My Heart is Smiling :)

Today I went to infant story time with my son and his grandparents. We sang songs, played instruments, and listened to the picture book, "Ten Little Ladybugs." I don't think my heart has ever been so happy. Even though my son took it upon himself to grab a little girl's face and hit another kid with a toy (all of which we are working on for next time:) , I was truly overjoyed to see all the sweet faces so excited about the music and story. Every time I'm around kids listening and reading stories, I get so pumped to write. It is such a joy to be doing something that I love and brings smiles to children. I know I sound beyond corny, but corny is probably the perfect word to describe me, and I'm perfectly happy with that.

The Waiting Game

If you've been trying to get published for any length of time, I'm sure you've discovered that waiting plays a huge part. I am currently waiting on one of my favorite publishing houses as they consider a picture book manuscript, waiting on another one of my favs as they "think on" another picture book manuscript, waiting for updates from my agent about a picture book she is querying, and waiting to see the final version of my new picture book "Katie Ling Fashion Queen." Don't get me wrong, I'm totally beyond thrilled that these books are even being considered, but I am definitely a player in the waiting game. To try and keep my sanity, I've entered a Hallmark greeting card contest (which I'm also waiting to find out if I'm a winner at the end of the month) as well as editing stories I've written and brainstorming new ideas, not to mention blogging :) So,if you're in the writing business and patience isn't exactly your best quality (like yours truly) , you may want to keep your mind busy with other projects. Notice I said mind. Yeah, my body's dead tired, a sweet, little eight month old will do that to you!

Letting Go

When I first started writing and researching the business, it seemed like everyone from agents to publishers said how important it was to join a critique group. I was apprehensive. The idea of people reading and critiquing what I wrote, terrified me. I know how silly that sounds now. The whole idea behind publishing is people reading your work, but at the time it seemed scary. After several rejections and a little nudging from my agent, I thought it was worth a shot. I mean you can't really afford to be shy as a writer. Boy, am I glad I finally let go of the insecurities that held me back. Now, I look forward to submitting my story to our little writing community as well as receiving their stories. I understand what an asset they are. A writer is really getting free editing and, in my case, six fresh perspectives on my story. Not to mention, their great ideas inspire me to not give up on my own. So, I hope you don't look at the idea of a critique group negatively like I did. Instead, understand that none of us know everything and joining this type of group will only get you one step closer to becoming published!