new and improved query

During her first day on the job, small town coroner Evie Dalton examined the mysterious death of an elderly professor. While conducting her investigation, she saw a man through the professor’s window, standing on the lake. She ran to confront this enigmatic man on the water, drawn to him in a way she couldn’t explain. Overcome by the water’s edge, Evie lost consciousness and had an extraordinary experience with him. When she surfaced from this fantasy, the sheriff was giving her mouth-to-mouth, and a bizarre sensation fluttered in her abdomen.
Now she’s pregnant and the woman in the rain desperately wants the child. As Evie tries to find out more about these water beings, and the baby growing inside of her, she discovers connections to another murder from eight years before, and along with the deceased’s widow and the town’s sheriff, Evie hunts down the reasons behind both deaths, and uncovers how they’re linked to the fate of her child.

Submissions started last night. I'm thinking of sending about 2 a day for the next few weeks, then I'm going to let them do their thing and start writing something new. Fingers crossed. I don't plan to post rejections, unless they're highly amusing, so if I don't post anything for a little while, it's okay, just wish me some more luck.

For anyone interested, here is the synopsis:
When small town coroner Evie Dalton examined the body of an elderly man, found sitting in his rocking chair with a book on his lap and a dagger in his heart, she never imagined that her life was going to change completely. Then she touched the dagger in the old man's chest, and her mind opened to the watery world his murderer came from. A strange encounter in that world left her pregnant with Little Fish, a child of the water that will have abilities beyond her imagination and control.
Now she must choose sides between the man in the lake, who could protect her and help her understand this child, or the woman in the rain, who wants to take the child from her, giving her the chance to live a normal life. As she finds out more about these creatures, she finds connections to another murder in the town's history, and along with the deceased's widow and the town's sheriff, Evie embarks on a mission to discover the reason behind the deaths, and how they are linked to the fate of her child.

This draft of Little Fish is officially finished. On the long drive for the holiday weekend, I'm going to take a red pen to it and do whatever line-editing is necessary, then next week it's submission time. Woohoo!

Not dead - just got married =)

Hey - I know I don't post on this blog very often (it's really just a way to comment non-anonymously on other blogs, but don't tell my blog that ;) but I wanted to just come on and say all is well, the book is still coming, and woohoo I got married! =)
Hope writing and life are going well for everyone else.

I didn't go back to the beginning. I'm listening to some great advice and finishing the draft. 6.4 is finished and I'm emotionally drained. Word Count - 1024.

After a few weeks off for the holidays, I started working on LF again. Over the break, I thought a lot about the direction it was heading. My main character wasn't as developed as she should have been, so I'm working to fix that. I cut the opening, which had been monster-gets-old-man. While I really liked the opening, the story isn't about the old man, it's about what happens after his body is discovered, and it needed to start with the main character. So the opening was chalked and E got her first scene. Then the dominoes started falling. The next scene had to start at a different point, so rather than just quick edits, it needed a thorough rewrite. I have a feeling much of the first chapter will be like that. Ah well.

I need to stop thinking of this as something with an end-point that needs to be in the immediate future. If rewrites take longer than a few months, that's okay. If they need to go all year, that's okay too, as long as I'm working at it consistently. Some writers take months, some take years. I'll fall somewhere in there too. And I need to allow myself to do so, to take the time this story needs. Because I like this story. I think it's fun and will be worth a read once it's finished. And if I keep plugging away at it, I will finish it.

Word count for today - 893.

HP Wars

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071204/20071204005361.html?.v=1

JK Rowling and WB sue RDR books to block publication of a Harry Potter lexicon.

Thought 1: Where do authors’ rights to/control of their own material end?
Thought 2: Why should other writers be able to make money off lexicons/compendiums of characters/worlds they didn’t create themselves?
Thought 3: Would blocking a “companion guide” like this one bleed into other areas of commentary?
Thought 4: Doesn’t JK already have more money than the queen of England? Should it matter?