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Joyce Elaine

AVAILABLE NOW: The Gift of Death

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Nerve-racking

The Gift of Death is finally published and out there to be purchased! I’ll spare you the trials and tribulations that I had to go through to get the paperback published but I learned a lot and I will be better prepared for the next book I publish (which will be the 2nd book in the series of The Gift of Death).

I titled this blog Nerve-racking because publishing a book is just that…at least for me anyway. It was a surreal feeling when I got a proof of the paperback. To be able to see what I created in print was an awesome feeling…one I’ll never forget. Once my book finally went live on Amazon, I was excited, but I was also nervous. What if people hate it and I get bad reviews? That was all I kept thinking.

Now, it’s been out there for almost two weeks and my nerves…are still racking! I’m trying to figure out the whole marketing thing as I go along but I’m not seeing much success. When I ran a promotion for two days to get the kindle version for free, I got a total of 17 downloads from that. I have no idea if they were friends/family members or just complete strangers. Either way, it was cool to see since I didn’t really promote that other than to the people who have signed up for my newsletter…which is way less than 17 people I’m embarrassed to say.

I can see how many I’ve sold but what I can’t see is who bought them/downloaded them and so I have no idea if it were family/friends or strangers. I do know some family and friends who bought it. I’ve gotten 21 kindle downloads and only 4 paperbacks purchased. That’s 25 books total…and that’s okay because I’m just starting out. Also, I know of 9 more paperbacks that have sold that just isn’t showing up in my sales yet (I don’t see them until after the books have been shipped, which takes a few days). What’s nerve-racking is not having any reviews on my book yet. That’s driving me crazy! So if you’ve read my book, please leave a review on Amazon! Those good reviews could persuade someone to purchase the book who isn’t totally sure. I do have two family members who finished reading The Gift of Death this week and told me how great it was. That’s so nice to hear…but I’d love to be hearing that from strangers! Some day, hopefully!

Like I said….this shit is nerve-racking!

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Finishing Up The Final Steps

Well, folks, I’m just about there! I got the final edits from my editor and they have all been cleared out. I sent the final information that the book cover designers needed. Once I get some things back from them…I’LL BE READY TO PUBLISH!!! I’m looking at around mid-November to get The Gift of Death published on Amazon. That will be the only platform for now but it will be available as an E-book or print.

I’m going to be 100% honest…I’M NERVOUS! It’s really hard for me to take a chance on myself and put my book out there. Even though it’s been read and loved by a few people already, even though it’s had three rounds of edits, even though I’m excited, I’m still really nervous. All I keep thinking is, what if people hate it? What if I only get bad reviews? I can handle it, but it’s not what I want. I know there will be bad reviews, people who just hate my book, and that’s okay…as long as there are some good reviews too. I know I can’t please everyone! I guess what is really rolling around in my mind is that I’ll finally have the answer once my book is published. The question? Are you good enough to gain a little following for your books? If not, I’ll hang up my pen and paper and call it a day. If I am good enough, though, I’ll be encouraged to write more and keep publishing more. After all, there are two more books in The Gift of Death series so as long as I have people who want more, I will get them out.

Marketing is going to be the hardest part of this. I know I can’t just rely on social media to try to gain readers and I have some ideas brewing in my head. Lets just say, you never know where I might end up at to try to sell my book…I think I’m going to take it old school. Back in the day, I attended many concerts. After leaving the show, there’d be what was called a “street team” outside. These are people who work for bands in the same genre as the concert you were just leaving. They stood outside and handed fliers or promotional items to you as you left the concert venue. That was how they got word out about their band…when the internet was not such a big thing as it is now. It was really the only way to promote your band. That’s all I’ll say for now!

Stay tuned for a release day and maybe a pre-sale offer!

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My Editing Venture

Hello loyal readers! I know it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog, so I figured it was time. Some of you may have read that I entered another writing contest a few months back. I did not move along to the next round. Oh well, I can’t win all the time!

Now to update you on The Gift of Death. I had to look for an editor and it was not something I was looking forward to doing. It’s hard to find an editor who knows what they are doing, that you can trust, and doesn’t cost you an arm and leg. Don’t get me wrong, I’m willing to pay top dollar for a good editor because it will just make my book that much better, but I had no idea where to start. A couple of friends pointed me to an editor they knew personally but after reading their bio, I didn’t feel like they were a good fit for me. Then a good friend of mine reached out to someone she knew who sent her a couple of links that were full of editors.

