That’s the way it crumbles… cookiewise.

Well, in a fit of early morning nuttiness a couple of days ago, I sent off an e-query to an agent whose blog I’ve been following. I received the standard form rejection letter.

As it turns out, there is speculation that this particular agent does not represent dark subject matter, so it is probably for the best.

Still stings, though. 🙂

In other news, the mock-up copy I ordered from lulu.com arrived yesterday. It is really cool to hold something that looks like a novel in your hands and know that you wrote it.

That said, I am not totally pleased with the presentation. I used standard 12 font Times New Roman, and it ended up looking like a large print edition.

Once I read through again (I intend to read the novel-sized version; I think I will catch different things I want to change from that perspective), I will reformat when I order the next copy. Bonus: it will cost less, because it will be less pages in a smaller font.

Of course, it wasn’t that expensive in the first place. 😉

In the meanwhile, I will keep plugging away at the editing. I might officially start sending out query letters next month. I’ll probably send out a few and see what the response is. If it is all standard rejections, then maybe my query letter needs revision.

So, where are the rainbows?

I spoke to my mother today, who is nearing the end of her first reading of my draft.

When I first handed the copy to her, I warned her. “This is a dark book.”

“Really?” she asked as she put it next to her purse.

Today she says, “Your book is dark.”

“I warned you.”

“You did?” She sounded puzzled. “Anyway… where are the rainbows?”

She hasn’t quite finished yet, so it will get better.

There are bittersweet rainbows, anyway.

Today I am worried…

I don’t know what it is exactly, but I am worried that my book is too darned dark.

I haven’t even revealed the worst secrets to my main character yet, and it’s already pretty awful.

How dark is too dark? When does a novel stop being entertaining and start being draining?

I hit poor Beatrice pretty hard with some twisted information yesterday, and she still hasn’t discovered the worst of it. Will anyone really be interested in reading about the horrors that have befallen her?

Today, I’m just not sure. *sigh*

But, regardless, the official wordcount validator is running now at NaNoWriMo and I’ve uploaded my November work into it for a total of 52,884 words and am now an official “winner”, so there’s that.