It's confession time again. Remember the turtle shell mode I referenced in my post on sadness? Time to let you in on a little secret: I also hide underneath my turtle shell when I first start pursuing really big, scary, hairy goals. When a dream is so big I can barely wrap my brain around it, I don't tell many people I'm working on it at first. I quietly make a plan, live the ups and downs as a "lone ranger," then I poke my head out and start telling people what I'm up to once I see some signs of success on the road ahead.
You've heard me drop little references to a book project, but in general I know I've been very mysterious. I want to do better. I want to share more with you - the ups and the downs. You are here reading this blog every week, you are the audience I think about at every step, and you are the ones who have encouraged me to keep writing with every comment and every email! It's silly for me to let my fear of failure (or fear of success) keep me from sharing more.
So what prompted this post?
Big news: I chose my literary agent this weekend!! My project feels real. It has survived self-doubt, addictive focus, a quarterlife crisis, deciding not to self-publish after months of writer's block, upper limits, and many other twists and turns. I started writing in 2008, and finally - in February 2010 - I'm coming clean and telling you what the hell I've been doing all these months!
Signing with a literary agent does not make this a done deal - there is no guarantee a publisher will sign-on, that the book will sell - or any other metric of traditional success. But I want to stick my neck out and share the journey with you anyway. If I "fail"? (in quotes because I truly feel just going for it is a success) So what?! We'll figure it out together. Plus, by saying it out loud I know I'll have that much more momentum behind me and the project. You just try to bring us down, universe!
I know many of you have dreams to be a writer - or maybe you are just curious about how my process has gone. In Part 2 of this post, I'll share the timeline of events that's gotten me here: from the seed of an idea to now, which is that the book draft is written and I'm working on revising the proposal to start submitting to publishers in March.
Want the inside book scoop on an ongoing basis?
Because this blog is not about writing a book, per se - there are lots of tips, stories about my process, resources and updates I'd like to share more frequently than I am likely to post about (and somewhat more private updates too). If you are interested in following more detailed book updates, please let me know by filling out this quick form. I look forward to sharing more with you!