So my search began…

I sent out three emails to individual editors, knowing that I wanted to have a couple different types of editing done. I won’t bore you with the whole editing thing but there’s more to editing than just looking for spelling, puncture and grammar errors. I knew I’d need to hire at least two editors. One for those type of edits and then one who looks at the whole picture. It was a little discouraging knowing I had to search for not one, but two editors!

I found a few that I thought might be a good match so I sent them emails. They all responded and were interested in taking on the project.

But then something amazing happend!

I stumbled upon a company on the list called The Artful Editor. I checked out their website and as I read what they offered and then checked their reviews, I was smiling from ear to ear. What was so great about this company is they offered what’s called an “Everything Edit” package. It was the two types of edits that I needed done and each edit is done by a different person on their staff. So, I didn’t have to look for two different editors, they did it for me!

What was also great about The Artful Editor was that they offered a payment plan that I was able to pay in three installments. They get the first payment and then started the first round of editing. Once they were finished that (it took a little over a month), I sent them the second installment and they sent me their edits. I was excited and nervous to look over what the editor had to say. I was happy with the results! The editor pointed out things I missed…a lot of things…and gave me many great ideas and suggestions. Some of them I didn’t take but most of them I did. I had the chance to speak to him if I wanted but I didn’t have a need to.

Once I finished with the edits, I sent it back to them for the second round of editing. This one took closer to two months before it was finished. Once it was, I sent my third payment installment and then received the edits. I had more things to fix again but again, I was happy with the work that was completed.

Those edits have been completed and now I have a finished book that I’m even more excited about. A few days ago, I found a company that I hired to do my book cover. It will take them one to two weeks to have a design sent to me and I cannot wait to see what they come up with!

I’ve been thinking about marketing and actually publishing this book. But I am nervous that my book is still not good enough, that there may still be missed errors and plot holes and so, here I am, going back to the Artful Editor for another round of editing. This one is proofreading and it’s basically one last round of another pair of eyes reading over it. Don’t dare ask me how much I’ve paid for all the editing! It was a lot but I believe it’s worth it if it means having a product that you can be proud of. I don’t want to look like an amateur (even though that’s what I am) when I publish my first book because then no one would ever read my second book!

So once I get my book back from the editor for a THIRD time, I guess I will have to be ready to accept that it’s ready to be published. It will probably be another month or two but that’s okay. It will give me time to try to generate interest.

So that’s where I am at right now. It would have been nice if I could have had a Halloween release date but I don’t know how possible that will be now that I’m waiting for the last round of edits. But hey, good things come to those who wait!

In the meantime, if you haven’t already done so, please sign up for my newsletter by filling in the contact box here on my website. You’ll be the first to know about release dates, you’ll get special promotional offers and even some free stuff!

Thanks for reading!!

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I Entered Another Writing Contest!

You may remember that I entered my first writing contest at the end of 2019 and placed third. I decided to enter that contest for two reasons. One, my husband encouraged me to do so and said that if I didn’t submit it then he would. Two, because I had that voice inside my head yelling at me to “do it, do it, do it!” If that voice hadn’t been so loud, I would not have submitted. I call that voice my instincts and I learned a long time ago to never ignore my instincts…even though I still do at times.

This morning, I got a newsletter from the company who is currently editing my novel, The Gift of Death. In the newsletter was a link for the “First Chapters” writing contest by “Craft” a literary magazine for fiction. It’s guidelines were simple: submit the first chapter or the first 5,000 words of a fiction novel you have written or are currently writing that has not been published. When I read that they specialize in literary fiction, my current work in progress, Wildflowers, came to mind. What also came to mind was that voice again telling me to “do it, do it, do it!” It was loud as hell too! So, I did it!

First place winner gets $2,000 and a full manuscript critique of their novel by the company who is currently editing my book, The Gift of Death. Second and third place winners get $500 and $300 respectively. All three winners will get a free agent query workshop by a literary agency which includes feedback on their first 5,000 words and query letter AND their submissions will be published in the Craft magazine…which would be awesome because it may generate interested readers before the book is even published! There was a $20 entry fee but I felt that was a small price to pay if you actually win.

