What I've read

One of my New Year's resolutions for 2011 was to keep track of books I read. So far this year, it's 17 books-- three memoirs, a couple picture books, two fictionalized retelling of actual events, and two non-fiction for my Nazi-era research. The rest are historical fiction and fantasy/sci-fi novels, my favorite genres. I'm well aware that this is more than many people read in a year.
How do I read so many books when I work a full-time job and volunteer several hours a week in my church and community? Audiobooks, for one thing. I drive a lot, so time in the car is time spent listening to stories. And while others watch TV to relax in the evening, I read. That gives me a hour or two each night to immerse myself in a good story before bed.
But that can be a problem when the story possesses me, like when I recently read The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The post-apocalyptic world she created was tangible, with its own twisted internal logic and fascinating characters. That world and the female protagonist, Katniss, occupied my waking and sleeping thoughts.
How YA books have changed. Strength in female characters used to be shown in loyalty, outspokenness, perseverance, intelligence, etc. Collins shows Katniss to be a young woman with all those traits and more -- an amazing aptitude with a bow and arrow, a willingness to risk injury or humiliation for those she loves, and a keen knack for survival.

The impact of stories

At the Pages and Places Book Festival in Scranton last fall, Jonathan Gottschall joined a panel discussion about experiences, stories, and our brains. He described research done using functional MRI scans as people experience emotionally charged events. Their brain scans show distinctive activation patterns with pleasure, terror, sadness, surprise, etc. fMRI studies were also done on people READING about those same experiences, and interestingly, the same activation patterns were seen.

It's taken months to truly sink in - when we read a story and emotionally invest in it, we experience it as real. Who among us hasn't laughed out loud at Ramona Quimby, felt the rise in heart rate as Orcs descend upon Frodo, or felt anxiety's grasp when our literary or movie hero is in danger? The story has become part of us, and we experience every step of it with the characters.

That's a lot of responsibility on a writer.

The critique

Well, I had my long-awaited critique with Dianne Hess, the Executive Editor of Scholastic Press, today. She is a gracious, personable woman who gave me an honest appraisal of what’s good and what needs work in the first 10 pages of my manuscript. She liked the basic premise of the book but had a lot of questions about the believability of different aspects of the particulars. She noted that the first 10 pages were dense, too packed with information and characters to truly let her see what the story was about. I understand that I have failings in the technical aspects of writing - after all, this is my first novel. She didn’t say, “Once you’ve fixed that up, send me the full manuscript,” as I had dreamed.

So I’m disappointed but not disheartened. I will indeed work on the pace in those first pages, and try to disentangle the various story threads. And I’ll hope that the queries and sample pages I sent to other publishers bring a different result.

While I wait

My last assignment for the novel-writing course is due at the end of March. I need to hand in a cover letter (easy), a query letter (done), a one-page synopsis (a PIA, but done), a bibliography (done as I went along), and a chapter by chapter outline (Grrr). Again with the details.
I know from other authors that once I begin work with an editor, I'll be doing a lot of detailed revisions, so I better get used to the idea that I'm not really done. Notice how I'm saying this as if it's really going to happen? I'm really going to work with an editor? The Dale Carnegie approach to writing your first novel in your 50s.
A month or so ago, I registered for an SCBWI workshop in April. The workshop faculty allows time for a few critiques, so I sent the first 10 pages of my ms with a sticky note. "If possible, I'd like Dianne Hess, Executive Editor of Scholastic Press to critique this." Then I prayed.
A few days ago, I got word - she is indeed going to read my first 10 pages and give me a one-on-one 15 minute critique. It is an amazing opportunity, and I am so grateful.
Many of my beta readers asked me about a sequel. I didn't plan for one. As the kids would say, I got nothin'. So imagine my surprise this week when Rennie's voice spoke to my inner muse and urged me to narrate a continuation of the story from her POV. Warming up my keyboard. :)

The next step

After the initial glut of input from beta readers slowed, it was decision time. How do I get my story into the most hands?
A few years ago, three options existed: 1. Get an agent, and be prepared to split profits but get a possible 'in' at otherwise closed publishing houses; 2. Send it to (often smaller) publishers that take unagented material and hope for the best; 3. Self-publish at your own expense and figure out how to sell the copies you've paid for.
The last few years have brought a number of changes to the publishing industry, and like the music industry, the fallout is huge. Independent booksellers have gone out of business in droves. Even the big chains are struggling, trying to compete with online convenience. These changes add options: 4. Print on demand publishing, and 5. electronic publishing. Probably other options exist too, but my head is reeling with just these.
As a first time author, I have no following, no marketing platform, no network within the industry. If I took option 3,4, or 5, how would I get a potential reader interested in purchasing the book?
Since my book is aimed at Middle-grade and Young Adult audiences, I decided to start with the tried and true. Traditional publishers still have the inside track in the school and library markets, and I think that's where most of my sales will be generated. So, this week I sent out queries and the first 10 pages of the manuscript to 4 different traditional publishers. They all have a 'we'll let you know if we're interested in 3-5 months. If you don't hear from us, we've thrown it out' approach.
So now I wait.