buildings in a single bound - ha!). I have researched. I know the books that I enjoy and I know my favorite authors. I know which books made me sniffle, cry and sob. I know what hooks me. I know what makes me pull for a character. I know what makes me close the book after 20 or so pages (I usually flip to the end before I shelf the book permanently to see if there is any sort of payoff).

Not only did I read these books, I looked at how they sold. During the year of writing and research, I had the honor of meeting one of my favorite authors, Nicholas Sparks. Talk about shaking nervousness! I also went to the Backspace Writers Conference in Manhattan and met some of the most famous agents in the game. I had a well-researched year and I now have one hell of a completed book as a result. I only wait on the elusive agent.

Patience is a learned virtue, not one easily gained, I might add. I will find an agent and when I do, he or she will find that I am exactly what I say, one hell of a writer. All I need is the one bite, the one agent who will see the value of my work. For the ones that have passed, I would have loved working with you but it is your loss. For the agent that I will eventually find, come get me, I am waiting!

Until next time.