In over my head

Life as a teacher is a bit like juggling a progressively higher number of firesticks each week.

Each fire stick represents: writing the curriculum, giving the lessons, training for expectations, keeping up a web site, attending professional development, going to meetings, etc., etc.

Add in grading/planning and suddenly, I'm juggling as fast as I can to keep from getting burned...not to mention running ahead of a blizzard of grading each weekend.

My writing time? Yeah, it's shot, unless you count 1-hour intervals once a week (sometimes). That's the bad news.

The good news? I FINISHED my last revision...which means we can go out on sub soon. Whew. So I can turn my attention to my YA mystery, which is with its final beta.  I'm also very close to finishing my latest WIP. Last year, I finished a WIP every three months. This year, I'm clocking in at six and it's still not done because I have no time.

My next opportunity to do any sustained writing will be over Christmas break.  That's when my school gets to move into our new addition so I'll probably be spending that time organizing and moving stuff out of my classroom, rather than doing much writing.

 How's your writing going? Are you doing NaNoWriMo?

Best Rejection Stories

My agent and I have been on submission for just over a month. She sent out to a fab list of editors while I braced myself for Rejection Highway. Because let's face it, life has said No to me way more often than Yes.

Last week, Tricia forwarded an Almost-Email. A Big House editor had some positive things to say about my submission. He loved the writing, the atmosphere, the whole premise of the story. He'd sat on the MS for a while mulling it over before finally deciding to pass. The parts he loved the most were the ones I'd tackled in revisions. I was still stressed over those bits, wondering if they went too far or gave a false start to the tone of the story. Learning that this editor had a favorable response was a huge relief. 

This was very exciting to both Tricia and me because it proved - at least as far as one reader was concerned - that our gut instincts about the weak areas in the MS were correct. In a weird way, this rejection was a huge boost to my writerly confidence.

I asked a few other writers if they'd had similar experiences. Here's what Jolene Perry had to say:

 I'd queried Victoria Marini with a YA paranormal called Insight. She read the beginning twice, and said that she couldn't put her finger on it, but it still didn't work. HOWEVER, she'd be happy to read anything else I had.
When I completed my first YA contemporary, I sent it to her and immediately got a request for a full (she doesn't rep much contemp, if any). She kept my manuscript for a full eight weeks and when she got back to me it was still a no, but her letter totally propelled me forward. She said she saw huge growth in my writing and loved the voice. She said she knew it would find a home somewhere, and that after reading it, she sat on the manuscript for three weeks, unsure of what to do.
For me, deep in the query trenches, I first saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I still keep her letter. I wrote her when I did sign to thank her, and she wrote back right away.
It was the first time that I truly understood that placing a manuscript with an agent or an editor is all about right person, right place, AND the right time (once your MS is truly ready).

Do you have a best rejection story - one that really helped you along the writing road? Share it in the comments!