So while I am sitting here, basking in the glow of an amazing day in St. Augustine with Mom, I figure that now is the best time to write up my 2010 in review post!
When I think about it, I didn't get the things I was aiming for this time last year, but that much I'd guessed. As I was watching the fireworks from Dad's condo in the city, I was thinking about how in the spring, I'd hear from JET, and I'd start querying agents for the first time, and I joked that it would be "The Spring of Rejection and Heartbreak."
It didn't take very long to begin: I was rejected from JET in late January, and I started my ultimately unsuccessful hunt for an agent on Valentine's Day. But saying it like that makes it sound like this year was horrible and disappointing, which it was absolutely not. Maybe it wasn't mind-blowingly amazing, but it was an important year in more ways than one.
I'll never forget what I it was like to send those early queries. It took me five minutes to hit 'send' on the first one because I was so terrified. As the weeks went on and the rejections piled up, I was constantly adjusting my expectations, from 'I want to get an agent' to 'I want to get a manuscript request.'
But I have to say, getting that first request was one of the most amazing moments of my life. I was literally screaming and jumping up and down while "Eye of the Tiger" played in the background. And though I was ultimately rejected, Steven Malk gave me some of the highest praise I've ever received. He told me I have "many great things ahead of me," and that he'd be happy to hear from me again with a different project. There were other requests after that, and other rejections, I knew Grandmaster Draw wouldn't be the one, because I knew I had to try him again. It may not work out with the next one, either, but now I know the kind of agent I'd like to work with, and I hope it will be someone like him.
Writing aside, this was also the year I graduated, which is probably more important in the grand scheme of things! And I accomplished the impossible: I got the first job I applied for, and I moved to Washington D.C. I recognize that this is pretty awesome, but at the time? It was the most terrified I've ever been. I'm still terrified. I occasionally wander around my apartment muttering "Oh my God what the hell am I doing?"
But seeing as I am paying for my own rent, cable bill, and groceries, and I am holding down a fairly crazy (and occasionally infuriating) job assisting five (sometimes six) diplomats, and I am building an impressive (for me) social life with my coworkers, I'd say I'm doing pretty damn well. It's not something I want to get settled into for the long term, but it's a great start.
And it only goes uphill from here!
So thank you, everyone! Thank you for fangirl(or boy)ing with me, for reading my writing, for listening when I needed someone to, for letting me listen to you, and for being the smartest, wittiest, most interesting bunch around. Thank you for being you! ♥
All right. Resolutions!
1. Finish The Hungry Ground. I have to be better about writing on weeknights as well as weekends, even if work knocks me on my ass. I'm aiming to finish in the summer: hopefully will have a first draft by June or July in order to start querying in August or September, so as to avoid the writing convention crunch. I have a list of top agents, and I have what I think is a more salable story, and I am ready to go. Maybe this time I'll get that agent.
2. Work on confidence, as always. I get better every year, but it's an ongoing process!
3. Continue to be fiscally responsible. I've been good at budgeting and I don't want to change that! And since I'm fortunate enough to have a job that leaves me with some extra cash, I want to give more to charity this year.
4. Spend more time with you guys! Due to being crazy-busy, I have fallen off the face of the earth, and I miss y'all. Any one of you should feel free to AIM me at insomniacF3 if you see me online - I don't bite!
5. Be more healthy. Not because I'm unhappy with the way I look, but because my arteries will thank me. Besides upholding my workout schedule, I need to learn some healthier recipes.
6. Most of all, I want to be sitting here in my parents' house next year, just like this, and know that the people I love are happy and safe. That's not really a resolution, though. That's just my hope.
Happy New Year! ♥ I love you all!
