Journal 2004

December 19, 2004: My one-month sabbatical from writing marches on during the holidays. Between shopping, decorating, going to parties and concerts, church services, etc., etc., etc., I have no idea how this season would allow me to do any writing at all! The timing of my completion of the first draft of Preacher Man was perfect so I could take this month off.

One unfortunate thing happened. I had picked out two national RWA contests to enter Momentary Lapse in. I picked them strategically, with great care. First, it's very expensive to enter books in contests, especially when the books are so expensive. Plus, the category for ML is "Mainstream Fiction with Romantic Elements," and I only found a few contests that even offered that category. So... I mailed my (gulp) FIVE copies of the book off to the National Readers' Choice Award contest, and got the heartbreaking email from the contest coordinator that all that arrived was a ripped envelope. The books were GONE. I submitted a claim to the US Post Office and it sounds very dubious that they'll be able to locate the books, and since I didn't purchase extra insurance, there's no reimbursement available. VERY expensive lesson.

But, in GREAT news ... I got some initial cover designs from Whiskey Creek Press for Legacy of Lies. They're intriguing! I studied them, and let a few friends see them, then wrote back with some requests for revision. It's so exciting to see the cover designer's vision, and get the opportunity to come up with a great cover together! Once the final one is done, I'll post it here!

December 5, 2004: Would you believe that two letters from publishers rolled in this week, asking me to send them the full manuscript of Legacy of Lies? Yes, the one that's currently under contract to Whiskey Creek Press and will be released next November! It kind of reminds me of those junior high dances. The wallflowers stand along the wall and no one asks them to dance. Once they finally get out on the floor and start having fun, the dance offers start coming, and soon a line of potential partners has formed.

December 3, 2004: I'm done! I'm done! I finished the first draft of my fifth novel! Granted, I need to do quite a lot of work in the second draft, but hey, completing the first draft is a huge milestone! :) I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and I hope that this book will possibly open up new doors for me in the subgenre of inspirational romance. I had a great time exploring my heroine's faith journey in addition to her romantic journey, and it was fun to explore my own spirituality through the writing.

Now, I'm granting myself a month off of writing to fully enjoy the holiday season. I'm glad that the timing worked out as it did, because as I'm delving into the shopping/decorating/partying season, my manuscript will simmer on the back burner. When I go back to revise it, I'll look at it with fresh eyes, the actual writing phase of it, forgotten.

November 25, 2004: On Thanksgiving Eve, I can't help but reflect on all the wonderful things in my life that I'm thankful for. It's the season, right? So indulge me. :) First of all, I continue to be thankful for all the people in my life that I love and who love me back, unconditionally -- my husband, my sons, my parents, my family members and my dear friends. I am also thankful for the continued good health of myself and those around me. I'm thankful for the beautiful house that I live in, and the challenging and rewarding career that is a big part of my life every day.

But, this is my writing journal, so I have to say I'm thankful for the year 2004 in my writing life. Not only did my second book get released this year, after a L-O-N-G stretch of Second Book Slump, but I signed a contract on my third and have a hopeful fish on the line for my fourth. And, if I have my way, I'll be done with my fifth very soon and ready to make submissions for that too -- possibly opening up a whole new market of opportunities for myself with a new subgenre of inspirational romance. Yes, it's been a banner year in my writing career and I'm very, very thankful for that!

Hope everyone enjoys the holiday tomorrow and eats way too much. There's always Friday to start that diet and exercise program! :)

P.S. I passed page 200 on Preacher Man! I'm thinking it'll end around 225. I'm so close to the end I can taste it!

November 16, 2004: I'm newly returned from a quick trip to sunny and beautiful Orlando, Florida. There were ten of us that went to Disney World -- my parents, my brother's family and my own family. We had such a great time. We managed to cram a ton of activity into just three and a half days, so now I feel like I have to rest up from my vacation! One bit of advice for anyone considering a trip to Disney: Rock 'n Roller Coaster. It's kickin'!

