Good thing I like pie...

... and I'm already taking the laptop on vacation.

Got a full request yesterday off a query I sent about seven weeks ago for Evangeline, the manuscript I posted an excerpt from on Tuesday. Great timing, of course, since my husband and I are going on vacation tomorrow and I've purposely not touched it for weeks in the hopes that we both-- the manuscript and I, not my husband-- might benefit from some time apart. Also, I just finished 31K of Carnival of Illusions (that title is still not doing it for me, whatsoever *sigh*), so I'm in a completely different work mode what with the present tense, and the two almost opposite MCs.

I know Evangeline needs more work than I can do on my vacation. I also knew when I decided to wait and do another revision that there were a few more agents I hadn't heard from. Since I'd sent them an excerpt with a typo in it-- *D'oh!*-- I hadn't actually been expecting another request, especially not a full. This is a new agent at a very respected agency, so I am taking this request very seriously. But that's not what this post is about.

Even though I have no idea how to approach this prickly-pear, this request has actually been more encouraging than stress-making, or so I keep trying to convince myself. It has taught me that I don't need to fear the query any longer, since my query is obviously working.

Querying is something I would stress over, send out multiple versions, analyze, pick to death and lose sleep over. The winds of change are blowing and as of this moment I vow that, yes, I will still work hard to craft my queries. But I will no longer let the madness rule my life for those crazy, frantic weeks, months, years that I may still have to query before I find an agent who loves my work enough to help me get it published. Until that point, I will be the Zen Master of querying. Or die trying. ;)

And, in case you are wondering, I will have fun on my vacation and try not to freak out over this request. Publishing is a slow business, right? While two weeks might not make any difference to this agent as to when they get my full, in two weeks I think I can make Evangeline better. Time will tell if I've succeeded. It's not the time-frame I wanted, but when life gives you lemons, make a humble lemon ice-box pie, right? (See, I told you it was a good thing I like pie, and y'all were just thinking I'd gone nuts, shame on you!)

Have fun while I'm on vacation, y'all, and keep your fingers crossed for me!