The deadline to submit is June 30, 2021. The timeline is as follows: If I’m not going to advance, I will know by mid-July. They will have the “long list” of winners decided by the second half of September. The “short list” of winners will be sent to the judge by the end of September. Winners will be announced by early November. I will be contacted at each stage so I’ll know if I have advanced or not. I don’t know how many submissions they will get but looking at the same contest from 2019, there were 33 submissions total that either won, were finalists, or got honorable mentions.

I don’t know how well I’ll do but if you don’t try, you definitely won’t win. Wish me luck and I’ll keep everyone updated on my advancements!!!! Thanks for reading!!

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The Next Step Has Been Taken!

Although I’ve been working on my current WIP, Wildflowers, I couldn’t stop thinking about my completed novel, The Gift of Death. The two books are in two totally different genres and I think I’ll have to use a different pen name for each novel but that’s beside the point! I had sent query letters to many agents last year to try to get an Agent to pick me up for The Gift of Death. After having no luck, I knew my next step would be to have the book edited and then either self publish or find a publishing house that takes independent writers.

Editing is not cheap! If you want a good editor, you better be prepared to dish out some serious money! I struggled with this. Not because I don’t have the money but because I just wasn’t sure if “I’m” worth it. I mean, I think my novel is good, my beta readers loved it, but that doesn’t mean that it’s good enough for “the market.” If I pay for an editor, I may never make that money back in book sales. In fact, I’m pretty sure I won’t even come close. The sad thing is that if a friend came to me with the same issues, I’d tell that friend to go for it and you have to at least try.

So, with some pushing from my husband and my youngest brother, I decided to go for it. Like my husband said, if you dish out all that money to get the book edited, publish, and you don’t sell one book, at least you can say you tried. That’s better than sitting around wondering what if. So I put my big girl panties on and began looking for an editor.

A friend on Facebook connected me with an editor that she knows but after reviewing her website, I didn’t feel what she offered was what I was looking for and I didn’t think my book would be an interest of there’s. Then a good friend (Hi Celeste!) got some information from someone she knew. In that information was a website, Editorial Freelancers Association, which is basically a database of editors. I was leery on choosing someone I didn’t know so I knew I had to be careful.

I made a list of five editors that I thought might be good for me and emailed four of them. Two of them got back to me right away, the 3rd one got back to me two days later, and I haven’t heard back from the fourth one yet. After researching their company and services and emailing back and forth, I ended up going with the first one who responded to me. I can say that TODAY I signed the contract with them! I don’t want to name them just yet…I’ll save that for after I receive my services from them. I will say that the owner has been quick to respond, has answered all my questions and wasn’t once pushy. What really turned me on to them was that it’s not just one editor, it’s a group of editors. This worked out in my favor. When having a book edited, you need one editor to do the developmental editing (the big picture) and then a different editor to do the copy editing (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.). They had two editors who were willing to take on my novel. You can’t imagine the relief I have of not having to find a second editor! Phew! And on top of that, it’s all one package and I only pay one price total!

The developmental editing will start sometime around May 4, 2021 (which is such a quick start) and it will take between five to six weeks. Then, it gets sent back to me with suggestions. I make the changes I feel are necessary then send back to them for the copy editing, which takes three to four weeks. Then….well, then I have another decision to make. Do I try to self publish, try to find a publishing house without an agent….OR, I could try an agent again now that it’s been edited. I’ll make that decision once the editing process is over….

Wish me luck!! I’m so nervous sending my book off to professional strangers to read and edit and pick it apart….my backbone is strongly in place!

Thanks for following!!

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I PLACED THIRD!

For those of you that are following along, I entered my first writing contest back in December through the Howard County Chapter of the Maryland Writers’ Association, which I am a member of. The contest was to write a short story about Winter or the holidays. It could not be more than 1,000 words. That sounds like a lot of words, but it’s hard to write a complete story in 1,000 words or less. I took on the challenge, let my fiance read it and with his encouragement, submitted it. There were to be three winners. The first place winner would win a $75 gift card for Amazon, the second place winner would get a $50 gift card and the third place winner would get a $25 gift card.

Although I won last place…at least I won. Not bad since it was the first time I’ve ever entered a writing contest. So for those of you that are interested in reading it, you can do so below…but grab a tissue first….

