It’s been some time since I managed to write a post. The last few weeks have been so stressful due to my work and the nature of said work.
While I won’t get into it, the situation boiled down to false accusations and that impacting my mental health and my reputation at my job. Needless to say, with support from family and friends, and my boss having my back, I was able to get through the situation.
I feel better now and hope to have a better schedule of keeping up with writing posts in general.
It’s been a few weeks since my last post. Needless to say, Spring Break came and went. It was definitely a much-needed rest. Plus, it was very eventful, from visiting the beach to visiting family and even attending a concert. I had so much fun that week. Plus, my cat Princess had a blast sleeping in my arms daily.
I managed to send a third round of query letters out as well. However, I wish I had better news to share. So far, all my queries have been rejected. A lot of the agents I want to send to have been closed and, the only thing I can do, is go back and check their availability.
While I’m not exactly discouraged since I know most of my queries will be rejected, it’s a little disappointing. The last time I tried to query, I had to give up because it was a year with so replies (I think?) and it was time to take a break.
I don’t want to do it this time. I want to keep trying. Sometimes it is tough to remember that it might not work out the first twenty or thirty times. Rejection is “normal”. But, nevertheless, I’m feeling hopeful. One of these days I’m going to have more than rejections.
It’s been a whirlwind of events since my last post. I’ve definitely been kept busy every day.
To start off, both of my cats needed a vet visit. Turns out my oldest, Princess, had IBD (inflammatory Bowel Disease). Giving her medicine and changing her diet hasn’t been easy. It was by far the most expensive visit.
The second cat, Olive, started wheezing. I’m here thinking she might have a hairball and doesn’t know how to expel it. However, this continued for a few days and she started hiding. She had also started eating less so that was concerning. After the vet visit, it turns out she has asthma. Not sure how it suddenly appeared since it was the first time it happened. Needless to say, she also gained weight (1 lb.) so I think it’s time I play with her a bit more. Hopefully, that helps.
Due to work, I had two days of training for new math curriculum. While it was very informative, I found myself falling asleep more often than not. It was good information but the presentation was a bit dry. At least, I wasn’t in the classroom for two days. Not only that, I have a week left before going on Spring Break.
The biggest thing since last post was possibly getting more rejections on my queries. So far, there’s been two waves of query letters sent out. On the second wave, I did tweak my query a bit to see if that helped.
There are three agents I’m waiting to hear back from so maybe there will be good news there. But I know I can’t wait forever. I’m planning on send out the third wave of queries next week.
I’m really liking how almost all the agents I’ve queried use Query Manager. I feel like it’s less stressful for me than sending an email. Plus, you also go back and look at your submission. Most of the time, I don’t because it makes me more nervous.
On a different note, I have finally figured out how to end the third and last book of the Vampire Prince series on Wattpad. For a long time, I struggled with how to finish up the book and somehow, it finally clicked. I sat at my desk and started planning the next few chapters and kept going until I got to the end.
Sadly, there are some scenes that I want to add but they won’t happen until further down the timeline. I’m thinking of adding extra chapters to the end of the story as a way to remedy that.
What’s more exciting is that I also thought up of a second series (maybe) that is set in the same world. I don’t have any plans for that series yet until I’m done with the first series. At least it’s good to know that I do have more series planned.
Overall, I feel like I’m making progressed. I started drawing (doodling) again and definitely writing more every day. I’m proud of myself.
It’s been a few weeks since the beginning of the new year. While some goals are proceeding better than other, there is still progress.
It has been difficult to return to work after a long break, but I’ve gotten used to it again. If I think about, this month has gone by really fast. We’re almost in February. It definitely feels like I’m busy every day.
Luckily, I’ve had to time to work on my current novel – currently named – Clan of Blood. It’s the sequel of the story I’m currently try to publish. I tend to write every day even though it might be a paragraph or two at a time. I do need to get better at setting a writing time for me, but I’m going to focus on the positive notes: I’m writing every day.
One of my goals this year was to start query again. I’m happy to announce that I started querying a novel I’ve called Clan of Ash. It was a bit tough researching the agents that fit my genre. Not only that writing the synopsis was super tough too. It did feel like a hassle mostly because I needed to decided what was most important. I must have written the query letter ten times before I was satisfied.
At times it felt like every version of the query sounded the same but I kept powering through. Clicking send on the emails and on Query Manager was nerve wrecking. I didn’t think I was ready. But to be quite honest, once I did, it was a relief. I took the first step and that’s what matters.
I didn’t send out as many queries as I wanted to but it was close to ten so, I call that a win.
There was an agent I queried on 18th of this month (they were closed through 17th) and guess what?
I got a reply back!
It was so quick.
Back when I had tried to query before, I didn’t get many replies. Usually that meant the agent wasn’t interested in your work so receiving a reply is huge.
With baited breath I opened the email and read it.
I was rejected.
Honestly, I didn’t feel bad. Maybe deep down I knew I was going to be rejected. I feel that being rejected is to be expected. Anything else than that is amazing and great. .
This is probably the first rejection out of many and all I can do now, is hope for the best and keep trying.
It’s definitely been a few weeks since I posted any updates. Overall, I think I’ve adjusted to the new school year. A few students withdrew so it makes it easier. I’m not as stressed anymore and I find myself crocheting and writing more so that’s always a bonus.
On the writing side, as I might have mentioned before, I am no longer seeking to publish my Wattpad story at the moment due to some exciting news coming in October (keep your eyes peeled). So, for now, it stays on the platform.
Since my Wattpad story is out of the picture, I’m working on another story that I’m getting ready to send out. I’ve sent this story out before – a long time ago – I think I’m ready to try again. However, I’ve made some manages to the story and how I wrote it. I’m hoping I’ll finish it by the end of October.
I’m well aware Nation Novel Writing Month is coming up, but I’ll make a different post about it later. For right now, I’m not sure if I’ll participate. I am working on world-building for a novel I’m planning on writing, but it’s still too early to tell.
Here’s hoping I’ll be a bit more consistent on the updates. Until then, take care.
Dabbling in the Art of Writing 