Third day of illness...
actually I feel ok now. I almost had a bad conscious about being on the sick as I've another day off work tomorrow as well.
But as I said, 'almost'. Yuck yuck yuck .

So, no news from the agency but optimism rules supreme in the Jones household, (and well it should.) I bet right now he's phoning up every publishing house in Britain, "Stop the press", or whatever they say, "I've found him, the new Steven King!"
Perhaps he's even sorting out the keys to the city of Cardiff for me right now...

I've sort of hit a barrier with book two. I don't think there's enough religious mystery in it so I'll go back to the drawing board and see what I can hatch out by way of an obscure Biblical fact.
Whatever, have a good un.
Reg :-)

It was all signed for on the 20th, so it's either on the slush pile by now or the could-be-interesting pile.
Hopefully it's on the latter.

I'm written off sick at the moment with magen-dahm grippe, (stomach and bowel flu) so I might be able to get some more down for book two, (Gulag).
Well that's the plan.

I was never any good at waiting.

My Mam sent the query letter, synopsis and first 50 pages off by registered delivery.
The idea with registered mail is that you can see, online, whether they've received my envelope with all the goodies in or not. You simply type in the number given for the package and when the recipient signs for it it's registered online.

It was sent on Monday, first class, so ideally they should have it by now, shouldn't they?
So why does it say, Try again later" when I attempt to chase it up?

The reason Royal Mail.com gives is that they have a backlog because of the strike... that happened two weeks ago.

I don't believe them.
Bugger.

According to my Mam the manuscript is supposed to be there by now.

However, according to Royal Mail it isn't.
Bah.

Perhaps I won't get the rejection email this week then?
My confidence is once more on the wane. I feel like a teenager hoping for a wet dream but not knowing when it's going to happen.
(That didn't happen to me, I hasten to add. I didn't even know what a wet dream was until it happened and I looked it up in the Reader'S Digest Family Medicine. Life is so sheltered when one grows up in North Wales...)

Ah well, I'm wittering now. Time for night shift.
Reg

It read OK.
As ever there were changes to be made but all in all it works.
Happy with that.

My Mam phoned up to say that she'd sent the manuscript, synopsis and query letter off by registered delivery and that it should be there on the morrow.
Hurrah!
Finally something is going to plan.

Where would we be without our mums, eh?

So now we wait.
Reg :-)

Well I had a great time with my parents and brother but it's back to reality now I'm afraid. They flew back earlier on today with my manuscript and a solemn promise to send it tomorrow. So all going well the agency of choice should get it on Tuesday, by registered mail.
Hurrah!
The rejection will probably be emailed to me on Friday.
Bah.

I looked at the outline that I've got down for the sequel and I still like it; which is a good sign I think. I'd researched some names already for the Nephilim, (I used Angel names) so I could just crack on and start typing. It flowed easier than I thought it would but the test is tomorrow, when I reread what was done tonight.

I'm on a bit of a downer right now, to be honest. I miss my family in Wales and we always have a good laugh whenever we visit each other; so saying goodbye was, (as the old cliche goes) such sweet sorrow.
Writing the first seven pages, (yes, you heard me; seven!) was good, (don't say it, don't say it...) therapy, (damn, I said it.). Let's just see how the therapy reads tomorrow shall we.

Reg :-)

I've been thinking about starting the sequel to 'Division'.
I already have a basic storyline down and have started doing research about the SS prisoners in the Gulag system, the Tree of Life and the Nephilim.

The story moves on with Von Struck and his men being taken prisoner and sent to a Gulag in the Kolyma region of Russia.
Well that's about as much as I want to give out but it should be good and it'll be written far quicker than the first book.
When I started 'Division' I had literally a start and an end, but the middle was a plate full of idea-spaghetti. At least the second book has a plan right from the start.

Anyway, now you know. I'll give it a couple of days and then, when my Mam and Dad have gone, I'll do it; what the hell, eh?

Tara.
Reg :-)

Chance and fortune deal me blow after blow !!

Everything is set, the 50 page manuscript, the query letter, the synopsis and the envelopes. All I needed was the stamps for the self addressed envelope and that's when fickle fate stuck her treacherous oar in.

As it stands now in the EU, I cannot buy a stamp in Germany that will cover the postage from Britain. I thought there would be some sort of system in place but apparently not.
Bah.

Luckily my aged but beloved parents are visiting and they'll post the manuscript and buy the necessary stamps for the second envelope. However that means it won't get posted until next week, Monday at the very earliest.
Bah.

Does destiny slap everybody in the face with a dead fish like she does me?

Just goes to prove the old saying that, "if it can go wrong, it already has" is true.
Bah.

On a good note, I'm feeling far more confident than I did the other day. Having it all laid out in front of me, the weapons of my assault on the literary world as it were, bolstered my spirits no end.
So bring on next Monday...

Monday morning.
No work today.
Actually I'm just waiting for the 50 page manuscript to turn up.

I'm a bit nervous to be honest. I mean I know I should take rejection on the nose, then get up and start again but being logical is not one of my forte's.
I mean you pin all your hopes on your book, you tell your friends about it, you talk about it constantly and then some faceless secretary slips you onto the slush pile out of spite because the boyfriend who just dumped her is also called Jones....
See how nervous and irrational I am about this?

Ah well, it'll be alright on the night.
It 's a good story, I've had help from a load of people because they believe in it and so I'll draw my fortitude from their support and see it through like a trooper... gulp.

Reg :-/

Holiday, celebrate...