 

THE FIRST ONE WITHOUT

Thanksgiving went by in a blur. It was to be expected. Christmas seemed to arrive the very next day. I woke up Christmas morning to the sound of my fiancé snoring. I quietly got out of bed and went downstairs to make myself a cup of coffee. It didn’t feel like Christmas. I wanted to ignore Christmas since I wouldn’t have my mom with me this year.  Matt and I didn’t put up decorations. We have no kids, so why bother?

As I made my way to the kitchen, I heard a commotion coming from outside in the front yard. It had snowed last night and we had a good five inches on the ground. It was our first white Christmas in a long time. I walked over to the door and opened it, only to see what appeared to be hoof prints in the snow. Did we get visited by Santa and his reindeer?

There was a hoof print on our welcome mat, and I bent down to get a closer look. These prints looked like an open circle with a heart at the top of the print. These were horse hoof prints.     Horses? In the city? In my small yard? I looked around, trying to find a horse, thinking I must finally be going crazy. I heard the same commotion coming from my backyard. I quickly ran through my house to the back door just in time to see not one, not two but five horses!

They were all white with big black eyes that seemed to glisten up against the creamy blue sky. Their white manes were flowing and appeared to be well kept. They stood there in a row staring at me as I stared back. They had sleigh bells around their necks on their harnesses. One of them stepped forward as the other four stayed put. It walked right up to my door as I opened it to get a better look. The cold air immediately rushed to my face, but it was a passing sensation as I was engrossed by this beautiful creature standing before me. My pajama bottoms offered the cold air to my bare legs underneath, but my toes were toasty inside my slippers. I took a quick look behind me to ensure that I was still alone and then stepped outside, shutting the door behind me.

The horse that stepped forward bent its head down and rested its snout on my shoulder. I petted the side of its face, realizing that its fur felt like the softest silk I had ever felt. As I looked in its big eye, I saw my reflection and realized I was crying. I wiped my tears away just as I saw that the horse too appeared to have a tear sliding down its snout. The horse kneeled down. Somehow, I just knew it wanted me to hop on its back. I carefully climbed on and clinched the harness. I hadn’t been on a horse in a good five years and that one had a saddle. This one was bare.

The horse slowly stood up, careful not to dump me off of it. It turned around and looked at the other four horses. In unison, they neighed and formed a single row again. Their sleigh bells began jingling as they all lifted up off the ground and began flying through the air. I bent down so I could hang on better.

I had never been on a flying horse before!

As we picked up speed and the cold air flowed up my nostrils, I got ready for the chill that was going to flow throughout my body but it never came. I had a warmth come over me as we flew closer up to the sun. We flew over the most beautiful green grass I had ever seen. There was no more snow. The flowers on the trees were vibrant and seemed to have light shining through them.

We then stopped mid-air and the horses neighed again. I looked down to the ground, which seemed to only be a few feet away. I rubbed my eyes as I was sure they were playing tricks on me. I saw my mother, laughing and dancing. I hadn’t seen her that happy since the last time we went horseback riding five years ago. She was with her mother, her cousin, and three little babies. She looked up at me and it seemed like she was glowing. The light emanating out of her was breathtaking. She smiled at me, and although she wasn’t talking, I heard her say, “Samantha, I love you.” I tried to jump off the horse so I could get closer to mom but it seemed as if I were stuck on the horse. I couldn’t budge myself. My mother then said, “You can’t come here. I just wanted you to see that I’m happy and that I’m okay. Please, enjoy your day with the family. When you think of me throughout the day, know it’s because I am right there with you.”

“I can’t do this without you.”

“You can. You got through Thanksgiving and you will get through Christmas.”

“It’s hard. I want to be with you.”

“It’s not time to be with me again. We had forty years together and we will have an eternity when it’s time.”

I cried as I realized that she was right.

With that, the horses neighed again and we took off, going back the way we had come. Before I knew it, the green grass turned to snow and it was cold again. The horse softly landed at my back door and I slid off its back, placing my feet into the snow. Although I felt sad, I also felt like I had a new life breathing through me. The horse placed its snout on my shoulder once more before taking off with the others. The first one without her would now have to wait until next year.

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A NEW NOVEL IS IN THE WORKS!

