February, 2006 News

February 26, 2006

Today was the monthly meeting of the Pikes Peak Romance Writers, a wonderfully supportive group who, along with my critique group, are the reason I haven't given up the pursuit to be published. At the "Nuggets and Noogies" portion of the meeting, where we list our accomplishments and rejections that month, I asked the President if I could go last. Then I announced my sale. The hugs, wows, congratulations and questions overwhelmed me. And I finally got my rose! (The group awards different types of artificial flowers for accomplishments--irises for contest wins, chrysanthemum for short fiction pubs, etc., with roses for books.)

February 24, 2006

Finally! A response to our proposed contract changes came to my agent a few days ago, and Barret emailed the new revised contract to me today. Our minor contract changes were accepted; a couple of others that were more substantial were rejected. I looked over the new version of the contract and emailed my response to Barret, mainly, "I'm ready to agree to this!"

February 21, 2006

I had to get a massage from the wife of one of my critique partners, an excellent Trager massage therapist, to work the tension out of my body. See, even good events in your life can be stressful!

February 16, 2006

I couldn't go through another meeting with my critique group without saying anything, so I spilled the beans tonight that I'd gotten an offer. Cheers all around. Again, I asked them to keep the news quiet, because I still felt there were lots of ways I could jinx this, and my active mind was keeping me up at night dreaming up dire scenarios.

February 14, 2006

Unable to stand the tension any longer, I emailed my agent, admitting I was getting antsy and asking if he'd heard anything. He emailed Helfers, who replied that a snowstorm had closed their offices, but that he'd get back to him soon. My fingernails are nubs now. Darn snow!

February 2, 2006

John Helfers answered the questions he could and said he could give me a contact at Five Star Publishing to answer the rest after contract signing. I'm getting anxious to hear what the response is to our suggested contract changes, and I'm starting to second-guess this whole thing now. What if he decides I'm too difficult to work with? What if he says forget the whole thing? I'm stressing too much, I know, but I can't help it.