Two SQUEES In A Week!

Seriously, I didn't expect the second squeeee! but I got asked by another publisher for the full manuscript of The Wedding Favour on Monday. (I know, I know, I'm sorry I'm telling you about it now!)

They sent the email around 3.05pm - just as I'm about to do the school run, plus I was taking the kids to Puxton - and all I wanted to do was send the manuscript off! However, I did have a submission form to fill out, and that took some time and care, and I hit the send button sometime Tuesday morning.

So that's it now. All four publishers have the full manuscript. I imagine I won't hear anything till July or August. I can't crack open the champagne yet... there still maybe disappointment at the end, but there is some relief that I've done things right so far! I need to just crack on with Perfect Isn't An Option and not think about it too much.

I will give one word of warning to you all thinking of sending off a synopsis to a publisher. DO NOT do it until that manuscript is finished. I mean truly finished, polished, you feel you can do no more to it.  THEN send the synopsis out, or whatever the submissions guidelines state.

In January, I was thinking, shall I send it off, while working on the editing of the last few chapters, because it will be weeks till I hear something.... No, it was days! Now the MS is sent, I might have to wait weeks...

If a publisher only requests a synopsis or the first few pages as part of its submission guidelines, they will get back to you quickly to say whether they want to see the full or not. And then they will inform you how long you may have to wait.

So glad my betas talked me out of that one! (Yes, I'll mention good old Becky Black again! I would not be here without her and another good beta friend!)

In other news, I will be hosting a blog tour for Doris O'Connor and Mandy Baggot over the next week. Both have new books out! Mandy's is actually out today - so congratulations, Mandy!

I need to get back to writing, but my RSI has flared up, which is really, really annoying, as I don't want to stop the momentum of Perfect Isn't An Option. However, I might have to sit back a couple of days until it's settled. Really annoying! Grrrr...

Here's Bradley Cooper to ease my pain....

 

See I always reward you in the end! There's something about a man who can handle heavy artillery :D 

Nail Biting Times Ahead

I can officially tell you what it feels like to submit a novel to a publisher - it's scary as hell! God, did I hover over the send button, reading the submission letter one last time, then one last time again. 

This is how grey hairs form! The kids haven't sent me grey - yet - but submitting novels will.

Luckily, I did take Becky Black's advice and sleep on it for the night, because in the morning, I noticed my blurb, which was also drafted on my blog, had Sophie Fletcher not Sophie Trewyn, like my first five pages of my manuscript that followed. How stupid would I have looked?

Ages ago, I decided to change Sophie's name to something more Cornish, as she comes from Cornwell. But obviously, digging through my various documents that I'd started to write summaries, these were still in Fletcher, and so didn't even notice. (I've changed it on my blog post too now ;-))

I also ummed and aarrred about my pen name. I've sent it as Teresa F Morgan. I can discuss this with the publisher if any are interested.

So, it is official. The Wedding Favour is now out there! At the moment, I've sent to three publishers, which I think I will be waiting a long time for. But these are my favourites - and fear rejections will be from all of them, but hey ho! This does mean I can concentrate on writing Perfect Isn't An Option, which might be slightly off target for finishing end of April. It more likely will be the middle of May. It depends on if it reaches 80,000 words. For some reason, this one is actually appearing shorter - and yet I felt there was more plot to this story lol! Am I becoming a better writer?

I think this causes for a mild celebration! Sambuca's all round?

Or shall we have a celebratory Bradley Cooper picture?

Image credit John Baer

 Or just both? Drinking sambucas with Bradley Cooper would be nice...

He doesn't look that bad hung over.

Love Hate Relationship

I love writing! I LOVE it!

I hate writing a synopsis, covering letter, and a blurb for my book. Argh! (Luckily the synopsis was written a while back).

Would you be interested if you read: 

Sophie Trewyn has a wedding to attend, and no one to go with, until her colleague convinces his best mate, Adam Reid to go with her as a favour.  All he has to do is pretend to be Sophie’s boyfriend. Sophie’s concerns about her handsome stranger disappear as they get to know one another. But all the pretending, the kisses and caresses, Sophie starts to wish it were true. But with some surprises in store, will Adam regret saying yes?

