Querying vs. Colonoscopy

Not to be graphic, but the two activities share more than their first sound.

They are equally unenjoyable.You’re expected to jump through all kinds of hoops for the “privilege” of feeling powerlessBoth cause significant anxiety and procrastination. Nobody wants to do it, but they get convinced it’s necessary.The preparation is uncomfortable.The process leaved you feeling exposed and vulnerable.You wait anxiously for the results.You feel relief when it’s over … until you remember you will need to go through the whole damned thing again.Everyone has advice for you, though their experiences rarely match yours.

Sooo … why did I go through this with you? Because to me, querying makes me feel like someone is sucking out my soul. I did that with Beautiful, 170 different personalized queries. Now I’m looking at repeating all this with Beautifully Made (the sequel to Beautiful), and I’m feeling sadness and despair. Writing is supposed to be fun, or why do it? I’m retired, for goodness’ sake. I don’t need more grief. I would much rather focus on my third novel, tentatively named Out of Sight, which is unrelated to the first two and, as such, may warrant another try at traditional publishing. We’ll see how I feel when the writing and editing is done.

Since Beautifully Made is fully written, professionally edited, and formatted (I use Vellum on my MacBook Pro), all I need is a professional cover designer and I can put my novel out in the world for people to buy and read. So that’s my plan. I figure the book should be available by May or June. Obviously, I will let you know.