Integrity rejection

Captain’s Log, Stardate 01.21.05

I got the nicest rejection possible from Integrity Publishers. Basically saying my heroine needs more backbone, what Maass refers to as “larger than life” characteristics. Like Scarlett O’Hara, can’t get larger than life than that.

After reading Maass, I’ve been realizing how my first manuscript really could use some fireworks to kick it up a notch, so Integrity’s comments aren’t that surprising to me. I’m bummed, but I’m also doing okay, honestly.

The good news is that my agent didn’t dump me as the last rejection came in. He encouraged me to try something new, taking the editors’ comments into account, and assured me he’s interested in trying again. I emailed to ask him if I should continue with the Asian romantic suspense, or try another Asian chicklit. I wouldn’t mind delving into humor again, maybe with a bit of mystery woven in.

But ultimately, I guess it’s what God wants me to write. I was mentioning to Sharon today that I felt rather unsure about this romantic suspense, whether I could write it or not. I suppose it has to come from God, not from me, but it’s hard to feel confidence that God really truly wants me to write this. I mean, what if I’m wrong about His will for me, and I end up typing 300 pages of drivel? But I guess He would have a purpose in those 300 pages of drivel. He doesn’t do anything without a reason.

So now what? I work on my romantic suspense. No, strike that--I pray, and then I work on the romantic suspense. I’ve been praying, but more is better. Sooner or later, God will speak to me. He always does. He doesn’t stay silent forever. I need to put my heart in a place where I’ll hear Him when He does.

Writing: Still plugging away with those 100 words a day. Got more ideas and plotting done on my romantic suspense. I just need to allow myself a truly crappy first draft. I read that somewhere. It didn’t strike me at the time, but now I can see what the author was talking about. Now that I know the “rules,” I need to allow myself to break them left and right, if only to get words on paper.

Diet: Doing okay. 1700 calories yesterday despite the piece of Marie Callender’s sour cream apple pie. I’ve been doing well at eating vegetables with every meal. My coworker (I think she’s part Vietnamese) eats marinated grilled pork (like you get in Vietnamese pho restaurants) atop a bed of lettuce. The meat flavors the salad, a bit like the warm spinach salad at Frankie, Johnnie and Luigi Too! Restaurant--they sauté bacon, walnuts, gorgonzola cheese and ziti pasta together, then toss it with fresh spinach. The hot sauté wilts the spinach a bit and flavors everything.

So anyway, I made a sausage frittata the other night. I heated it, cut it into pieces and threw it on top of some spring greens salad. It was really good, better than I expected.

Today for lunch I had yummy finger-food--prosciutto (about 3 oz.) and steamed asparagus. Total today = 1700 calories. Hopefully I can keep my hands off the Trader Joe’s truffles until bedtime.

Comments

Angie Poole said…

Miss Camy,

Hang in there. Just got a rejection myself.

Was gonna go do chocolate but now I'm hungry for a wilted salad :-)

Sat Jan 29, 10:09:00 PM 2005

I’m done

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.17.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is THE PREACHER’S DAUGHER by Lyn Cote My Monday book giveaway is BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER by Mindy Starns Clark . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for THE PREACHER’S DAUGHTER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. I’m done. At the beginning of the year, I made a goal of three books this year. That’s four months per book. I started this manuscript January 15th. I finished in the wee hours of May 17th, so it took me about four months, a day and a few hours. Yay me. I’m going to bed now. Yes, this is the espresso maker on the right, and a professional coffee grinder on the left. By the espresso maker, I mean the one I promised to my long-suffering husband if I got a book contract, as a reward for letting me quit my biotech job and write full-time.

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Captain’s Log, Stardate 03.29.2006 I had a wonderfully funny blog post planned for today, but I got sidetracked by some news yesterday! Zondervan has offered me a three-book contract on my Asian chick-lit series ! I’m still stunned by everything that’s happened. The series is actually a 4-book projected Asian chick-lit series about four cousins who fall under the infamous family title "Oldest Single Female Cousin," and their ruthless, wealthy grandma applies pressure on each of them to improve their lack of love interests. I think the first book is tentatively scheduled to be released in August 2007. The blurb on the series is on my website here . Brandilyn Collins posted to the ACFW loop about my writing journey, and Tamara Cooper asked that I share it. And since you all know how much I like to talk , here it is. My writing journey: Like most writers, I have wanted to write since I was very young. (In high school, I wrote a fantasy novel that will never see the light of day ...

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