This is my blurb so far!

And what do you tell a publisher when you don't actually have any writing history, apart from a few letters!? Because I've failed miserably at trying to get a short story published. I have tried, but not very hard. Really. I ended up concentrating on finishing my novel... because that's where my passion was.

Plus, they all want different things, so I think it will be a case of putting one package together, sending that out, then working on the next. I'm sure it will get easier. lol! And how many should I send out to first? 

There has been no news from the Novelicious competition. I should be made aware by 24th April. Well, it's the 20th, and I'm not holding my breath.

So then I worry, does this not bode well for The Wedding Favour?

I know, I know, I've got to accept the rejections - it's part of the writing process. And I suppose to get them, you've just got to put it out there. But I can't help thinking, should I just go bang my head against a brick wall, or something. Stick it in the oven? I mean, I'm sending it out there, knowing it's going to hurt (maybe because there is a tiny doubt in my mind that I won't become a published author, that I would never be that lucky in life). 

Well, at least it's Friday!

I won't get much writing done this weekend. I'm going home to see my mum, and visit my nan who is poorly. (I originate from Sunny Staines). My husband is running the London Marathon on Sunday, so we're going along to show our support. But after this day there will be no more excuses, my life needs to start moving forward. It's going to be hard work and very messy, but I want to get the tough bit over with, so I can eventually see the light at the end of the tunnel. (And I'm not talking about writing here). Life will be better on the other side.

So, Monday, does my new life start?

Not Only Dr Who Manages Time Lines.

With all the worry of getting words written for Perfect Isn't An Option, I've forgotten about preparing the submission of The Wedding Favour.

There isn't enough time in the day! 

But the kids are back at school... so I might, might, just get some more stuff done during the day.

Admittedly, I did enter it into a competition, so I can't really do much now, although 24th April isn't too far away. But I could at least look at some of the publishers requirements and put a submission pack together, right?

So, trying to write 7000 words for Perfect Isn't An Option this week (I've done 1000 words so far) and where possible, start drafting blurbs, letters etc. Argh!

My wall, right in front of me!

What I have been doing is my time line for Perfect Isn't An Option, making sure it's not wibbly wobbly timey whimey... stuff.

As you can see by the picture, I've printed off four months and decided to fill them in as a calendar. It was easier to work out how many weeks have passed. I've even thought I should put a Halloween scene in. And as Steve has been in the States for 15 years, should I give Thanksgiving a mention?

(I thought I'd share that I have a Robbie Williams calendar and I've moved my two favourite cards up to make space for The Time Line. One is a motivator to leave the housework alone and keep writing).

I have also another sort of time line in an A4 notebook, spread across two pages (so that's A3). This is helping for 'history' before the present day of when the book takes place. I'm going to add in the filmography into this, so I can know what Steve's mother saw before she died, and things like that, because it does get referenced.

Admittedly, this means less words have been written as it's taken some time to figure this stuff out and go through what I've written so far, but it does mean my novel is taking a better shape - I'm a stickler for things being right - and (hopefully) generated plot bunnies for additional scenes that are required.

For example, in One Day - which I forgot to add in the review as a nit - something threw me out of the book momentarily, and I did get annoyed for a bit. Unless Dexter was unsure of his mother's true age, (she could have been the sort to lie about it, thinking about it) she died at 49. Dexter, at the time, was around 29 - I think. (I've just spent 20 minutes trying to find this for certain and have failed lol!) This is fine, but he has a 34 year old sister...(at the time his mother is ill - I found that bit of info!) If I was working this out correctly... Hmmm... This makes his mum 14-15 when she had her - which is doable, but you don't really get the impression she had a teenage pregnancy, especially as his father is supposedly a much 'older' husband. I do hate it when writers don't do the maths!

Yes, so there's me, making sure if something happened two weeks ago, I making sure I don't have my character think it was a month. Which I did have, but it's changed now. 

Do you hate it when you spot something not quite right with the timings? Things like age or dates? Does it throw you out? Do you sit there working it out?



Right, with that, I'd better get some blinkin' words written!