I've learned to link, Back to it, and the Lonely Quest

Hello from my corner of the world. First off I would like to congratulate Matt Rush for having been linked in Nathan Bransford's "This Week in Publishing" post last Friday. How cool is that? As an English teacher, I will be talking about banned books more than usual this week. So many of the books on my classroom shelf have been banned. It is scary though that a lot of parents are afraid of what is in those books. At open house two weeks ago - I put up a power point that had hooks for the books we read in my class and I headlined Hamlet as "Ghosts, Murder, Sex and Suicide!" One mother paled at the sight of this tag line. I bet she's never read it. But we wouldn't ban Shakespeare would we?

I also wanted to note that the Author!Author! blog got me thinking about Author Pics just this evening. If only I had an agent I would start thinking about one. I wouldn't want to be caught off guard without one as she says often happens. So, just for fun, what about this one?

Just kidding. That's a little scary. It would bring 'newest female horror writer' to a whole new level. That's me last summer taking a break from writing.

Anyway...I am back to it. I have read through DISTILLATION twice in the last four weeks. I made significant changes to the pacing and I worked hard on character continuity. Making sure dear Alice keeps her emotions straight. I think I was successful. When I finished the second go through today I felt really good about it. Even though I've read the thing so many times now (changing it a little or a lot each and every time) I am taken aback by how much I like my own story. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, it even scares the bejesus out of me at times. I like that the best.

Someone commented on some blog last week (sorry I can't remember which) that the query process is like wandering through the desert. I totally agree with that assessment. What a lonely quest. Even with the writing group (thank goodness for them) and the blogs, it is still so bizarre. We send stuff out - maybe it gets a response - maybe not - and the consistency is nonexistent. One never knows.