Well, Ads, my main man, has sorted out the 50 page manuscript for me so a hearty 'thankee soir' to the Hardon, (his name's Harding).

My query letter is done, the synopsis too, (though to be honest I hate the fact I had to leave so much out of it to get it on one page but what the hell, eh?)

So if all goes well I should be able to send it all off next week, Tuesday. The rejection should come around Christmas time I reckon. Apparently the suicide rates among young(-hearted) Welsh would-be authors is very high around the festive season...
What am I saying, it's gonna be a Chrimbo Presy, "Mr. Jones, yes I will represent you; in fact I've found a publisher already who wants to offer you a million pound book deal, his firstborn child and the keys to the city of Cardiff!!"

Optimism never hurt anybody, (unless your name's Adolph Hitler...)

Reg :-)

Diese Zusammenfassung ist nicht verfügbar. Klicke hier, um den Post aufzurufen.

Well it's a one page synopsis now. But I literally had to search for a way to cut every sentence down to its bare minimum. From two and a third pages to one is a radical difference. It's like reading 'Jurassic Park' and not knowing about the genetic engineering...
Anyway, every second sentence was cut down, rephrased or cut out and it was harder than you think.
I'm still not happy with it but it's a one pager now so we're half way there.

I had another go at the query letter last night. I was happy with it up until yesterday evening, when I realised that I hadn't put the title of the book in until the last paragraph.
"So what?" you say?
Well, it's just not done, OK? Accept it and read on.
So... so I changed the first line, then the second and now I'm completely rewriting it.
There's so much to this attracting an agent malarkey that you civilians out there have no idea about.
There's still time because I'm still waiting for the manuscript to turn up in the post, (that's not meant critically, Ads.) so until it arrives I'll just carry on tinkering with them both.

Reg :-/

Tuesday afternoon.
I've just had a relatively relaxed shift and am thinking about how I should tackle the synopsis.
"What?" I hear you cry, "You said you'd won on the synopsis front."
I did, however, (there's always a however, even if it's a BUT.), however the agency that I want to send my manuscript to require a ONE PAGE synopsis.
The outline for the story I have now is more than two pages long.
I have to lose a page.
Should be a snap, I mean it just means cross out the bits that really don't count.
Unfortunately, (synonymous with, 'however') the problem is that the story is sooooo interconnected that to drop some points might mean confusion in the story for the reader, (agent); and confusion is something I don't need in my synopsis.

Anyway, as I said, it's too long so I'll have to shorten it.
No time like the present, (unless you're a Time Lord.)

Wish me luck.
Reg :-)

Another party last night.
Damn that demon drink... never again, not a drop, I swear it, on the nose of my badger...

I may be away for a while.

I spent about two hours yesterday looking at who exactly I should send my manuscript to.
Not all agents deal in Horror/Adventure and a careful consideration of who is suitable is needed.
However, it goes further than just, "Do they like my work, will the girls like this, is it too big, is it too small?".
For example, does the agent that you think is suitable charge a reading fee? Do they charge upfront for their services or take a commission? How much is the commission in the first place? Ten to fifteen percent is the norm but because I'm based Sausage-side, (Germany) I'm looking at about 20%; which is fair I guess... bloody parasites, as bad as bloody lawyers.
Or what if he/she is really just a front for an editing service who expect you to pay their horrendous prices to edit and correct your work before they send it off; that's IF they send it off?
Who are they going to send it off to anyway, have they done this before? Has your chosen herald to the literary world any published clients on their books, and if so were they paid for getting published or did they pay to get published?

Then there's the copyright thing.
To the novice author, (like myself), there seems to be very little in the way of protection for your work. You really are relying on the agent's good manners and personal reputation. To me it seems like dipping your todger in a tank full of hungry sharks with only a sock and their sense of modesty for protection.


So... I took all these worries on board and found a rook of suitable names that deal in my corner of the market. I looked them all up in Predators and Editors, (a good site). Then I checked them out in Writer Beware and then I rechecked them again in Agent Research and Evaluation.
I was merciless.
I wanted honesty, I wanted success and I wanted a damn good deal!

And from the plague of hopeful contenders only one name made the grade.
One lousy agency filled all my criteria; I mean what is the world coming to, eh?

The next move was the forums. I had a look at what people said about my hero of the hour and, I'm glad to report, was pleasantly surprised. Thumbs up. :-)
So I think I may have my candidate for the first attempt at attracting an Agent.
Think of it as being a mating ritual, if you will.
God I hope it's a woman. I hate the idea of trying to attract a ... I can't even write it.

Ah well, have a nice day, I'm off to bed now.
Nights last night, again, but I'm off now.
Three whole days off work. Hurrah... ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzz
Reginaldo

Nightshift was not good.
The things I do for an extra twenty percent; though it is taxfree mind.
Anyway, I'm off to bed.
I sent Richy from Struggling Authors a very dodgy photo of myself, I think later on I'll push out a couple of lines for the Home page on the website.
The picky and a, "How do you do?" should do the trick.
I'm tempted to just copy down the opening words from my first Blog entry. Why not, eh?
You only live once, that's what I say, so let's go crazy and copy... !(gasp, shock,horror!)

Do you know what's really strange?
When I first started this blog I was worried in case I let myself become too cozy and that people would read it and think I should be taking medication or something.
I think I've reached that critical mass; so anything I write from now on is to be taken lightly and with no thought to the serious author person I'm meant to be portraying here.

Da Boch.
Reg