Okay, okay! I’ve been going on and on about trying to find an agent and get my book, The Gift of Death representation and published. I’ve also been working on the second book of the trilogy. But something has been eating at me for the past couple of weeks. It was about a week ago when I realized that I wanted to write something different. I didn’t want to write another thriller or a horror or anything like that. I’ve had this urge to write something that will make readers feel inspired or enlightened or maybe even bring a happy tear to their eye.

As far as the completed book and the second one that I’m currently writing, don’t worry. They are only being put aside for now while I get this out of my system. If an agent should email and say they are interested in my book, then I will come back to it. But right now, my passion is not with those books. It’s somewhere else…

I posted the other day about some of my favorite chick flicks. I thought, I need to write something like Foxfire or Thelma and Louise. I’ve been stewing in my thoughts for a week, trying to come up with a good story line. Nothing was coming though. I watched Foxfire yesterday during my time of laziness. I love that movie. It’s about a group of high school girls who beat up a teacher who is sexually assaulting his female students. They get suspended and pretty much go on this journey of self-worth and learning how to “not take any shit.” I wanted to write something similar to that.

Maybe it was because I watched the movie yesterday, but I woke up at 5:20 this morning with an idea sitting right there in my head. I’m not sure where it came from but I have a hunch that my mom might have had something to do with it. She passed away four months ago and I’ve thought about writing a book of her life. I’m not ready to do that yet, though. Her life was sad and depressing. This morning, in my wake of reality, I thought, why write about what her life WAS? I should write about what her life COULD HAVE BEEN!

The ideas were flowing! I mean, I have the opportunity to create a story that can honor my mom. It will be fiction since I’m pretty much re-writing her life but there will be some reality mixed in with it – things that really did happen. Basically, mom and I are going to run away after being fed up with so many things (this is something that her and I had talked about doing many times) and we are going to have an adventure that will lead us to a new life as well as giving a us a new view on life. I’m cooking up some funny scenes, some serious scenes, and well, accidental murder! I guess I can’t totally turn by back on the thriller part of me. But don’t worry, we will not get in trouble for accidentally killing someone!

When I got up, I went straight to my computer and started writing. There’s already 1,800 words written! I want to share the prologue here on this blog because, well, I think it’s pretty good and it will leave you scratching your head and make you wonder where in the hell I’m going with it. So here it is, enjoy!

PROLOGUE

            Here are some interesting facts about cockroaches that you probably have no desire to know. A cockroach can live an entire week without its head. True story! They have little holes throughout their bodies that allow them to keep breathing. They can survive a whole month without food. The only reason they die without their head is because they can’t drink anything. They die from thirst. They can hold their breath for forty minutes and swim under water for a full half hour. Who knew those little fuckers were so resilient? Also, they have the ability to run up to three miles in an hour. I know a lot of humans who can’t even do that! The cockroaches here in America are attracted to beer. I would be too if I had to live around dirty humans. They have to get through their day somehow, right? Maybe that’s why some cockroaches eat other cockroaches; they want to soak up the beer that their friend consumed earlier that day.

Cockroaches have arthropod bodies, or segmented bodies, that consist of the head, thorax and the abdomen. That’s the gist of their body layout. Not much to them, right? Well, did you know someone can not only choke on a cockroach but die from it as well? We sure as hell didn’t know that. We had to find out the hard way. Be glad I told you before you force someone to eat one. You can thank me later.

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Trying To Stay Positive

Good morning world. I thought I’d do an update since I haven’t done one in a while. There’s not really anything to update. I’m still getting rejections. I think I’m up to 25 now. It’s hard to stay positive when you get that email that says something like, “Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read THE GIFT OF DEATH but I feel it’s not the right fit for me.” I get that trying to find an agent is close to trying to find the person you want to marry and spend the rest of your life with…it’s that important. But after getting so many rejections, I start to question myself. Does my writing suck? Well, I did let five people read my novel and all of them loved it and couldn’t put it down…so it can’t suck that bad. Right?!?

Maybe it’s my query letter. I’ve revised that thing so many times that I’m sick of looking at it. I’ve even changed my novel drastically in hopes to make it more marketable. That seems to not have helped at all. So now I’m questioning if I should have changed it at all. This is all so frustrating!

