The Lowdown on the Sale

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells." ~ Dr Suess.

I promised to pop back and fill you in on the sale of The Outlaw Bride once my brain has stopped spinning at rates of speed that would make Mario Andretti suffer severe motion sickness. So here I am, but first, let's pause a moment while I resurrect an old pix of Connor Langston, TOB's hero in residence. Ah...yes...now where was I?

Wednesday afternoon, while sitting in my pod diligently working away...okay I was talking to J on the phone...my cell phone rang. Thinking it was the vet calling me back (my dog seems quite keen on picking up every parasite he can find), I hung up on J and took the call. It went something like this:

Me: Hello?
Caller: Hello is this Kelly Boyce?
Me: Yes.
Caller: This is Angela James from Carina Press.
Me: ogoafhoav blaiodr blergh

Okay, I didn't actually say that. In fact, I don't think I said anything at all. I was too busy trying to decide if I was hallucinating or not. When Ms James continued talking, telling me they had read The Outlaw Bride and wanted to offer me a contract if I was still interested (if I was still interested...hahahaha...ahem), I realized I wasn't hallucinating. Then I spent most of the remaining phone call trying not to scream my fool head off - seeing as I was still in my pod and said screaming would have sent my podmates into a panic.

I believe at one point I may have blurted out, "This was totally worth hanging up on my boyfriend for!" And yes, I may - may - have done an arm pump or two. Maybe three. And a front kick. There was also some type of dancing involved.

Sigh...so mature.

Anyhoo...They sent the deal sheet later that day, I perused it, filled in my contact info and sent it back. Liz Bass will be my editor (I've heard nothing but good about her so very excited), release date is Spring 2011, and, at this point, no change in the title is requested.

But now that the initial shock of selling has receded somewhat, my head is spinning with all the things I need to do, so that come release time I will be ready to go. Revamping the website, setting up an FB fan page, going back to monthly blogging at PopCultureDivas, blogging here more regularly, etc. I figure the more things I can organize now; the smoother things will run down the line. On top of that, I need to finish my revisions on ITS so I can start marketing that to agents before I get caught up in the editing process with The Outlaw Bride.

I see a list in my future. Possibly even a spreadsheet. I do love a good spreadsheet....

And there you have it. The lowdown of my first foray into the world of Published Author.

Hold the Phone!

I got the call!!

Angela James from Carina Press called me this afternoon while I was at work. They want to publish my western romance, The Outlaw Bride!!

I so badly want to scream at the top of my lungs but I'm still at the office. AHHHHH !!!!

More info to follow once I can think coherently!

Summer Series Catch Up

Check out PopCultureDivas where I'm blogging about my Summer TV viewing, catching up on all the goodies I missed during the regular television season.

No News Is Not Good News

"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

I decided to enter ITS into a few contests this summer. Four to be exact, all with editors/agents as the final judges that I wanted to target. Most of the editors you need an agent to get in front of and this seemed a good way to get around that while I tried to find an agent.

Naturally that meant making the finals, but I was hopeful. I had made changes to ITS that I believed made it a better story. It had already placed second in the Toronto RWA contest in 2009, and while it didn't final in the other contests I entered in 2009, the comments for the most part were helpful and encouraging and mostly had nothing but good to say about it. With the exception of the one judge who indicated she did not like my heroine and did not care whether she lived or died.

Unfortunately my plans are not coming to fruition. The New Jersey contest finalists were to be notified by August 9th. Given that I have not been contacted, one can safely assume I did not make the finals.

This morning I awoke to a notice from the Heart of the Rockies contest informing me I did not make the cut there either. The scoresheets were attached, so I opened them (with trepidation - it was 6:30 am and who likes starting their day with bad news?). The first two scores were 99 and 92. They had nothing but good to say about the entry and no major concerns that required fixing and wished they could have read more. The third score was a 79. Ouch. The main concern here was that while I hinted at the scandal and gave some detail, by page 25 I still had not fully revealed what the scandal was. Also I used too many words ending in 'ly'. Points to consider, so I guess that's something. On the plus side, no one wanted to throw my heroine under a bus.

At this point, I'm not holding out a lot of hope for the last two remaining contests, but we'll see. It's frustrating, that feeling of banging at the door and never getting in. Actually, I feel more like I'm doing a full body slam against the door and just bouncing back onto the concrete walk.

I have made a few story tweaks since entering, shoring up the backstories to strengthen motivation and conflict, but alas these epiphanies occured too late to help me with the contests. Although none of the judges seemed to feel the GMC I had entered lacking, so who knows.

Perhaps contests are not the way for me. At least with this manuscript. It looks like I'll have to do things the old fashioned way and fire off my agent queries again and keep slogging away.

I think it is a testament to my complete lack of sanity that despite all of this, I'd still rather do this writing gig rather than the day job, which pays a decent salary and doesn't reject me at every turn. Perhaps I need a 12-step program for Gluttons of Punishment Anonymous.