Wallowing in The Next Thing
Hi fellow wallowers,
I completely dropped the ball on September's newsletter. But, since we last spoke (erm, since I last sent a ramble into the void): I did a second round of casting for my audio drama, got sick twice, gave a workshop on epigraphs and paratexts for the fabulous MetroWest Writers' Guild, went into the corn at night dun dun dun, and finished my novel revisions. Oh, and my agent sent my novel to editors at major publishing houses.
I am officially, as we say in the biz, on sub.
The whole submission process can take weeks or months or years, even. I've gathered some of my favorite submission resources below, but tl;dr: the timeline is impossible to predict, the outcome is not guaranteed, and all I can do is keep going and hope I find the way through successfully. So, you might say that submission is like walking into a corn maze on a moonless night...
To cope, I'm doing my best to focus on something I actually have control over: my next project.
Over the past few weeks, my thoughts have been returning to the book I'm referring to as Magic Embroidery WIP. Little daydreams about the characters interacting. Thoughts about plot and backstory.
It feels amazing to have space in my head for something else, something new, again.
What's Really Happening When Your Novel Goes on Sub?
Your best resource when you're on submission is your agent. But if you're anxiously awaiting responses from editors and just want to read more about the process from a variety of perspectives, here are my favorite resources for that:
- What It's Like to Go on Submission, Kate McKean
- Shipping & Handling Podcast Episode 43: Bees! Or, the Submissions Process 101
- Track Changes miniseries on First Draft with Sarah Enni, especially:
- Both of the above episodes feature agents Seth Fishman and Holly Root
- Anonymous author Sub Stories, collected and shared by author Kate Dylan
October Recommendations
This time of year, I basically turn into an Over the Garden Wall character, frolicking through fallen leaves and spooky situations. Please imagine me using Gregory's "rock facts" voice when I tell you about some reads and listens I really recommend:
- Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott contains so many of my favorite things: a sentient house, a snarky narrator with a propensity for meta-narrative, sibling drama, and an intergenerational plot. It's a stunning and spooky Baba Yaga story from the perspective of her contemporary Russian Jewish descendants.
- Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vho is the latest installment of the Singing Hills Cycle which follows Cleric Chih and Almost Brilliant on story-finding adventures. I love this series so much, and the ending of Mammoths was totally unexpected. Just, did not see it coming at all. I can't wait to read the next one.
- If you're looking for more spookiness, I always highly recommend:
- Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle
- Seanan McGuire's Dusk and Dark and Dawn and Day
- Palimpsest podcast (actually I just remembered there are new episodes! Ahhh, to your podcatchers!!!) which always features the same very haunted, very scary house across history
- Unwell podcast which includes ghosts! celery! family secrets! Midwestern small town vibes! Some reaaaaaaal scary folklore! A very fucking haunted house!
- And my own audio drama, The Way We Haunt Now, which is equal parts ghost story and life-affirming later-life coming of age story with ghost hunters, a ghost support group, a neurodivergent main character, and more!
Until next time,
Happy Haunting. Uh. Wallowing.
Courtney
