So 2011 is over and 2012 is all bright and twinkly.  As far as my writing went in 2011 I got an agent and I finished all my editing on TC.  It went out to publishers but so far no one has bought it and the agent is unsure of its future in the current packed Young Adult market.  I didn't get much done on my other projects, epecially TDW, though NaNo helped me reach the end stages of BB.  All in all, 2011 was a mediocre year for my writing.

And now onto 2012.  My plan this year is to go back to what I did in 2009 and write 100 words every day, this time with BB.  100 words isn't a lot but doing it everyday for a year really adds up.  Plus a lot of the time I went over the 100 words and got much more.  When BB is completed I'm going to jump straight into the sequel rather than go back and edit as there's still plenty of mystery around BB that I hope to decipher in the sequels.

I also want to update my blog weekly - I'm thinking Wednesday (like today) so I'll get into the habit rather than only update every month or so when I happen to remember.  I'm thinking updating my website every two weeks and at least once a day on Twitter should be enough too.

I'm a bit unsure of where I am with TDW at the moment and where I want to go and the changes I want to make within it and since I'm focusing on BB I'm just gonna let TDW rest and only write it when I'm feeling inspired.

Regarding TC, I'm leaving that in the air for now until I meet with my agent sometime this month.  If she says TC's not selling and to move on I'll put it to one side.  If she suggests changes I'll rewrite it.  Until I know the future of TC I don't think there's much point on working on the sequel.

So to sum up, here are my plans for 2012:

- Update blog weekly
- Update website fortnightly
- Update Twitter daily
- Write 100 words on BB daily
- Write TDW when inspired
- Meet with agent to discuss TC

Until next Wednesday then.

A lot has happened since my last update many moons ago.  I left work, moved, got my tongue pierced and received the manuscript edit back from my agent.  I'm now living with my mum (weep for me) and have enough money saved up to get me by for this month which I plan to spend working on TC.  So far, this has not gone particularly well.  With my penchant for procrastination and my unwavering ability to avoid working, I haven't done anywhere near as much on TC as I originally wanted.

I have until the end of August to finish the agent's edits and I still haven't finished the first bloody chapter.  Admittedly, I am rewriting most of it but, you know, wow.  And I also spent near a day adding a few sentences to the prologue in order to fill in a plot hole I accidentally wrote in during the last edit.  Nearly an entire day.  For about five sentences... I can't help but think I'm buggered.

Ah well.  I wrote my entire dissertation in under a month and it only cost me my sanity (if anyone remembers my post on the subject my entire body came out in a stress rash, I lived on slices of bread because I was too stressed to eat and I got ridiculously over emotional).

Really though, the panic has yet to truly set in.  At the moment I'm still at the stage where if I keep to my schedule (fat chance of that) I'll just about get it done on time.  (I'll reveal in my next post how that all went to shit and how I'm hiding under my desk biting my fingernails down to stubs.)

Now I shall pretend to get back to editing.

I've been meaning to post my latest agent querying update sooner but life, and all that shit, got in the way.  Stupid life.

Anyway, in my last post (way back in February) I mentioned how an agent had asked to read my full ms.  Well... the agent has now taken me on as a client!  To all those who just read that line twice, I don't believe it either.

She got in touch a week or so ago and we arranged to have a chat over the phone.  She asked questions about myself first - which I stupidly hadn't been expecting and I bumbled my way through that part - and then we talked about the current market - very interesting, expecially from an agent's point of view - and then about my book - I almost fainted when she named one of my characters as it seemed too real. 

She had some general thoughts about changes which I agree would make the story better, but she said she wanted to have another read through and make proper notes.  Some of the amazing things she said about myself and my book was that it seemed very polished; she liked the backstory of the antogonist that runs parallel to the main story; the action scenes were well written; she wants to build me up as an author and she wants to start sending it out as early as June.  She also, and this seems like a fairytale, mentioned meeting with an editor at a publishing house and she asked if she could mention my book!  Like I would say no.

So that was last week.  I had a very exciting afternoon, and some very excited friends and relatives, and it still does not seem real to me, even when she sent me a copy of the contract.

Today she got in touch again.  She mentioned a few of the same changes as before and she intends to finish reading and making notes on the ms by  the second half of May so I can get to work on rewriting/shaping it up.  She also said that the editor she met wants to take a look at the The Circle when I've made it all pretty with the new changes!

All in all this has been a tremendous week for me and, as per my usual self, I'm fluttering between bouncing off the ceiling high and worrying that she'll change her mind when she realises it's actually total and utter crap or she's got me mixed up with a Mary Sliver who wrote The Square.

I've got some pretty awesome news - an agent has asked to see my full manuscript!  I know it's not a promise of representation but I'll take what I can get.  Anyway, I'm still jumping up and down for joy (and so is my mum who squealed down the phone like a thirteen year old).

The only slight niggle is that I stopped mid way through the last edit when the rejections started coming in and I started work on BB instead.  So now I need to finish the edit quick, which might have been easier if I hadn't agreed to a bunch of overtime this week.  Oh well, I shan't complain.

I'm really glad the agent has asked for a full, not just for the obvious reason, but because the rejections were totally knocking my confidence with the book.  I was thinking about quitting querying but at least someone out there thinks TC (or the first three chapters at least) are decent enough.  So even if this agent does reject me I'm still going to continue querying.

And to end on another positive note, my writing on BB is going well.  I've done 10k words so far this month which is a massive improvement for me.  I had tremendous fun writing a scene with a mad, Gollum-esque sorcerer with scars and missing limbs who went nuts and performed some grotesque blood magic.  I'm also seeing the dynamic between the sisters shift and more of the characters are getting fleshed out.  There's still tons that I'm in the dark about and need to work out but that's half the fun of writing!

So yay, an agent wants to read my book and my writing is going well! Go me!

Btw, thanks to all the people who comment on my blog even though I'm shit at commenting on yours.  I might not be able to read your blogs everyday but I'll try to catch up every now and again and comment more often (most likely the weekend - especially now that I'm working overtime).

Yep, I'm still terrible at updating.  For some reason I didn't miraculously transform into an attentive, frequent blogger the moment the clock struck twelve on the first of January.  (I also didn't wake up a responsible grown up who sorted out taxes and spring cleaned the house but that's not important.)

So as per usual I shall begin with apologising for my lack of updates and for not keeping up with your blogs.  I'll also add the obligatory 'I promise to try harder and shall comment on every post you ever write from now on'.  Feel free to stop laughing anytime.

Now my failures are out of the way I can bore you with my writing updates.  Actually this week I do have decent updates: believe it or not, I have begun querying agents!  I've spent all week researching agents who represent YA in the UK and have wrote, edited, shredded, rewrote, edited and polished my query letter, synopsis and, of course, the opening chapters of TC, till they (hopefully) gleam.

Also, despite only querying today, I have my first rejection. I like to think the agent was being honest in that her client list is already too full and she is not actively seeking new authors rather than my work was so bad she had to reject me as quickly as possible before I tainted her inbox. My ego much prefers that outcome.

However, it is nice to know that I joke about my first rejection instead of flinging myself into bed and refusing to leave until my pillows are soaked with tears. Although when the rest of the rejections start pouring in, wallowing in my bed might become my next hobby.

I shall end with the fingers crossed behind my back promise to update weekly and to visit your blogs more often. (Actually, I imagine I’ll probably update more often ranting and whining about how agents are cruel and heartless and why nobody loves me. It’ll be thrilling stuff.)

Until then, how are you guys doing?