Here we go again!

This is a beginning twice ...

1) Writing the first post of a new blog (my old blog www.foodasfrenemy.blogspot.com has been gathering dust since I became more serious about finishing my manuscript)

2) Beginning a second attempt to obtain representation for my manuscript

I've just completed the fifth edit on my manuscript. (I promise every paragraph in my blog will not have the word "manuscript" in it.) The fifth and most brutal. I'd heard the phrase "kill your darlings" many times, but this time I lived it. It's rough.

(Manuscript!) (Just messing with you.) I've also read the advice to put your first novel in a drawer and forget about it while you write your "real" books, the ones with a slightly better chance of being published.

While I do have a couple other ideas rolling around in my brain, I'm just not ready to give up on this one yet. It's still too darling. I don't feel like I've given it every chance yet. This last edit, as I mentioned, was a doozy, but it may be just what my novel needed to get a little more attention.

During my first go-round with the query process, my manuscript was at just over 120,000 words. This is too long for women's fiction, but I plowed ahead anyway. (My first draft was 145,000! I'm a bit wordy.) Now, it's 92,500, a mite too long maybe, but much better.

And I've learned so much about writing query letters, particularly from one Janet Reid of FinePrint Literary Management and her blog QueryShark (http://queryshark.blogspot.com/). I devoured those blog posts and took copious notes. I had Ms. Reid's voice in my head asking questions and making comments as I typed and edited my query ... "Why does THAT matter?" "Yeah, but what CHOICE does she have to make?" "Too much detail! Delete that!"

In fact, I submitted my query to QueryShark in the hopes that I can have the real Ms. Reid comment on it, though hopefully not rip it to shreds. Though, if it needs ripping, so be it. I'm totally open to learning, which in turn will just help me become a better writer.

I've started researching agents (using wonderful tools like Agent Query and Query Tracker), and I have a couple new agents that I'm going to start with.

Wish me luck!