Thursday, September 8, 2011

A Letter Has Arrived

No, not my acceptance to Hogwarts. Not even Pottermore. My first official EDITORIAL LETTER came yesterday! (If you don't know what that is, an editorial letter is when your wonderful editor sends you everything they would like to see improved in your novel.) I might have freaked out a little. Or a lot. But you guys know that about me already, so I'm assuming that's not really a surprise.

Well, The Letter is long, and smart and kind and involved and full of things that have me going "Well, duh, why didn't I see that?" Editor Erica has certainly lived up to all the rumored brilliance and kindness. She is just wonderful, and I am SO LUCKY. I am also a little scared, but mostly LUCKY and EXCITED.

So. This means a few things:

1. I have actual WORK to do. Like, official I-am-being-paid-to-write work. Which is cool—and a little intimidating—but again mostly cool. Also surreal.

2. And not only do I have work, but I have a DEADLINE. A real live deadline! I can't tell you how ecstatic that makes me. I've been setting my own for forever, but this one was given to me! I feel all legit and stuff.

3. Since I have work and a deadline, that means my writing (okay, editing) actually has to come first now. Before blogging, networking, etc. I only have so many hours to work sans kids, and those will be spent on TRANSPARENT.

4. Which means that, until I have my edits done, I won't be blogging as much. Right now I've decided to go down to 3 days a week, but it might be less if I need the time. You can expect a post Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday for Happy Writers.

Hope you'll stick around! I promise to be extra interesting. Okay, I can't promise that, but I will do my utmost. And if I fail I will make it up to you in baked goods.

36 comments:

  1. "Well, The Letter is long, and smart and kind and involved and full of things that have me going "Well, duh, why didn't I see that?" Editor Erica has certainly lived up to all the rumored brilliance and kindness. She is just wonderful, and I am SO LUCKY. I am also a little scared, but mostly LUCKY and EXCITED."

    ^ I, too, felt this way after receiving my letter from Erica! Pretty much word-for-word. We are so lucky, indeed. Best of luck working through the revisions! I'm sure you'll rock it! :)

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  2. YAY! I'm still waiting for my editorial letter. It's a very weird place to be wondering what they're going to want changed.

    Have fun, good luck, and I hope the edits go smoothly for you.

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  3. Congratulations! (I would have been totally jealous if you had gotten an acceptance letter to Hogwarts btw.)

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  4. Congratulations on your letter and your real live deadline!

    I'll just show up whenever you blog. You do what you gotta do first :-)

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  5. Yay!!! Deadline envy oozing through the blogisphere. Congrats and all that. We won't forget you're still here.

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  6. Congrats on being all legit and stuff!

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  7. I'm so excited for you, Natalie! Now get to work!

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  8. So cool! Congrats and good luck! :)

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  9. I am EXCITED for you too! And also the teensiest bit JEALOUS. :)

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  10. Congratulations!!! Good luck with your deadline.

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  11. Congrats. Good luck and happy writing.

    New follower too,

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  12. Congrats! There's nothing like an edit letter. I'm sure you'll get through the work just fine!

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  13. Woot woot! I'm so excited for you. And you know what, I was a lot happier with my blog after I went down to 2-3 days a week instead of every weekday. Enjoy it all! :)

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  14. Yay!! That's awesome! just got my letter this past weekend, so I know exactly what you mean. I love sitting down to write and thinking "I get paid for this." But sometimes I really don't know how I'm going to pull it off.

    Good luck to you!

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  15. Congrats, Natalie. Have fun on those edits. I've had some wonderful crits from other writers, and can only imagine how cool it would be to have it all professional and official. Have fun!

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  16. Cheers!.. to showing up for a new responsibility.

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  17. Very exciting! I'm living vicariously through you--LOL. That is really awesome. Good luck with the edits.

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  18. It's a weird feeling, isn't it? Exciting and terrifying!

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  19. second the "woot woot" :) and... baked goods? mmmmmmmmmm.....

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  20. Congrats! Am I the only one thinking you should frame it when you're done???

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  21. Yea you! Thanks for sharing your progress. You are getting very close to seeing your book in print. :)

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  22. Sweet! Congrats! Editorial letters are fun and terrifying...an odd combination. ;-)

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  23. Yay, that's so cool! I'm sure you'll do an amazing job with the edits. :)

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  24. That's awesome! Mind if I ask what your deadline is? I just wonder how much time do they give you? A couple weeks? A month? Just curious!

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  25. That's wonderful. I know you'll enjoy the process.
    Keep us informed.

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  26. ~yay!~ so happy for you. And eye opening for me ... I should get working on How To Meet A Deadline right now, so that I'm an expert when that time comes for me. :)

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  27. I totally understand being excited about getting a deadline. My first editorial letter was a total milestone. Now I'm cycling through them and while I still enjoy them, they're never as fun as the first time.

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  28. That's amazing hun, I am so jealous of you!

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