~~~Lara Zielin~~~

Time: 2:29 p.m.

Mood: Bagelific (a.k.a. feeling round and a little doughy but I know people still think I’m good)

What’s playing on my iPod: Kyrie Eleison by Mr. Mister

Kyrie Eleison
Down the road that I must travel
Kyrie Eleison
Through the darkness of the night
Kyrie Eleison
Where I’m going will you follow
Kyrie Eleison
On a highway in the light

Spontaneous haiku:

Oh that noodles would
Extend themselves in the pot
And show their great length

This is Ellen and me at our writers’ retreat. We may not have caught swordfish and drunk ourselves silly like Hemingway, but we had a good time. Okay, at least I did. Ellen probably hated it. I was obnoxious the whole time and kept poking her, asking “Whatcha doin? Whatcha writin’? Can I see?”

Actually, that didn’t happen at all. I pretty much ignored her and was all like, “Let me write, ho.”

Okay, that didn’t happen either. We just had a good time writing by the beach. We did NOT pick up any 80-year-old men. I can’t believe anyone would even THINK that we would go trolling for sugar daddies. That did not happen. Please, get your minds out of the gutter, people.

I heart Dan Lazar even though he rejected THE DISAPPEARED and doesn’t want to see DONUT DAYS based on the query. Yes, I still heart him. A smart agent with integrity who likes up-and-coming writers? Please. What’s not to adore?

So. I pulled my fraidy-cat head out of my sand-hole ass and emailed Susanna Einstein and asked her if she wanted to have lunch while I was in NYC for the Backspace Writers’ Conference. Of course, I didn’t tell her I was going to be at Backspace, but it doesn’t matter. She said yes. She is going to have lunch with me.

This right here? This is a shameless plug for networking, people.

Go forth, ye writers, and findeth connections with whom you can have lunch! Any excuse is a good excuse for networking. Who knows if Susanna will say yes on either of my books, but you know what? Either way I win. Once she meets me, she has a face and a name to connect with my words and if she doesn’t feel like she’s the one for my books, maybe she can recommend someone else who might fall over and die they love me so much.

Which is, like, everybody anyway.

Just kidding.

I have another novel under my belt. I’m not even kidding. DONUT DAYS is done. And it’s nothing like what started and pasted a few posts ago. It’s totally different. And way better.

My fabulous and most bestest writing friend Ellen helped me get it to that solid place during our writers’ retreat a couple weeks ago. I wish I was still there, acutally, writing every day as the ocean roared just off the balcony. What a time that was. I pounded out the shell of a novel in five days. I know it sounds crazy but I did. And the craziest part of ALL of it, is that it’s the best damn thing I’ve ever written.

I am bringing DONUT DAYS with me to New York and hopefully I’ll find an agent for the thing.

And you know what else is really weird? I don’t have that crazy, impatient, panicky feeling about DONUT DAYS that I had with THE DISAPPEARED. It’s like, I know it’ll get published so I’m not freaking out about it. I’m okay with whatever happens, whenever it happens. I think it’s grace, actually. Grace, finally, that I didn’t deserve but that I received when I finally wrote something worth getting published.

How’s that for breakthrough?

Start spreading the news, people. I’m leaving November 2 to head to the Big Apple for the Backspace author-agent conference. That’s right! A whole day devoted to nothing but listening to and meeting agents in New York, all of whom will LOOVE my book and want to represent me. Right? Well, I’ll be happy if one of them signs me up. That will be one more than agent than I have right now.

Dan Lazar, who already has the first 50 pages of TD in-hand, will be there. As will Jennifer DeChiara to whom I sent a query (hard copy) but haven’t heard back. Jennifer’s lead time is 3 to 6 months to hear back on a query. Yikes! Six months? Please — in six months you can not only read a query, you can get to Mount Doom, throw the One Ring in some lava, and save Middle Earth. If you’re Frodo. If you’re me, you can rent the entire first and second seasons of Veronica Mars and watch them religiously.

Wish me luck! At the conference, that is, not watching VM.

I’d like to take a moment and plug Veronica Mars and its season 3 premiere on the CW tonight. Why, you might ask? What hath Veronica Mars to do with getting published?

In addition to the best writing on TV, the show is a fabulous display of solid plot arcs, exceptional dialogue, and stellar character development. Now, I know someone out there is probably thinking, “oh, but season two had so many holes!” And this is true. BUT, the show is totally worth watching and writers – all writers, any writers – can learn from what the VM folks do oh-so-well.

Plus, Stephen King adores the show. That says a lot.

And I want to marry Logan Echolls.

Not really, cuz I’m engaged. But still.

I heart Logan.

So. Happy Tuesday. Here’s the status of THE DISAPPEARED: Another rejection ensues. I got a letter over the weekend from the Evan Marshall Agency. I had just queried them – I hadn’t sent them pages or anything – so it’s cool. I still think the agency rules. In fact, all the agencies on my query list rule. If they’re not stellar, I won’t send my work to them.

Still no word from Dan Lazar. I sent him the first 50 pages 2 weeks ago. No news is good news, right? So, um, remember the part where I hate waiting? It’s still true.

Also no news from Susannah Einstein and LJK Literary Management. She told me her response time was 6 to 8 weeks. I sent her an updated manuscript on September 3, which means 4 of the “6 to 8 weeks” has passed. It seems like a lifetime.

While I wait, I am busying myself with reading THE PLOT THICKENS and writing as much as I can on DONUT DAYS. I have just over 10,000 words on paper, which rules. If the manuscript is 60,000 words, that means I’m 1/6th of the way done.

My good friend Ellen, the one who landed the kick-ass deal with Random House, is trying to find authors to blurb her book. What a cool project. She and I are going to South Carolina on a writers retreat in about a week. I REALLY can’t wait for that. Maybe I’ll be able to pound out another 10,000 words while putting my feet up and staring at the ocean.

Suh-weet.