Outta my hands

Well, my manuscript is now officially in the paws of my editors, along with a list of questions/concerns I have about the story. A part of me can't wait to get their feedback, and the other part of me is totally nervous that they're all going to think it's a piece of crap and I should scrap the whole thing. I just hope they'll be gentle. This is my baby, my first ever finished novel. Even if it ends up going nowhere, I'm always going to have a special place in my heart for this story and the characters.

Sooo...now what? It's weird to not have it to work on for a while. So much of my time lately has been devoted to just finishing the damn thing, and then I spent about another week or so revising. But it's time for me to take a step away. I've been so involved with the story that I've been going through major insecurity issues over it again, comparing it to some of the other YA stuff I've been reading and thinking it'll never measure up. Sigh. I definitely think it has potential, but it needs a lot of polishing. Like, a lot.

So even though I'll have another round or two of revisions to do after I get feedback, I think for now I'm going to start creating my agent list. I've been bookmarking agent sites here and there as I steal names from the acknowledgements of the YA books I've been reading. I'm gonna nerd all out and make a nice Excel spreadsheet though to help me keep track of where I'm sending it and stuff. And I'll keep working on my query letter, which I will most likely end up posting here for feedback at some point.

I still have a ton of ideas for more stories too. As I mentioned before, I'm feeling a sequel to In My Mind's Eye...and I also have another little story I started long ago that I'd like to continue. They say practice makes perfect, and I'll never get tired of writing. Even if I suck at it and end up writing just for myself and anyone I can bribe into reading it, I'll keep at it.

Happy weekend!