Meditating my Way in 2012

Mindfulness mediation offers a terrific way to deal with rejection: i.e. "There will always be pain, but suffering is optional." I'm back to spending a lot of time at Spirit Rock Meditation Center over the hill in West Marin, and reading Jack Kornfield's "The Wise Heart" for the second time. Excellent book, a really workable point of view. One of the things I love about Buddhism is that it's so darn practical. I'm going to go for it in 2012, and get my writing life back on track, starting with a once-over on Shaketown and then hammering away at my list of possible agents. While I'm at it, I'm seriously considering (for the first time ever) self-publishing. The thought of pole-vaulting over the gate-keepers of lit in America gives me a snarky thrill. I be taking refuge in the Buddha!

Back at it...

I could only stay away so long. When you have friends who are writers, they always ask what you've been up to. My super-funny novelist friend Ginny Horton sent me a mug that says, "Write like a Motherfu**r" in the shape of a heart (the words, not the mug), and now she has got me to sign up at the Southeast Review website "Writers Regimen for Adults", a 30-day email workshop to help create a new or improved body of work. For $15, you get daily prompts and other goodies guaranteed to make you feel guilty if you don't sit down and type out a couple of pages a day.
I may even get back to Shaketown.

Novelistas Dan Bacon, Ann Hyman, me and Ginny Horton. Missing from this picture--the REAL Greg Bowman

What could I do? That said, I better see some new writing from her PDQ!

Fighting the Good Fight: One Down, One to Go

Sadly, after allowing one agent to tie up my manuscript for several months without marketing it, we have parted ways. The fault was mine--I wanted to do the right thing by said agent because she put a lot of work into comments on the ms. I'm disappointed, and will once again search for an agent who believes in Shaketown as strongly as I do--someone who takes action getting it out to all those who want to read an exciting tale of the underworld of Victorian San Francisco.

The Bullet is Bitten

I wrote to my "maybe" agent and asked whether it was a yea or nay on the modified manuscript I sent six weeks ago. Better to know--I've got a pretty long list of other agents who want to sell a good historical novel like Shaketown.

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

My novel Shaketown has been at an agent's for over six weeks now. This is the second go-round for the book; initially, it was read by two agency readers who "loved it", and passed it on to the major agent. She went through the book and made some good suggestions. I spoke to her on the phone, liked her very much, and followed through; I returned the book to her since she had spent so much time on it the first go-round--I felt she should have the first shot at selling it. I'm getting frustrated. I know Shaketown is a darn good historical yarn with interesting characters (who doesn't want to read about a feisty madam and a clever Chinese scholar/poet in Victorian San Francisco?) and a twisty story line. What to do next? Start querying other agents (I have a selected list) or wait a little longer?
For now, I wait....