Tonight I did a little bit of work on my "new" Chapter 11. After writing Chapters 10 and 11 I decided they were both too short, so I simply combined them into a decent-sized chapter. So, now I'm working on Chapter 11. I'm just a few short pages away from my 200-page mark, which is always an exciting milestone. And since this book will be shorter than my last two books, it really means that I'm almost done. As I have it outlined, there will be only 12 chapters, so "THE END" is just around the corner. Next week I have a 4-day weekend for Thanksgiving, and I really think it's within my reach to finish my first draft of all 12 chapters then!

November 5, 2004: I have my release date for Legacy of Lies! It's November, 2005. So, one year from right now. I also have my ISBN numbers (one for print and one for electronic). Things are moving right along and I'm enjoying the fun of having another book under contract! Now, I have to do a lot of the preliminary work such as write the author's bio, the back cover blurb, provide ideas for a cover design, etc.

November 2, 2004: It's been a week that will live in infamy! It's been an incredible week! I'm afraid to pinch myself in case it's all a dream and I wake up. Check it out:

October 22, 2004: As much as I'd love to isolate myself from my "real life" so that I can spend time writing, sometimes the intrusions are too big to ignore. I haven't written a word in a week! It's been a very busy week of volunteer activities, helping out with my sons' schools, sports banquets, busy time at work, etc. SO, I've taken a much-needed two days off of work (sounds heavenly, doesn't it?) and my goal is to:

So, enough procrastination -- I'll get on with it, and let you know after Monday, how much I got done!

October 16, 2004: My first online interview appeared on the web today, via a site called Coffee Time Romance. I'm very pleased with it! Here it is, for your reading pleasure. Another interview with me, this one at Romance Junkies, will be posted in the next week or so.

Also, I've been writing! I've finished Chapter 9 of Preacher Man, and since I've outlined 14 chapters total, I've officially reached the 2/3-done mark of this book. I truly hope to have it done by year-end. In fact, if I think I can have it done by early December (which will be a real stretch) I may enter it in the Golden Heart -- a very prestigious contest sponsored by RWA, which I also entered last year, and bombed miserably. :( When it's done it'll just push 70,000 words (my shortest book yet) but it makes a great length to submit to Steeple Hill's Love Inspired line, so I believe that's what I'll do.

I enjoyed my talk to the American Business Women's Association last week. They were very welcoming, fed me a great meal, bought a few books, and asked very interesting questions.

October 4, 2004: I'm back from the Autumn Author's Affaire, a regional writing conference in Chicago and it was a ton of fun! I'll complete a trip report soon and post it on the site so you can hear all about it. Meanwhile, I'll just tell you that between having company from out of town, a couple writer's "gigs" and the conference, I have gotten NOTHING done in the way of writing new pages on Preacher Man. Hopefully I can get something done about that tonight.

But, speaking of my writing gigs, I had a great time speaking to the local Girl Scouts group in connection with their Books badge. They were very welcoming, asked lots of great questions, and seemed to really enjoy the information I shared with them.

September 21, 2004: This past week, one of the members of my local RWA chapter suggested a way to motivate us all to keep moving forward on our WIPs (Works In Progress) -- we all committed to a page total for the week. Then we each posted how many pages we'd completed each day. Then we got cheerful, back-patting emails from her each day, cheerleading our accomplishments! I'd committed to ten, and ended up finishing 12, for a total of 29 so far in September. I'd made the monthly goal of 40, so with a week left to go, I'm in good shape.

I did some market research and uncovered four more small presses I'd like to send Legacy of Lies to -- so I finished preparing those submission packets tonight.

My Publishamerica royalty checks arrived and they made me thank God, as always, for my stable day job and regular, dependable paycheck! How do full-time authors make it on checks that only come twice a year, and you really have no idea how much they'll be for, until they arrive?

September 13, 2004: I'm roaring through Preacher Man at a pretty good pace. I'm about halfway through Chapter 7 and looking forward to writing Chapter 8 where some real excitement takes place.

September 6, 2004: Happy Labor Day! In keeping with the true meaning of the holiday, I have had an incredibly relaxing day. True, I've completed about six loads of laundry, vacuumed and cleaned the kitchen, but I've done it all leisurely, along with quite a lot of reading and TV-watching. Quite a switch from my normal cram-everything-you-possibly-can-into-a-day type day. :)

I'm happy to say that I'm getting lots of positive comments from editors, along with their rejections, of my two manuscripts that are out there making their way around the world. I can also say that I received a contract offer on Legacy of Lies. Before you pop the cyber champagne cork though, I have decided, after quite a bit of reflection, to decline the offer. I caught a few red flags in the contract language, and after asking some pointed questions to the editor, I just don't feel comfortable in releasing one of my "children" off to that publisher. I'm thrilled that they liked the book enough to publish it, but I just don't think that particular publisher was right for my book. So, the search goes on.

