Monday, April 9, 2012

Novel editing and the origins of "adios"

I'm not sure why this is, but it's extremely hard to rationalize doing homework when I have some fantastic scenes in my head just waiting to come out on paper. I mean, grades are just made of letters (and sleepless nights, of course), while this book could potentially be made of awesome. Of course, I haven't yet neglected my studies, but it's tempting. Very tempting.
At first when I finished my draft I wanted to throw up when I thought about editing it, but now it's actually kind of nice. The dialogue is much less awful now, and the scenes are flowing together better.
On an unrelated note: I just google image searched myself to see what a prospective agent might find, and I seem to have miraculously avoided the Internet. Except for a picture of my be-Chacoed (Chacofied?) feet that is the album cover for my piano music. Which I find extremely entertaining.
Since this entire post seems rather random and out-of-place, I should probably mention that one of my friends (who is actually going to be my roommate next year. Yay!) was wondering where the word "Adios" came from. "A" means to, and "Dios" means God, so I shot a finger-gun at her and said, "Adios." To God. I'll leave you to ponder the philosophical implications of this why I either study Spanish phonetics or write a scene.

Adios.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Of query letters, glasses, and trusting God

I sent in a query letter and a sample of my book to an agent last Monday. Which means that it's probably ON HER DESK RIGHT NOW AND SHE'S GOING TO READ IT AND AHHHHH. Sorry. I've been known to occasionally be disproportionately enthusiastic. I just can't help imagining what it would be like for an agent to actually say yes.
Because I'm neurotic and can't stop myself, I've been editing my book like an insane person ever since sending in the query letter. I know that, in theory, you're supposed to have polished a draft to perfection before sending it in, but I don't think that a book is really ever ready until printing. So I've been adding in scenes, cutting out others, and improving the dialogue throughout. Guys. I am so excited about this one. I think it actually stands a chance to get published. Maybe. We'll see, I guess.
This week, I found out that not only am I going to Burundi this summer, but I am also going to go to Guatemala! (Insert happy dance.) God is so awesome. I still don't know how it's going to work out, but that's part of the wonder of it all. It's sort of the same with living on campus. A girl from my Core and I are about 98% sure we're going to live in one of the dorms together next year for the specific purpose of reaching out to the community. At first, I was really hesitant because, as much as I wanted to do it, I had no idea where the money would come from. But I still could really sense God calling me there. I don't really know where the money will come from yet, but if God wants us there then he will provide for us somehow.
Yesterday I got my new glasses in the mail. I was sort of worried because I picked them out in a bad mood due to my yellow fever injection and blurry vision from my eye exam. But they're amazingly nerdy and cute. They're a little crooked, though, and I have to somehow find a way to get to Costco so that they don't drive me crazy.
Oh, and I found out that I'm going to be a conversation partner with an exchange student on campus. Which is awesome and everything, except that it falls on One Day without Shoes (you may remember my post about it last year). So basically I have two choices: 1) give my convo buddy an interesting first impression of Americans and college life in general, or 2) just wear shoes like a Normal Person. Guess which option I'm leaning toward?
Yup. That one.