#DVPit went well--now to querying! and all the rest of the stuff that's been going on

#DVPit was almost a week ago! (I'll post about it in a later blog entry.) The last few weeks have been so busy. I've been prepping materials to commission illustrations that I was planning to use in advertisements for my ebook. Those plans fell through, though, because of miscommunication.

Also, a lot has been happening in my personal life and with my friends. People are struggling emotionally because of Covid-19 and quarantine, but if you remember anything about getting through dark times, remember this: you don't get out of darkness by looking at the darkness. You have to find a light. Stop looking at the darkness and focus on the light.

My editor friend took an unexpected break from editing my manuscript, so I am a couple weeks behind in editing. I'm moving forward without the professional line editing, though, because I can't wait. Hopefully by tonight, I'll have emailed my polished manuscript [with maps and glossary ;-) ] to the people who offered to read and review my book. I planned to have reviewers because I was planning to self-publish in the next couple months.

HOWEVER, thanks to DVPit, a couple agents and an editor read my pitch and expressed interest. I am working on my query letter. I'll probably post some query tips I've gathered soon. I have to query and go through the usual steps with these agents and editor, but it's awesome to see agents/editors interested in my work!

Side note: Twitter is more fun than I thought it would be. LOL, I became active recently for #RevPit and #DVPit, but I will stay active. If you are not on Twitter because, like me, you just aren't interested in maintaining another social media platform, GET ON. It's super, extremely easy to build a Twitter following. Most of the #writingcommunity on Twitter follows anyone who identifies as a writer/author. I have gained 400+ followers in a few weeks with minimal effort.

Finally, I received my last rejection to MFA programs. I'm a lot less sad than I thought I would be. I think that's because I'm excited about querying agents.

Be encouraged! The "cour" in "encourage" means heart. Take heart. You will get through this quarantine. We will all get through it. Don't stare at the darkness. It's there, yes, but light is, too. Focus on the light.