I've also gotten some favorable comments from a few publishers indicating that IF they were actively seeking manuscripts (which they aren't) they would be interested in mine, because they think it's good. So, as unsatisfying as that is in the long run, I'll take a compliment in any form I can get one!

Meanwhile, I finished Chapter 6 of Preacher Man, along with the 120 page mark, and I'll begin motoring on to Chapter 7 tomorrow, after my day of non-Labor is done! :)

August 30, 2004: Things are really moving along! I'm about halfway done with Chapter 6 of Preacher Man, and the way I have it outlined out, it should end up at 14 chapters, so within a month I'll be halfway done, or better. My goal for September is to write at least 40 pages, which is about 2 chapters. I'm enjoying the book and am looking forward to exploring more of the plot and characters, but meanwhile, I'm having a lot of fun with it.

August has been a pretty productive month, now that I think about it. In addition to writing 40 pages and taking an online course on chick lit (it was pretty elementary, but still fun -- and it gave me the chance to read three great chick lit books as "homework") -- I also made submissions. As I mentioned earlier this month, I made some submissions for Legacy of Lies, now I've also made some submissions for Keeper by Surprise.

August 23, 2004: I've hit a milestone on Preacher Man! I reached 100 pages written! I always know a book is off and running when I reach 100. This book will be fairly short, I think, maybe 250 pages in all, so it makes me feel good that in a few short weeks I could be halfway done!

No new news on my submissions for Legacy, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one of these will be a good hit for my third manuscript "baby."

August 16, 2004: I had a very productive writing weekend! On Friday I did revisions to my "fast as you can" writing of Chapter 4 of Preacher Man. It's in pretty good shape now, at least for a first draft. Between Saturday and early Sunday morning I churned out 16 pages of Chapter 5 -- which is half of my page goal for August.

Sunday I finally got busy on my sadly-neglected submissions for Legacy of Lies. Back in January I submitted it to three publishers, and each rejected it. Then it sat, literally, for 7 months! So, after doing some research on possible small press markets I hadn't yet tapped, I made three submissions -- two electronic and one by snail mail. This afternoon, I'd already gotten a request from one of the publishers asking for a full manuscript! So keep your fingers crossed that it'll be just what someone out there is looking for! (For those keeping track, Legacy has been rejected by 10 publishers. Persistence is the name of the game in getting your work published!)

August 9, 2004: I went to my RWA chapter meeting last Wednesday night and it got me thinking about how much more I need to be doing in the non-writing side of my writing life. That is, promoting Momentary Lapse and myself as a writer, and then submitting my two unpublished manuscripts and getting them out there in circulation. So, I got home and made a list of everything I could think of before the ideas fled my brain. I ended up with 13 items on my To Do list. Do you believe it?

So, I took the day off work Friday and began work on them. Well, eventually I began work on them. I woke up hearing my older son shouting, "There's a skunk in our garage!!" But that's a whole other story.

July 27, 2004: I can report since my last journal entry that I did accomplish 22 pages with my commando writing -- and was off to a good start, anxious to keep up the momentum, but then I left on a 10-day vacation -- which was a lot of fun, but I was unable to get any writing done while I was there AND I returned ill with laryngitis and a terrible cough, so I've been unable to get any writing done during the few days that I've been home. Hopefully when I'm recovered I'll pick up where I left off and keep forging ahead. My goal before my next chapter meeting on 8/4 is 40 pages.

One great thing to report though, was my speech I delivered to a wonderful group of working women at State Farm Insurance in Pennsylvania last week. They very graciously invited me to speak about Work/Life Balance: Juggling a Demanding Career with a Time-Consuming Hobby. I think the speech went very well, and they were a terrific audience. I'd brought books with me since I mention them profusely throughout the speech, and they bought about 20 books! So that was exciting as well! (Note: added on August 23 a link to the article and picture about that speech. Check it out here!)

