So you know, I’m probably one of the least patient people in the universe. I hate waiting and I hate it even more when there’s nothing I can do about it.

A big part of the process of writing is waiting. You write a manuscript and before you finish you think that’s the hardest thing. But you polish it and send it to crit partners and you wait. While you wait you begin to think what you’ve written is the biggest steaming pile of doo in the universe.

But you hear back and people dig it. They have suggestions, some you take, some you don’t. And then you send it to editors. Now this is agonizing. You try to tell yourself to just pretend the manuscript doesn’t exist, to forget about it and move on. But you can’t, LOL. So you pretend to be well adjusted about it meanwhile checking your email every thirty minutes and every time the phone rings you send out a mini hope/prayer/wish that it’s good news about the book.

Okay and then you hear back and it’s good news and then you wait for the contract to arrive and be approved and then you wait for edits and then you wait for second round edits and then you wait for the FLE and then you wait for release and then you wait to get reader feedback and reviews and then you wait to see how it sells.

And then you do it again with another book and another.

This process is similar with agents and then when your agent subs your stuff to NY.

I used to think having an agent would be good because it took away part of the pressure. And it does. It becomes her job to think about new markets (although I still do of course) and she get the pitch together and she subs it and she keeps an eye on who has what and for how long.

But now I’m totally out of the process altogether. Which is harder than waiting when I’m in control. Because so little about writing, once the manuscript leaves my possession, is about anything I can control.

And my agent is wonderful, she keeps me updated on what’s happening. If I email her she writes me back promptly. She’s unfailingly supportive and has been a great advocate of my books but still, I wish I could do something to make the process move quicker! I wish I could just do A and then it would all play out the way I want it to. But I can’t. We’ve done our part and now it’s wait and see time. Sigh.

I like to think this is all a great learning process. That I’m learning patience and a zen attitude about it. But I’m such a liar! I am not learning patience, I’m learning how to disguise what a neurotic freak I am, which I suppose is something, after all.