An Acceptance!

I subbed "You Don't Have to Cook in the Clink" to agents, and over and over, I got the same response: too short.

Fifty eight thousand words is novel length, but barely. Several agents said that anything under seventy five thousand was too short for them. I had a problem.

Then I realized that e-books are typically shorter than paperbacks, and the e-reader market (Kindle and Sony, amongst others) is really heating up right now. So I began researching E-publishers that served those markets.

At first, I met with disappointment. It seemed like every publisher that specialized in the e-market wanted Romance or Erotica and just about nothing else. Then I found Lyrical Press.

Lyrical Press offers its books in formats compatible with every e-reader I've heard of and several that I haven't. I've been in communication with several of their authors who report satisfying royalty statements and great publisher/author relationships. And getting accepted by Lyrical means something: they have high standards for what they'll accept. That's better for everyone, really. For me, it means a legitimate publisher. For readers, it means they don't purchase a novel that's not up to snuff.

So when will my novel be available for purchase? That depends, but it could be up to a year, or even more. If I had to guess (and right now, that's all anyone can do), I'd say probably 6-8 months. That's because Lyrical Press's editors have to go over my novel with a fine-tooth comb, then send it back to me to fix, then wait for me to send it back to them, then go over it to make sure I didn't make an even bigger mess of things, and then, if I haven't, get it ready for print in various formats.

Again: publishing is slow. If you want to make money quick, get just about any other job in the world.

I'm still waiting to hear back on the revisions to my short stories. Even they're slow.

That's just how it is. But that's okay. While I'm waiting, I can write another book...

And for now? I can do a happy dance. :)

My Little Pony...

Ok, so she's not actually a pony...Caspians are technically horses, despite being only 40-44 inches high at the withers.

But I have one, and she's for sale. Her name is Tala, named after my husband, Tal, because she was born on his birthday. :)

Here is her father:



(There are many more pictures of him here: Link )

And here is my son, Emrys, taking a ride on her mother. Notice that the reigns are not attached to a bit, but simply clicked to the(rather loose)halter:



And here, for your viewing pleasure, is Tala on the day she was born:



And here she is now:



She really takes after her father. :)



She is too young to be ridden, just yet--with Caspians, you wait until they're four, and Tala is two--but this would be a great time to get to know her, get some ground work in, and let her settle in to her new home before getting to work. She hasn't been handled much and can be a bit of a handful at this point...she really needs a special person to bond to her and commit to working with her.

Her underbelly is getting lighter all the time, and I suspect that as she ages she'll lighten, as her mother did...but right now, her coat really shines in the sun; it has a beautiful golden sheen when hit at the right angle.

Despite the rarity of Caspians and the high sell price of her parents, I'm willing to sell Tala for $1,000. I just don't have the time to work with her, and she has too much potential to be "just a broodmare".

Enchanted Castle 2

Sorry I haven't been posting much as of late. I'm still waiting on word from an agent and from two magazines. I've also started coaching soccer and running a karate class, so I've been pretty busy.

But enough excuses!

Here is the next installment of "Enchanted Castle". :)