I've been unfairly punishing my blog in a poor attempt to punish myself for not finishing my edits. I've pretty pushed off everything creative to focus on finishing the manuscript. Yet somehow, the no-blog-until-complete policy feels a bit misguided.
I had a wonderful phone conversation with a super-agent, the result of winning one of the Query Critiques over at WriteOnCon. So while I was in the middle of rewrite hell, I got to enjoy what was probably the best twenty minutes of my fledgling writing career. Oh, and there was a Query critique in there too. Since this was not an interview per se, I won't name her here, but this particular lesson-learned was too important to sit on:
Don't rush.
She talked about one of her client who waited the better part of year to respond to her manuscript request. She met him in person, listened to the pitch and made the request. A year (or more) later, she received the manuscript and even still remembered him. Her point: she would rather the work be right than fast.
So I've slowed. Not completely, but I took a week to read and reset my inner-YA fanboy. I read Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall. Think Groundhog Day meets John Hughes, except that the story is from the popular kid's perspective; in which case it probably wouldn't be John Hughes. Maybe Lindsey Lohan. Or just forget it.
Highly recommended. Then came the guilty pleasure: Cassandra Clare's latest, The City of Fallen Angels. If you're a fan, I need say no more. No spoilers. It's solid, and stands well against its predecessors.
Okay, that's it. Someone leave a comment saying, 'Bad blogger, bad!', for neglecting my blog.