Many of my fellow RWA members are at the national convention in Dallas as we speak. It officially starts tomorrow night, but if I were attending, I would've arrived today. I'm a little sad that I'm not there, attending all the festivities with my fellow romance writers, but I consciously decided not to go this year. I'm already looking forward to next year, when the conference is in Reno, NV! Here's my trip report from last year, when the conference was in New York.

July 10, 2004: I took the first five pages of my rewrite of Chapter One of Preacher Man into my critique group. I wanted to get a feel for the reaction to the new setting -- the previous Chapter One opened up in a bar, and I rewrote it to have it set at a Charity Singles Auction -- and the response was primarily positive. Having said that, one writer didn't like it at all, but the majority were very positive and a few were neutral. I guess that's what's it's like with editors too. Assuming the writing is solid, some editors will love what you've done, some will hate it, some will be indifferent. The trick is finding one who loves it.

This weekend I'm finding myself with a rare Saturday with no plans, so I'm trying a new method to get some pages done -- I call it commando writing. In other words, write as fast as I can. Move forward, leave no prisoners -- turn off the internal editor or the voice that says, "Oooh, that was bad, you could make that better, you have to fix that." The idea is getting as many pages as possible written, mainly focusing on the plot. It's always easier to go back and revise, so if I build a strong foundation of unrevised pages today (and tomorrow) it'll be an easier job next time to go back and add imagery and emotion and whatever else I left out in my haste. Wish me luck!

July 5, 2004: I'm happy to report that I just finished Chapter Two of my rewrite of Preacher Man. I'm really happy with it so far, the plot, the tone, the conflict that I've set up. I wish I could write a little faster, but although I still have some free time today before my son's baseball game, I just don't seem to have the "writing endurance" to write for more than 90 minutes or so. I just lose steam. Oh well. In my schedule, 90 minutes is a LOT of free time, so I rarely have the opportunity to write more than that anyway.

July 2, 2004: Yay! I'm back writing again. Hopefully, with the start I've had, I'll be able to get back into a regular writing routine and finish this book.

Last weekend, I completed the chapter by chapter outline for my new book, Preacher Man. Remember I took that plotting workshop in February, and I got such great feedback about weaknesses within the plot? Okay, so it was June, but I finally was able to follow up on that and write a fairly strong outline. Then I moved ahead and wrote Chapter One, and now I'm done with the first scene of Chapter Two. It's a holiday weekend, so I hope to get a lot of work done on it in the next few days. Full steam ahead!

I got my pictures from my booksigning added to the website, so check them out here.

June 20, 2004: It's been a mountain-top weekend in my writing world! Yesterday I did my booksigning at Barnes and Noble. They were fantastic and treated me so well! Starting a half hour before the booksigning, they announced my name and book title over the store loudspeaker, encouraging people to come to the signing. Also, they put a huge poster with a display of about a dozen books in the window -- and they positioned me right by Harry Potter! I've hit the big time! :) The signing itself was a lot of fun. A lot of friends stopped by and there was a steady stream of people throughout the two hours. Steve, my contact at the store, was very pleased with the turnout.

Today, I had a second booksigning at church. I offered autographed books for sale, and donated $3 for each book sold to the church's capital campaign. The response was overwhelming. Between the two events, I sold over 100 books this weekend.

Stay tuned for pictures! My mom snapped pictures at both events so as soon as I get them developed I'll update the Photo Album of the site!

June 13, 2004: I attended the writer's retreat yesterday and mission accomplished: I am enthused to start writing again! The time is right for me to finish plotting my next project, Preacher Man, and then dive into writing it. I wrote a trip report for this productive retreat, so if you're interested, check it out!

An exciting thing happened today!! I stopped by my local Barnes and Noble, the one that is hosting my booksigning next Saturday, and there, sitting by the Information Booth, was a table entirely dedicated to ME and MY BOOKS!! There were stacks of BOTH my books -- Momentary Lapse and Whispers of the Heart, along with a poster announcing next week's booksigning. It said something like: Author Laurie Larsen will be discussing and signing copies of her newest book, Momentary Lapse! You won't want to miss it."

