What I Would Do For You – Cannons to Cruising

In Which I Disappear to Revise Two Books in Two Months

Sat down to write this blog post today, and I realized I missed posting in both February AND March. Whoops! I don’t think I’ve ever gone this long without an update! Trust that all of my spare time has been spent writing, just not on here.

February—I focused on making the revisions my agent wanted to see before the book goes on submission. It was hugely challenging but incredibly satisfying. Their suggestions definitely improved the story, but it was my first time doing an overhaul like that and it felt like my brain had been wrung out like a washcloth by the end. Hence, no February post. Fingers crossed they like the changes and that I nailed it on round one, but I’m also aware we might have to go back and forth a few times. I’m new at this! Trying to be okay with the fact that I might not get a gold star right away. I emailed the manuscript in early March and jumped straight into editing my NaNoWriMo book while I waited for them to get back to me.

March—Cleaned up my 77,000-word YA contemporary suspense sailing novel and got it in good enough shape to send to beta readers. I had a blast with this book, and I’m dying to get reader feedback regarding all the red herrings, who-dun-it theories, and shocking moments. It took about three weeks to edit, and I just sent it off to friends yesterday. For the first time in eight weeks, I have…nothing on the docket?!

Except the lingering guilt that I’ve neglected my blog! After not posting for two months, you would think that I would have something more exciting than this to share, but it’s mostly been me at my keyboard, mumbling to myself. Oh wait, I guess you could count my dermatitis flare up as something out of the ordinary, but nobody wants to see me with diaper rash cream on my face (If you have any tips regarding this, PLEASE share I am desperate it’s been weeks and it isn’t clearing up).

You CAN be on the lookout for boat updates soon, though. Yep, we lasted 2 whole years without a boat before we caved and bought a DINGHY! It’s so cute and has a little electric motor so we can buzz around Puget Sound this summer. Once the registration goes through, we’ll be taking her out as much as weather allows. The kids are beside themselves. Taking name suggestions at this time. So far the contenders are:

Never Again
Once More With Feeling
Fooky Fooky (my son cannot say his ‘s’, so anything spooky he declares ‘fooky’)
Next Chapter
Scout (my daughter SWEARS this won’t be confusing)

Love,

Taylor

PNWA

This entire summer was a sprint, and now the finish line has come and gone. Was it worth it? YES. Do I have an agent yet? TBD. My pitch got some great feedback at a few workshops, and a lot of people were really excited by my story. I presented myself and my project as well as I possibly could during my in-person pitch session (The bar was low for this; I was just hoping not to burst into tears from being overwhelmed!) I got requests for more material from 3/3 agents (2 partial requests, 1 full manuscript request), but I’ve also sent some email queries this week to cover all my bases. Mostly, I’m just super proud of myself that I set this crazy goal back in June and actually freaking DID IT.

What absolutely floored me, though, was the response this weekend from so many amazing people in my life. I received videos, messages, and phone calls asking for updates and sending me love this entire month. You guys have so much faith in me, and I am beyond lucky to have a support system like this. Writing is an isolating career, one where I keep the door shut most of the time. I am usually stuck in my own head with self-doubt and criticism. A lot of it centers on not feeling ‘good enough’, especially to attend a conference like PNWA where there is so much talent. Your little messages kept me going, and I was able to make a few new writer friends and get the most out of the seminars.

One of the biggest eye-opening courses was the one on turning novels into screenplays. I’d never given much thought to presenting stories through a different medium, but I think this might be a goal of mine for the future. My takeaway from this weekend was that there is no one path to storytelling success, and I should be open to other options besides strictly novels. I had never written a short story before becoming the Pen Parentis Fellow because I always thought I just wanted to write books. Turns out, I didn’t give myself enough credit!

So for the next few weeks, I’m in the waiting phase while agents assess my work. I promised myself I’d take a little break before starting my next project, but I’m already turning ideas around in my brain while doing the school drop off and pick up routine. This next one might need to marinate for a while, but maybe I’ll be ready for NaNoWriMo this year?

Love,

Tay

Aspirational, Insane, or Both?

I had a vision for how the summer was going to go—leisurely beach days with the kids, parks, hiking, visits to Seattle, drinks on the back porch, yoga…somewhere in there I was going to start pre-writing my next book. I wanted to take my time with this one and get it right, maybe start it in the fall when the kids go back to school, edit over the holidays, pitch it in January.

Turns out, that was just a bunch of excuses not to start because I was afraid.

The PNWA Writer’s Conference is coming up at the end of September, and I’m attempting the impossible—planning, drafting, editing, and pitching a project within a 3.5-month period. This is insane, I’m well aware. I’ve never written an entire book on such a short timeline, but when I found out there would be a live agent pitch even there, I had to try.

I could submit my two other completed books, Hedge Dancer, or Catch Me When I Fly, but of course I need to do this the hard way. Here’s the thing—the concept for this book got me really really close to landing an agent about six years ago. The first iteration straddled the line between YA and Adult, so I yanked it apart, rewrote it, and aged it up to Adult to pitch it again. Close a second time, but still a no.

I put it aside and focused on other projects. I’ve written four books since then, but this one has always been in the back of my mind. The story I needed to tell but I was too afraid to try again, because to do it right I needed to burn it down to the ground. The only part that’s the same in the book this time around is the concept, which is about a girl and her disabled older sister. The rest is completely fresh, and it’s actually shaping into something I’m really proud of.

My draft is 26,000 words so far, which is a little over 1/3 of the way. I need to write 1,000 words every morning to stay on track to finish in time. The draft will be done by end of August, I’ll edit over two weeks in September, then work on my pitch materials right before the conference. When I make the deadline, I’ll have written and pitched two entire books this year, which is pretty cool.

This book, What I Would Do for You, is lucky #7, and by doing the hard choice, maybe it’s the key to the greatest reward. No matter what happens in September, I’m confident that pulling the trigger on this book is the right call. Currently running on coffee and ice cream (yes, at 9am. Don’t judge me), procrastinating on my draft to write this rambling 500-word post, and reminding myself I can do hard things. 9 more weeks and it will be done!

Love,

Taylor