Like an idling hydrofoil, this blog has been stalled out for a bit….  Two things were simultaneously going on (only two? why not seven? twelve? okay, so there were more than two). 

One, we were on a lovely rollercoaster ride with a publisher who was potentially interested in publishing our book!  I had a short consultation with her at an agents/editors conference here in June and heard through the conference grapevine that "I had made the whole conference worth it for her…." 

Whoa, heady stuff.

Delays ensue.  Requests for proposal revisions give rise to knocking knees and a sputtering brain (my writer’s group to the rescue, with a three-hour, butt-in-chair writing marathon — stall out at the risk of public humiliation and Eeyore hang-dog feelings).  A big pow-wow over the phone leaves me feeling both that fate is on our side! and like I also need not be hovering over the basket, counting the eggs before they’re hatched.

More waiting. 

Finally, finally, I hear the news: nope.  So sar-ly.  Didn’t pass the editorial board, although before their big buyout (they were recently gobbled up by a larger company,  in typical carnivorous-publishing-company-fashion), they woulda taken it. 

Shoulda.  Woulda.  Coulda.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I struggled to make the transition to full-time freelance copyediting and writing (so far, so good) and Carol has had her nose buried in pint-sized, but nevertheless glorious ART and… teaching (woohoo – nakey people)!  She’s swamped, but happily so.  The last time we got together was for a scrumptious b-day dinner here, months ago.  I miss her! 

One wonderful upshot of all the revisions I did for the publisher: I was forced, yes, held at gunpoint, and made to re-examine the ex-husband’s perspective in all of this…. So I jokingly asked David (my ex-, Carol’s is-) if he would be willing to co-write the book with us, even though that starts making the cover really crowded and damn, those are a lot of "Marine’s", aren’t they?  Enough to start our own small army. 

The Blended Family Army, marching across the country and forcing ex’s and spouses and children and all configurations thereof to endure miserable two-family dinners where people ask to pass the bread rolls through gritted teeth and frozen beauty queen smiles….  Can’t wait!

David carefully considered the potential impact to his life, weighing the inherent, explosive risks of tackling such a monstrous project with both his wife and ex-wife, against his fragile and delicate mental stability.

"Sure!" he responded instantly.

So, to wrap up, Two: lotsa stuff. 

Busy, jumbled, life-stuff, and the messy stuff of transitions and passions and preoccupations and now, this latest development, our new co-author with a Y chromosome.

I’m going to take a hint from a new friend, Izzy, creator of the fabulous blog Stepmother’s Milk, and start posting shorter posts, so I don’t have to feel like every. single. post. has to be five thousand words and frickin’ amazing (a gal can dream, right?  You gotta have goals!). 

Fifty measly, serviceable, average words and a picture might be just fine.

More pictures would be good.

So expect more frequent ramblings, mostly on-topic.  But no promises.

(And the link to "read more" will take you nowhere, so don’t click on it.  HTML is not my forte!)

Posted by
Jen at 9:37 AM  

2 comments:

Izzy Rose
said…

Thanks for the plug. Sorry about the book. We
should catch up.

September 24, 2007 7:42 PM  

Erin said…

Just saw your blog through Izzy’s blog: Great
stuff!

I’ve signed up for a feed and can’t wait to read more.

-

ERin

October 8, 2007 6:03 PM