YOWZA! That is a moment authors dream of! At least, beginner authors, like me! :) In fact, I just happened to have a camera in my purse, and took a picture of it, so I'll post a shot of it on my website very soon.

June 8, 2004: It's so nice to have full use of my computer back! I'm loving my new system with the huge screen, the ability to read email, surf the net and update this website! It's amazing what you become addicted to when it's not there.

I'm having a great time with the promotion stage of Momentary Lapse! I've got two booksignings coming up and have been inviting people I know, and leaving promotional materials around town to hopefully attract the attention of people I don't know. AND, people are actually beginning to read this baby! I'm beginning to get reviews in from readers, and I've opened a new page to document their comments. If you've read my new book, do me a favor and drop me a note, and I'll include your comments along with your first name and town on that page!

May 30, 2004: I don't know if you've noticed, by I certainly have! I had a major computer meltdown and I was offline -- unable to do ANY email or website updates, or even visit the internet -- for a MONTH! My life was majorly disrupted!! And to make up for not having any website contests for a whole month, I'll be giving away four books in the month of June, so check out my TBR page.

So much has happened this month, too! After all this time that Whispers of the Heart has been released (3 1/2 years -- that's ancient in terms of a book's life) I got a wonderful review from fellow author Lori Paris -- check it out!

I've had a few speaking engagements for my Momentary Lapse promotions -- one to a writer's group and another to a group of readers. At the first talk, I spoke mainly of my road to publication, and I found the writers to be very generous and very interested. They gave me a wonderful gift of a silver Bill Blass pen and pencil set. At the second talk, I spoke about the characters and then did a reading from the book. I picked a particularly exciting part and when I finished right at a cliffhanger scene, they all moaned and said, "Don't stop there!" That's how I knew it was a good scene selection! I sold eight books that day, and many more asked me to let them know when it hit the bookstores.

And that's my other great news! Barnes and Noble has ordered a bunch of books, and has scheduled me for my booksigning on June 19! I'm hoping it will be well-attended. Last time I had one there, for my first book, we sold 170 books!

Well, I've got my beautiful new Dell computer, my new flat screen 19" monitor, and I'm slowly but surely getting my files back in order (not quite there yet) and so I'm going to start writing again soon! I'm attending a writer's retreat in a few weeks that requires us to bring some new writing, so that'll be my chance to open up the floodgates of creativity again.

April 25, 2004: It's been so long since I've actually written a page of fiction, I don't know if I'll remember how, once I find the time! My last few months have been taken up with judging writing contests -- the month of March, judging the Magic Moment contest, and this month has been the Madcap contest. The "MM" entries are 10-page manuscripts (unpublished) and the judges are asked to write very detailed critiques, giving the author an idea of how to improve the entry for possible publication. For the Madcap, the entry are full, published books, so it's been a very time-consuming proposition to get through my panel of 6 books in a little over a month! But I'm sure enjoying the entries and discovering writers I'd never read before.

Once my judging deadline comes and goes, I'm determined to continue my work on Preacher Man -- my 5th manuscript. I want to make some real progress on it this summer. And I'm sure enjoying my promotion work for Momentary Lapse! I'll keep you posted as I do more of that.

April 12, 2004: It's available all over the place now! I received my author's copies, and it was a real thrill to hold the book in my own two hands! I remember the feeling well from my first book, and believe me, the thrill has not diminished at all. I'm very pleased with how the book looks, and friends that I've shown it to have been positive as well.

My hubby and I went over to our local Barnes and Noble, and they are very enthused about hosting a booksigning. They're checking the distributors daily to see when they can order the books for their shelves. Once my book is available for stocking, we'll schedule a booksigning, and they've offered to publicize the event by setting up a table display with a poster, and putting posters in the front window too. They were very supportive of me, and I couldn't be more happy!

I also ordered cute post cards with the book cover pictured on the front, and details about the book on the back. I'll hand them out, mail them to readers, and when I send out the TBR contest winners, I'll stuff the package full of Momentary Lapse goodies too!

