Christmas Message

Good News

Back in early June, I sent a young adult novel I wrote to an editor I met at the Houston SCBWI Editor Day Conference.

Friday afternoon I got an email response from the editor's assistant. While the overall answer was a "no" on publication, the answer was so inspiring that I have to share.

Here are some of the comments the assistant sent.

"Your story has all the elements of drama, mystery, intrigue and danger to make for a very exciting thriller. From the start, I wanted to know what was happening to Anna and what she would do to get out of this horrible situation. Your short chapters add to the paciness of the story, and it’s a very smart choice. Your novel reminded me a bit of Gabriel Lord’s new series, CONSPIRACY 365, which I highly recommend you take a look at."

I need to look up this series since I'm not familiar with it.

She also wrote about the ending of the novel. She liked the ending but thought certain aspects of it take "away the power of the contrast you’ve created with the tension earlier in the novel. I would consider rethinking and reworking this as you revise."

It's good advice, and something I'm mulling over in my head. I've got to let the idea cook a while before I really start to attack the writing.

But I am thrilled that someone enjoyed the book! It made my weekend.

A Successful Experiment

I made it through the entire month of November without drinking any soda or eating any candy or desserts.

I set myself this challenge just to see if I could do it. Mom kept making cookies and eating chocolate pie and chocolate cake in front of me. Since I never told her about my challenge, she would ask if I wanted some. I just said, "No, thank you."

My grandmother always tells me I can do anything I set my mind to, so I thought I'd try this. And it was a success! I'm applying this knowledge to my writing now. I can get an agent, and I can get published. But I know that will take longer than a month.

I lost three pounds, too, so that's an added bonus!

As for December 1, I had a soda, some chocolate candy and chocolate cake. It was delicious!

Another Experiment

Back in February, I set myself the challenge of avoiding fast food for one month. Since I succeeded, I've been thinking about trying the same thing again.

However, I decided to give myself an even more difficult task. I'm going to try to avoid candy, desserts and sodas during November. To prepare for this, I ate several bags of M&M's on Halloween.

I'm trying to avoid the "unnecessary" stuff. To that end, I am pleased to report that Mom, who does not know about my plan, made brownies Sunday night, and I have not eaten even a crumb.

Wish me luck! It's probably going to be a long November.