Plugging away

Wow! has it really been that long since my last post? This is a case of work/life balance, with work winning the battle.

I'm still plugging away on the 10th anniversary edition of St. Paul and still editing Living Canvas. In the course of my normal routine, a friend of mine also inspired me with a new story idea, but until I can shift my focus solidly back to my writing, it will have to wait. It is an excellent story arc though! It would be so much easier to maintain my writing focus with a new publishing contract (just sayin' . . .). More query letters need to be written, however.

Along that thought, I just read an interesting blog from an agent that said the query letter is often more compelling to them than the proposal itself. It tells them all they need to know, and while it's a completely different skill set, it's important to note that many different skill sets are required in any job that you do - not just one narrowly focused ability. This is true in any job we do. I can apply it to my full-time, day job. With the changes in the economy and conditions on the job, people are being asked to do more, to expand their skill sets. For some folks, they say "that's so not fair!" and for others, they accept that if they want to continue in the jobs they have, it's a necessary step to survival - being able to increase their value by extending the things they can do. Certainly we all have multiple facets to every job that we do - even before the downturn in the economy, and writing query letters - as painful as it is (and yes, it IS painful!) - is a necessary supplemental skill to our primary function as an author.

My apologies for the length of time between posts. I'm working on rebalancing, which is always stomping on my end of the teeter totter to get it to drop back down. Back soon!