March 30, 2004: It's here! The day is finally here -- the day that Momentary Lapse is available!! At this point, it's only available directly from the publisher, Publishamerica, via their website. I also noticed it's listed on Barnes and Noble.com as a Pre-order. Amazon doesn't have it yet, but it's only a matter of time. If you want a copy, go ahead and order it from Publishamerica, since that is the best price! And if you'd like to send your copy to me to get it autographed, just send me a note, and I'll be happy to do that, and send it back to you. :)

March 10, 2004: YIPPEE!!! My cover for Momentary Lapse is done and I'm very happy with it! I think the artist has done an excellent job of capturing the unique personalities of the characters, combining the three of them in an attractive montage cover. I've plastered it all over this website -- on my home page, on my Books page, and on my Momentary Lapse page so check it out!!! It won't be long now until the book is available!

Also, I received my new business cards and magnets. Soon I'll go get some glossy postcards made with my new cover. Woo hoo!

March 4, 2004: Wow! What a busy month for the writer side of my life! In addition the page proofs of Momentary Lapse that I reviewed, and the writers' conference that I attended, I also had two other significant accomplishments:

First, I coordinated the annual Magic Moment Writer's Contest for my RWA chapter, Heart and Scroll. It's one of two contests that we sponsor each year, and it serves multiple purposes. It's a great money-earner for our chapter, and this year's contest was exceptionally well-received. We have about twice as many entries as we had last year! And we also provide detailed critiques on the manuscripts of unpublished writers, as well as bringing three lucky finalists up in front of a major NY editor, Stephanie Maurer, since she is our finals judge. I gathered all the entries, organized them into judges' panels, assembled the packets and passed them out at last night's chapter meeting. We each have a month to complete our judging to return at next month's meeting.

Even more substantial than that activity, I completed my online writer's course on Plotting, taught by a writer named Melinda Rucker Haynes. I mentioned it in my Feb 5 journal entry. As the month progressed we got into the very time-consuming, but important work of writing a complete synopsis, then a chapter-by-chapter outline of the entire book. It serves as your detailed roadmap for taking you from point A (Chapter 1) to point B (end of book) with no writer's block or indecision! It was a particularly valuable exercise for me, because Melinda and some of the other participants pointed out some major plot loopholes ("plotholes," we decided to call them) and coincidences that wouldn't make good plot points. As a result, I've rethought my whole premise for the book, and think I've decided on a new direction. The book, as I'm thinking of it now, will be less a comedic chick lit, and more of a traditional inspirational romance. I need to work through my revised outline, but stay posted. I think I'll be on track soon.

February 17, 2004: Time is marching on. I finished my page proofs for Momentary Lapse, and then reviewed the corrections I made, after they were incorporated into the text. It looks great! I'm so excited about its pending release. It was refreshing re-reading this book that I wrote three years -- and two books -- ago.

My last communication from the publisher was that I'd have my cover design in 4 - 8 weeks. I'm hoping for closer to the 4. I've committed to contributing to a group full page advertisement in the huge national magazine, Romantic Times, and I'd so like to include a picture of my cover in the ad. Keep your fingers crossed that my cover art arrives prior to my deadline for the ad, which is March 15!

Meanwhile, I made a quick escape from the winter weather and visited my parents in the beautiful oceanfront town of Orange Beach, Alabama. Although the weather could've been better, I had a great time, catching up with my parents, walking the beach, shopping, going to movies and eating in a variety of seafood and southern cookin' restaurants!

February 5, 2004: My life is moving at warp-speed. It's an exceptionally busy month at work, where I'm responsible for doing end of the year performance evaluations, assessments and pay raise decisions for 22 employees. I'm in the middle of my page proof review for Momentary Lapse, and in addition to the insanity, I signed up for an online course on plotting! It generates about 100 emails a day to my in-bin, so if I don't keep up with it, I quickly become buried! I've had no time to work on Preacher Man in the midst of it all, but I'm happy to say that in my plotting workshop, I'm using my work-in-progress (WIP, in writers' terms) to go through the exercises. As a result, I've come up with a couple good storyline statements, of various lengths:

Regan Samuels is a suddenly single mom in Chicago. Disillusioned by the adult dating game, she longs to trade in her stilletto-heeled dance shoes for a Blockbuster video card, and find a man she can be herself with. When she meets Josh Gregory, she tries to convince herself that the magnetism she feels for him is nothing more than spiritual awakening. Her attraction to him is scandalous. After all, he's a priest! Or is he?

