Saturday, January 03, 2009

Submission Schizophrenia

Ok, so I'm sending a short story to a magazine. No big deal.
Printed the labels, the SASE, have my follow-up date marked on the calendar.
Submitting to an agent... not so easy.

I'm paranoid of making the wrong impression, of missing an opportunity. Should I wait until I've gone to Big Sur in March before submitting? But Firebrand's offering a great Query Holiday special until January 15th with no pitch letter--just pages! It's the deal of a life-time.

Pardy Boys is ready to go. Certainly the first 20 pages. So why can't I just bite the bullet? Is there one "perfect agent?" Does one have to think of a career trajectory, or is it important just to get into the game? I've researched about 14 agencies. They fall into three categories:

- No, Too Snooty.
- Wow, Will my Letter Burn up on Entry?
- Hmm, they seem cool AND approachable.

Coddle me, advise me, encourage me.

Driving Self Insane in LA

Stage Fright

This week I'm submitting.
Surrendering.
Giving in.
Throwing myself at Fate's Mercy.

And naturally that led me to watching "Somewhere in Time", the 1980 time-travel-fantasy-romance starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. Well it's not good enough to just watch "Somewhere in Time" is it? I also had to go on IMDB and check out Jane's credits and find out about her twins, her mini-serieses (what's the plural? anyone... anyone... Beuller?), and some of her amazing bio facts (her eyes are different colors! and she's only 5'4''. Marilyn was only 5'2'' but I digress.)

In the quotes section of IMDB there was this amazing quote about auditions gone wrong, and it's inspiring because AFTER the audition, Jane went on to some pretty great things. So here's the quote:

After I had my first child, I stopped breastfeeding early because I had been told that there was a possibility that I might star in "The Thorn Birds" (1983), which I wanted more than life itself. I went to do the screen test and everything went great until we [Richard Chamberlain and I] did the love scene. I had stopped feeding for three weeks and unexpectedly my milk came in! I lifted myself up in my pink 1930s negligee, and it's a wet T-shirt contest! I looked up and it was just terrible. There was a big puddle of white milk all over his bare chest. I mean a puddle. This was a serious incident. His reaction was not good. You just say, "What can you do?"

Ok, so after that, I'm ready for anything. I'm sending out my letters, hoping for the best, and preparing for... well, I'm not prepared for spontaneous lactation, but I think that I'll have a healthier appreciation for the process of putting myself out there after Jane's encouragement.

now get back to your books!