Here are a few things you should know when querying agents.

It is painful.

The stories we write are close to our hearts. They bring us laughter and tears. They talk to us. Literally. Ask any writer. We hear their voices. We know what they want to say. Sometimes we get out of bed at weird hours just to write it down.

We send these heartfelt words to agent after agent and many of them send form letters back (if we are lucky). Others just ignore us all together. Every now and then we get an invitation. A bite. A request for a partial.

Please send five pages.

Five pages? But...

Nope. Just five.

Sometimes we get an even bigger bite. Please send 25 pages. Maybe even 50. Please send them in times new roman font 12 with no more than 1/2 inch margins.

For me those bites have ended there. After four months I have had only three partial requests and all of them have been rejected. My hope was that I would have more interest by my 40th birthday.

At first I was a little sad that I didn't accomplish that goal but then I realized that I'll be 40 until next July. I still have plenty of time.

Besides, it's never in ones best interest to give up on a dream.

What are you dreaming about?

Today I looked fear in the face and laughed.

Today I jumped in with both feet and sent out six queries regarding my young adult novel.  After the manuscript made it to the top 25 in the NAESP book of year contest I pinned my hopes on winning that bad boy!

Then I felt a little crushed when it didn't get any further.

Today, I decided that top 25 is pretty damn good and I'm not going to be afraid to continue to pursue this.  Today, I sent a query letter to six different literary agents in hopes that one of them might want to see more of the book.

I will keep you posted on the process.  I am going to try to send out some feelers once a week until I start getting some feedback.

Here's hoping someone picks up the book before my 40th birthday at the end of July!

The dream is not dead.

I was hoping to finish my NaNoWriMo novel by February 15th. Today is the 21st. It is not complete.

I am trying to convince myself that this does not make me a failure. This just makes my sucess a slower accomplishment. I will finish the book. I will conquer the first draft.

My first NaNoWriMo book flowed much like this one. My characters came to life. My protagonist became my friend.

To not complete this book would be a failure to our friendship...mine and Mandy's. Trust me. I am aware that she isn't real but I think some of her pain, some of her joy really is.

It lives within me. Writing it is an emotional process that I sometimes have to force myself to take.

Even if no eyes ever look upon the story, I will know whether it is complete or not.

I will know if Mandy is whole.

Setting my focus on the ides of March.

It's been 40 days since NaNoWriMo and I thought it was a good time to update you all on my progress or lack their of.

Sadly, I did not reach my goal of 50,000 words in the month of December. I did flesh out about 25,000 words and since then have added a measly 5,000.

Let's face it...I write much better under deadline.

After having a few new people read my Nano Novel from last year, I have had new life breathed into me and I can no longer drowned out the voices of my new novel. They are nagging me to get their story down and I have fallen deeply in love with my protagonist.

She is such a beautiful young adult...faced with a tough life and a lot of teen drama, she shines.

My goal is to have a rough draft complete by February 15th.

I guess I need to set my own deadlines.

It's the end of the first marking period and October is almost over. As further proof that mother nature is a fickle bitch we are supposed to have 5-8 inches of snow tomorrow in time for our 1 p.m. Soccer game.

This does not lend me to believe that we are going to have any easy winter,

That being said, here's what I learned in the cafeteria this week.

Processed chicken...it's what's on the menu. I don't eat processed chicken. It scares me. Most likely because I have seen this.

That being said, American school children LOVE processed chicken. It finds its way onto our school menus TWICE a week in the form of chicken balls, chicken sticks, chicken nuggets, chicken patties and tenders. What saddens me most about this, is that my own children want to buy it ALL the time. Ugh.

Don't be rude. Sometimes the lack of manners gets to me. Sometimes the down right rudeness pushes my buttons. Sometimes I have a nervous breakdown and want to writeup all the little brats in second grade as well as a few third graders. This week alone I had a kid stick their tongue out at me, kick me to get my attention, ask what is taking so long, whine because the water dispenser was empty even though the water fountain is less than 10 steps away, bark at me because their was no BBQ sauce, and stab a classmate in the hand with a fork.

Forks are a privledge, not a right. I am looking forward to next week when we no longer provide forks for third grade. Can't be responsible, than your privledge is revoked. Good luck eating your salad with a spoon.

