March is Going Quickly

I decided to try a new format for my blogs, since I've been falling behind because of my furious work on new manuscripts. I'm really, really working hard to get submissions out there on a number of fronts for both professional and psychological reasons. Submitting manuscripts to publishers is more like buying lottery tickets than anything else. At least it seems that way to me. There's no telling who is going to like what. Sometimes you win, but mostly you lose. The more times you play the game, the more likely you are to win something. Although the lottery is more random in that playing more games does not change your odds of winning.

Psychologically, it's easier to take a rejection if you have four or five other submissions pending because your crushed spirit still has the balm of a few more fruitless submissions that you haven't heard back on. Yet.

Good News (If Any)

I do have 1 short story coming out this month, on the 25^th to be exact. It's a sweet Regency called: Outrageous Behavior. And I already got a 4-star review from Novel Editions, so I hope you'll check it out. Because it's a short story, it's cheap and doesn't take long to read, so I'm hoping folks will find it to be their cup of tea.

And speaking of cups of tea…

I'm attending a Regency Tea given by the Durham Library system in the Raleigh, NC, area. The tea is March 31^st in the evening and it promises to be a lot of fun. If things get too boring (I'm a terrible conversationalist), I have a trick up my sleeve. Many eons ago, before the earth's crust entirely cooled, I obtained a desk of Regency-themed Tarot cards. So, if we can't think of anything to talk about at the Tea, other than the weather, I can whip out my Tarot cards and do a few informal Regency Fortune-tellings. At least that will save me from the dreaded silence that seems to fall when you're facing a bunch of strangers and have no clue what to say.

What I'm Reading Now

I'm reading a few short stories in The Strand magazine. There is a Mark Twain and a P.G. Wodehouse, so I really can't go wrong. I love short stories. When I want something to read at bedtime and for whatever reason don't feel like plunging into another novel, I generally pick up my volume of The Collected Works of H. H. Munroe (aka, SAKI) and read a few of his short stories. It doesn't matter how many times I read them—they still make me chuckle.

What I'm Writing Now

I'm working madly on polishing the final draft of The Bricklayer's Helper. It's a sweet Regency mystery/romance and features the Archer family from my previous book, I Bid One American. It was a lot of fun to write, so I hope my editor agrees and I can find a home for it. I've given myself a deadline of April 3, 2009, to submit it. Then, I'll get to work on polishing up a paranormal I have lying around. I'm considering trying the Nocturne line for that one (if I find the guts to do so). After that query goes out, I'll be submitting a few queries for a cozy mystery called: Whacked!. That one is ready, but I'm trying to pull together a query that agents will bite on. It will be my first contemporary mystery, so we'll see what happens.

What—If Any—Thoughts I have

I'm trying very hard not to think.

So far, I've succeeded.