It would be nice if the agents would give you a real reason as to why they are rejecting me. I get that they get hundreds of letters a day but for that one hopeful author, it doesn’t help us that they give us no reason. UGH! I’d much rather them tell me that my query letter or my sent sample pages suck than hearing “it’s not the right fit for me.”

I guess this is just the way all of this goes.

I’ve decided that I’m going to give it to the end of the month. If I still don’t have any bites, I’m going to work on dropping a shit ton of money to self publish. I have to pay for editing, a good book cover and marketing. I don’t know the first thing about marketing but I guess I could learn. We’ll see…

I also have an urge to write a new novel that is not a thriller. I want to write something that won’t scare the crap out of someone, but rather change someone’s life or the way they look at life or bring meaning to them. I want to write something that makes a difference. Don’t get me wrong, I love writing these thrillers because I’m able to write about stuff that I pull from the depths of my fucked up mind, but I want to be more than that…just a thought right now.

In other news, I did submit to my first writing contest. I had to write a short story (1,000 words or less) about the holidays or winter. I submitted it already but the deadline is not until December 31, 2019, so I have a while to wait. It’s not a big contest. It’s only open to members of the Maryland Writers’ Association. The first place winner gets a $75 gift card to Amazon, second place winner gets a $50 gift card and third place gets a $25 gift card. Nothing big but it’s a start for me since I’ve never entered a writing contest before. I let my fiance read what I wrote and he said if I didn’t submit it then he was going to. I’ll share it with everyone after the contest is over.

Thanks for reading and feel free to share my site to your friends. Evidently, having followers is important…see, I’m already starting to think about marketing myself!!!

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My Writing Journey So Far…

For those of you that have been following along, I started sending query letters to literary agents. Query letters are basically letters that give a description of your  novel and gives a little bit about yourself. Depending on the agent, they may also want a synopsis and a certain amount of your  novel (first five pages, etc.). The goal is for the agent to ask for the entire novel. That hasn’t happened to me yet.

I’ve sent out 19 queries so far and have gotten 8 rejections. Someone asked me if I’m getting discouraged and the answer to that is “no!” I’ve read that all authors will get multiple rejections…maybe even hundreds. It’s all about finding the right agent for you. So, I plan to keep on pushing forward until I’ve ran out of agents to query. Self publishing will be my very last resort. I’d much rather pay someone else to clean up my novel and do all the advertising. I’d rather just spend my time writing. It’s time consuming to query an agent and I don’t even want to do that!

I did realize, though, while sending out all these queries that my novel is too long! Originally I had read that a thriller for a new writer should not be more than 120,000 words. So…I cut a lot out of my novel to get it down to over 119,000 words. Then I started reading the literary agents websites and soon discovered that thrillers should not have more than 90,000 words. I tried really hard to chop off between 29,000 – 30,000 words but it just wasn’t possible.

Soooo…I ended up going back to my original ending (just made it a bit better) and took out the third part of my book. The third part will now be book number 2. I just have to add a lot more to it to make it an actual novel. So that’s what I’m working on now…plus still sending out queries. I’m trying to send out 3 queries a day. I’ve only sent out one so far with the new word count. I’m hoping it makes a difference…we’ll see.

What’s really cool about making the third part into a second book is that I also came up with another idea to have a book three. In fact, book two will end with a hint of a follow-up. So, yes, it’s going to be trilogy! What’s cool about that, you ask? Weeeeellll….you may think I’m nuts but I went to see a physic a few weeks back. She’s legit, the real deal. She told me that my book is going to get picked up by an agent, it’s going to be trilogy (which I didn’t think so when she told me) and there will be talks of turning it into a movie! How cool would that be? That’s not my goal. My goal is to get an agent and get published. If it turns into a move, then so be it. I’ll take it!

I’ve also joined the Maryland Writers Association. Being a member will give me access to free workshops and I will be able to meet other people just like me and author’s who can give me pointers. They have their annual conference in March. There will be literary agents there. Being a member, I will be allowed to do an in-person query with one agent for free. I will have to pay if I want to query more than one but I have to say that being able to pitch my book to an agent in person will be AWESOME! I just have to find confidence in myself because like most authors, I put myself down as a writer sometimes.

We will see what happens next. I’ll keep you updated!

Thanks for reading!

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