Big Dreams for this little novel

Every time I hear the e-mail chime I think “Oh that must be an agent, saying that she loves my manuscript and she’s interested in representing this book to an editorial company.” And then I look, and it isn’t, but I know that with each day that passes, I’m one step closer. The good news I’ve had so far: the Chairman of the Creative Writing Department at Miami University, my undergraduate alma mater, read the first 20 pages of my novel and said that the characters were “convincing and sympathetic.” He also said that I had employed a circular plot structure, which is difficult to pull off without a good hook, but that I had done it as I had a good one.

My friend, Angie, whose “whole life is about creative writing and literature” and is herself a former Creative Writing Professor at the University of Northern Kentucky, read the entire manuscript, bless her, and said, “you have a marvelous, truth-telling, and incredibly well-written novel.”  And my mother, who does love me, but was prepared to be completely underwhelmed when I asked her to read the manuscript said that it was a “page-turner” and that she was “surprised and very proud” because it was one of the best novels she’d read in a while and “I didn’t know you could write so well!”  This from a woman who drains the library shelves with her voracious appetite for reading!

And thus, my dreams for this little novel are that:

1)      I find an agent very soon.

2)      S/he finds a publisher soon after that.

3)      My friends and family all buy copies of the novel and love it too and write great comments about it, and then tell all their friends and family to buy it too, and so on, and so forth.

4)      It wins some sort of literary prize and that gives it even more popularity.

5)      It hits the New York Times Best Sellers List.

6)      A Hollywood producer buys the film rights and decides to create a major motion picture.

7)      The movie is a big hit too and more people go out and buy my book and love it.

One step at a time. Oh, there went the chime! I’d better check to see if it’s an agent!

 

Image credit: McLachlan, Sean. Santander, Spain. Nov. 30 2011 from his blog post: http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/30/two-day-hikes-in-the-mountains-of-cantabria-spain/ PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT THE COVER OF MY NOVEL, MERELY A SUGGESTION. MY NOVEL HAS NOT YET BEEN PUBLISHED.