Is it rice or oatmeal? It is never a good sign when the students can't tell what it is you just put on their tray. It's an exceptionally bad sign when the adult aides have to ask if it's oatmeal or rice. Um...I don't think the rice should stay in the shape of the scooper. That's just my opinion.

Cute kids outweigh the rude ones. We had our annual Halloween dance last night complete with crafts, pumpkin painting, and a rockin DJ. I received countless hugs from ninjas, princesses, werewolves and angry birds. One stickin' cute kindergarten pirate asked me to dance and I forgot all about the rude kids above.

What did you learn this week?

When I was pregnant with my first child, my husband and I discussed at great length the pros and cons of my staying at home and not returning to my legal secretarial job.

It was a job I somewhat enjoyed. Like any job it had its good days and its bad days. My boss at the time practiced family law and one can only stomach so many divorces, so many custody battles and so many paternity suits.

To be honest, part of me wondered what I would do all day with an infant.

Part of me thought I would be bored out of my mind.

With much reluctance, I gave up my office manager position and told my boss that I would not return.

My baby was born less than four days later. I was overwhelmed. Hubby stayed home for the first week and then he got to leave. He got to take an uninterupted shower, get dressed in nice clothes and leave. He didn't have to figure out why she was crying, he didn't have to change diapers or always have lunch alone.

Oldest was born in February so sometimes it was days before we even could leave the house.

It was sooooo lonely. I thought I would loose my mind. When oldest was about four months, I joined a playgroup. Some of those moms became my lifeline. They understood what I was going through. They understood how I felt.

Many of them remain my friends.

I started to enjoy my baby. She was becoming more of a little person, she was showing her unique personality. The years started to fly by. Soon I was chasing a toddler and dragging a infant to library story time.

Flash foward two more years and our son arrived, completing our family.

Oldest was four, middle was two and youngest G was new. Four, two and new. It seems like yesterday.

I was overwhelmed. I was never bored. I was never alone.

I remember trying to grocery shop. Oldest is trying to ride on the end of the cart, middle is fighting her for position. I offer to push around one of the stupid car carts. Youngest G is playing with his own hands in his carrier.

Middle tells me in a loud voice that when she grows up she is going to be a garbage man so she will always be able to hang on the side of the car. Oldest says, "When I grow up I am going to do nothing, just like you, mommy."

At first it felt like she had hit me, but then I realized that nothing would please me more because, lets face it, whether we stay home with our kids or not, having a child changes everthing.

Last week I started sharing some of the things I love about my jobs. 

I posted this reason and this reason why I love being a lunch lady.  I had every intention of posting this very post you are reading the next day on all the reasons I love being a freelance writer for the newspaper.

That was until I was verbally abused by a school district superintendent who didn't like the headline that ran with my piece.  Most educated people know that the writers don't write the headlines.

It's all about layout and where the piece will be and how big the headline needs to be.  Even after I explained this quite nicely to said offended super she said and I quote, "I don't care.  All of ________ is blaming you."  Really?  The entire district is blaming me...for a headline?

Sadly, a correction ran and an apology was given yet she still has yet to contact me to apologize for her downright ignorance.  Not like I really expected it or anything.

That being said, I have cooled off considerably and I'm ready to tell you what I love about freelance work for the newspaper. 

• GRADUATIONS.  Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time can tell you that I am a graduation junkie.  I love receiving advice from 17 and 18 year olds.  I keep my fingers crossed that someone will quote Dr. Seuss.  The season is right around the corner and I hope to attend at least five!
• MY NAME IN PRINT.  Granted my name may be on the story with the incorrect headline or it might be followed with an in depth account of a new traffic speed hump but I still love seeing it.  Just between you and I...I really like it when my kids find it.  "Hey...look, mom.  This story is written by you."
• THE REGULARS.  At every meeting I attend (usually at least 8 a month) there are some regulars.  Taxpayers that actually care what the school board is doing, bored old men, and just to keep things interesting a jaded employee or a random crazy.  I like talking to them.  I like hearing the reason behind why they come.  In general, I'm nosey and that is very good for what I do.
• THE COMPETITION.  I live in an area that prints both a morning and and an afternoon paper.  I have worked for the afternoon paper for five years now.  I often sit with the reporter who is covering the same meeting for the morning paper.  I realize that we are supposed to be fierce competitors trying to upstage each other with the better story.  But let's be serious, we write about things like school budgets, sewer repairs and stadium turf.  No one is usurping anyone else.

Tell me at least one thing you like about your job...