The Insecure Writer’s Support, July 4th

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Hosted by Alex J Cavanaugh


Hi everyone! It’s the first Wednesday of July, (okay, I know it's Tuesday, but July 4th is a US holiday so Alex mentioned we can post early) that means it's time for my IWSG post.
In June, I sent a handful of queries to agents, and now I’m in wait mode. You know what I’m finding? The waiting is the hardest part. That’s such a cliché, but it’s so true. To make waiting more difficult that old Tom Petty song keeps creeping into my head. While I can’t remember if I liked this song when it was popular, I can honestly say I’m starting to hate it now. It’s a constant reminder that I’ve never been known to be a patient person.
You may be wondering how this falls into an IWSG post. Well… wait mode just gives me time to wonder if the writing was truly tight and if the first pages were gripping. Will they grab an agent’s attention and make him or her want to read more. And then there are the agents that only want a query letter, and what if there was a typo in that all important first impression? That always leads me to re-read it, and I’m glad I was able to breathe a sigh of relief that there weren’t any typos. It would be so much easier if Ms. Agent would open my email the moment it hit her inbox and reply back that my story is exactly what she hoped to receive when she woke up. Now wouldn’t that be nice. J
The funny thing is, I’ve been here before and I’m usually really good at sending off my queries and putting them out of my mind. I start a new project or revise an old one. I’ll catch up on my ever-growing TBR pile or spend a little more time outside. I’m not really sure why this time I feel like it’s been FOREVER, when in reality many of my queries haven’t even been out two weeks and even the ones that have been out longer haven’t reached the agents’ noted response times. Maybe if a different song would worm its way into my thoughts: Sideways by Citizen Cope or Patience by Guns ‘N Roses (that’s appropriate). Or what about Bubbly by Coco, because—well—it’s bubbly and makes me smile and it has absolutely nothing to do with waiting.
On a positive note, I finished the first draft of my sequel and I’m very happy with it. I’ve tucked it away for now and plan to go back to it after a month or so.