Regan tries dating again after her divorce but has trouble finding someone she's compatible with. The one man she feels a connection with, is unavailable because he's a priest. At least, she thinks he is.

January 28, 2004: Well, I have the infamous "good news and bad news." Get the bad news over with first -- I received another rejection for Legacy of Lies. On the other hand, it was another complimentary rejection, so the blow wasn't too hard. The editor mentioned that the book had "some intriguing conflicts" and "a fast-paced style," both elements I struggle with, so I take that as encouragement. But ultimately, a rejection.

Now, onto the good news: I got my page proofs for Momentary Lapse! It's an electronic file sent over email from my publisher with the final pages of the book, all typeset for publication. This is ultimately what the inside of the book will look like when it's in the readers' hands. My job, during the next two weeks, is to read it in its entirety, and make the last minute word changes, correct any errors that are there, and possibly small stylistic changes. But nothing major. No time for that now. I've read through Chapter 4 and it's looking pretty good.

January 24, 2004: I'm making some progress on my new book, Preacher Man. I finished Chapter two yesterday, so it's still an infant yet. I have a lot of thinking to do about characterization and plot, but here's what I have so far:

Regan Samuels is a suddenly single mom. She wants to do a good job raising her teenage son, Luke, and she's tired of playing the dating game. When she meets Josh Gregory, he seems absolutely perfect for her -- oh yeah, except that he's the priest at the church her son is attending, and there must be something immoral about falling in love with a man who's taken a vow of celibacy. In reality, Josh is not a priest, but a youth pastor who loves children, and is tired of the single life. He thinks Luke is a great kid, and when he meets his beautiful mother, Regan, he thinks he's experienced a bit of divine intervention. He's falling in love with her, but is baffled by the mixed signals he's getting from Regan.

It's off to a slow start, but at least it's going. I'll keep you posted here about my progress.

In addition to writing, I've been doing some market research, and I've also started a week-long online workshop on creating pitches -- short, concise descriptions of your book, either for verbal pitching to an editor or agent, or written pitches for a query letter. Looking forward to that because I need major help in that area.

January 16, 2004: I received a prompt response from one of the small presses that I submitted Legacy of Lies to. Unfortunately, the response was a "thanks but no thanks" instead of a "we're dying to see more -- send us the full manuscript right away!" No, really, as rejection letters go, it was very complimentary. (Only writers can talk themselves into feeling complimented by a rejection.) The editor said the submission had plenty of merit and potential, and she even said I was "obviously a very talented writer," but that their fiction line was full, and wouldn't be considering new manuscripts until the fall. So, one down, five to go.

And I've been writing. I got some very good ideas from my new critique partner and implemented some of her suggestions into a revision of Chapter One. This weekend I want to make a dent on Chapter Two. I'm excited about working more one-on-one with a fellow writer -- her reviewing my work, me reviewing hers, both of us getting familiar with each others' writing styles, with the intent of helping each other grow in skill.

January 11, 2004: Welcome to my first journal entry of 2004! I've made some New Year's resolutions and have been going gangbusters on keeping them (and hey -- it's been 11 days, right!!). Here they are, so you can keep me honest --

1. Put an end to my non-writing sabbatical! I finished my last book in April, 2003 and for some reason, hadn't started a new one till the end of December. During that time, I started a new job and my kids (as usual) went from one sport straight into another, but writing somehow got put on the back burner. So, it's time to put an end to that, and put writing back on the front burner.

Progress as of today: I've started my new book! I've completed Chapter One and have started Chapter Two! (Internal cheerleader: "You go girl! Woo hoo hoo!")

2. Take control of the submissions of my completed material. Research potential publishers, and make intelligent submissions.

Progress as of today: Happy to say that I have spent some substantial time over the last week researching the small press market for Legacy of Lies, my manuscript that has made the rounds of the major publisher market, without luck. Submitted to three small presses, and will begin the waiting game on that. For my other manuscript, Keeper by Surprise, I haven't exhausted all the major publisher possibilities, so I've come up with a game plan for which publishers might be good targets, and I'll make those submissions this week.

Looking forward to a successful 2004, with one new release already scheduled for this spring, the possibility of selling one of my completed manuscripts, and writing a new book I'm feeling very passionate about!