But my baby is out there! The Google doc link has been sent to AR, BG (who has promised to be honest), ER (who has promised to love it), LD, MM, SH, and RA (who has promised to take a long, yet honest, time). TM and RR have also received a link, but more because they are, as I told them, honorary members of the reading-Jane's-work-while-it-still-sucks club because they've been reading my stuff longer than anyone. Bless them. That must have been torture. (Although RR wrote me a lovely note some while ago about the Kaotic story; that note still hangs on my mirror.)
I also sent a Facebook message to some friends who are writers but haven't, in my memory, expressed any particular interest in reading my book when it was finished. The recipients? Two friends of mine, EJ and EW, and two celebrities: Shannon Hale and Erin Healy. Celebrities in my world, at least. :) Both of them have not made the switch to Facebook fan pages, and, despite the churning in my stomach, I said, "What the heck?" And wrote them, along with EJ and EW, this note: (I did not send them the link because I want them to ask me. I don't want them to read it without my knowing, and I don't want them to feel like I'm pushing it on them.)
Well, you may or may not know that I recently finished writing the second draft of a novel. This was a really big step for me; it's the first second draft that I've ever finished.
Anyway, you are getting this message because I know that you like to write and because I admire your writing. I was wondering if you would be interested in critiquing/reading my story. I completely understand if you are too busy, and that is cool, but your honest thoughts would be invaluable if you do decide to go for it! :)
Summaries are something that I have yet to work on, but I can tell you that this is a story about a princess in a fantasy world reminiscent of both Persia and the Celts. (I know; it's a weird mix.) It's a romance, and if I were shelving it I would probably put it with the Young Adult (teen) books in the library. It could possibly go with the children's books, but I have a feeling that it's a bit too long to go there. The authors whose works have inspired this story and who write best in the genre I am trying to pursue here are the following:
Megan Whalen Turner
Shannon Hale
Gail Carson Levine
Robin McKinley
Sherwood Smith
Kristin Cashore
Again, I completely understand if you are too busy. But if you are interested in reading and critiquing, I can send you a link to Google Docs or a (much more readable) Word doc attachment via email. Just let me know. :)
Yeah. And then I had a dream that Shannon Hale posted as her status something to the effect of: "People, I do NOT want to receive manuscripts to read. I will NOT read them. Please STOP."
I never anticipated having dreams about writing. It's rather unnerving. I've gotten myself rather emotionally involved this time, haven't I?
And now I'm on pins and needles, and I will probably be on pins and needles for a very long time. I'm considering a vow not to write any stories for at least a week, but I'm not sure if I can hold to it. I'm at least not looking at Ivolet for a month. But I don't know if I can stay away, especially from Thin Ice. It calls me. I think I'm going to right it from Jenn's perspective. Jenn is a boy, by the way, and I've never written entirely by a boy's perspective, although I got some practice with Daniel. But the purpose of doing so is practical; Lottie has too many secrets that would be revealed too early if I wrote it with her point of view.
I wonder if Shannon Hale will see her name as my inspiration. I wonder if she'll even read it. I know that Erin Healy has been locked out of her Facebook account.
No one has really written me back. BG commented on my woe-is-me-my-baby's-gone status and said she promised to be truthful, and RA and I had a nice Facebook chat discussion. But besides that - nothing.
Heck yeah, I'm nervous.
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