"Not Quite What I Was Planning" coming out in February

"Not Quite What I Was Planning," a book of six-word memoirs, is coming out in February.

My "six-word memoir" is included, along with about 400 others. The fun part is that my name will be in a book along with Moby, Amy Sedaris, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen Colbert and Dave Eggers.

Lawrence Welk: Classic Clips # 46

Apparently, this is what it takes to finally get me in the Christmas spirit.

Pushcart Prize

I just received notice that Brenda Miller at the Bellingham Review nominated my essay, "We'll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down" for a Pushcart Prize. I'm pretty excited, needless to say. Brenda gave me great advice when she accepted the essay for publication and her comments helped to make it better. I'm glad I have someone like her on my side!

Note to self

I just posted this in front of my computer:

"DO NOT take any more work. Do you want to finish this draft or not? Idiot!"

I'm pretty much going to be swamped with work until at least mid-January. I have got to put my foot down, money be damned.

I'm enjoying my morning so far. The snow has kept me from attending a mentorship workshop today -- boo hoo! I'm very sad about this. But I decided to join them in spirit, so the three hours I would have been up there I am spending writing. I don't know the last time I spent three solid hours on my book. Feels great, would love to do it more.

Six-word memoirs

I did a little searching this morning and discovered that the book "Not Quite What I Was Planning: And Other Six-Word Memoirs" will be released Feb. 5 by HarperPerennial. My own six-word memoir is included. What is it? You'll have to buy the book!

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Quite-What-Was-Planning/dp/0061374059

Birthday horoscope

Here's my Holiday Mathis horoscope for today: "You're adding winning people to your team this year. The picture of who you want to be is shaping up in your mind, and the more specific you are, the better your choices get. December shows you traveling in style. There's a drop of magic that happens in January that opens new worlds to you. Aquarius and Gemini adore you."

Of course, what I read into this relates to writing. Winning people to my team -- could be the Loft Mentorship. Picture of who I want to be -- more like, maybe the picture of what I want my BOOK to be.

Ross McElwee

Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee was one of the keynote speakers at the Nonfiction Now conference. What's a filmmaker doing at a writing conference? His style of narrative and documentation parallels what nonfiction writers do -- his tool just happens to be a camera instead of paper.

I must admit I'm quite embarrassed to say I wasn't familiar with McElwee before the conference. Now I am a huge fan. We watched one of his documentaries, "Bright Leaves," on Thursday night. Check it out if you can find it. His entire style really mimics what you might find in a good narrative.

I always knew I enjoyed documentaries, but it wasn't until Thursday night that I realized why. It goes along with my love of nonfiction. You can give me any memoir and I will eat it up. You can put any documentary in front of me and I will be completely absorbed. Because of "Bright Leaves," tobacco and North Carolina are now my favorite subjects!

Check out McElwee at http://www.rossmcelwee.com/

Nonfiction Now wrap-up

I just got back from spending three days in Iowa City at the Nonfiction Now conference. It was the second annual conference, but the first time I attended. I had a great time. It wasn't really a "how-to" writing conference. Many of the attendees are in the world of academia. Therefore, some of the presentations were a little esoteric and self-indulgent. But there was usually at least one presentation on each panel that held a nugget or two.

I think maybe the most important part of the conference was the networking. To my knowledge, this conference is the biggest gathering of nonfiction practitioners in the country. The heavy-hitters of the nonfiction world were there -- editors of journals, directors of creative writing programs, premier writers.

I came away with two major things:

1) I have renewed faith in my writing. So much of what I heard was validating. As I listened to other nonfiction writers, I often found myself nodding my head or thinking, "Me too." I came away with some new ideas for my memoir. It was great to see what everyone else was doing, what their books look like, how they approached their topics, etc.

2) A renewed love for nonfiction. I have always loved nonfiction, but this conference gave me a chance to examine it from all angles. I appreciate the genre more, and the idea of straying from it doesn't interest me at all. I have been thinking the in the past few weeks about how I tend to spread myself too thin in all things -- I want to do it all! But writing nonfiction is one thing I can commit myself to and try to become the best I can be at it.

The best day of the year...

Is not my birthday (which is coming up on Nov. 12, by the way). It is today, the day that Daylight Saving Time ends. There's something I love about the evenings that turn dark around 5 p.m. I want to surround myself with coffee, lamplight, and good books. The darkness gives me an excuse to nest. These are the days of soup and blankets, of sweaters and mittens. Soon (hopefully), the days will usher in my favorite season, winter.

Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder is real -- look it up. We hear of the winter SAD, in which people become depressed and have to sit under bright lights until spring arrives. However, there is summer SAD, in which people are depressed in the summer and happy in the winter. Today, I can almost feel something "click" within my mind. I struggle through the heat and humidity with a veil over my mind, and in the past few weeks, that veil has lifted and I've experienced true happiness and joy once again.

Billy Collins

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins last Friday/Saturday. On Friday I volunteered at MoonLIT Bridge, a gala for The Loft. Collins was the featured speaker. On Saturday, this year's mentees (along with last year's mentees) had a private audience with Collins. He gave some great advice regarding writing and poetry.

And he liked my outfit on Friday night!

The Loft Mentor Series

I had a great weekend at The Loft! Elmaz Abinader, a writer and professor at Mills College, was the visiting writer for the Mentor Series. I came away with so many new ideas. Biggest of all, I came away with a possible structure (?) for my book. I feel I've really been floundering in the wind up until this point. Elmaz smartly pointed out that I need a consistent perspective. Lately I've been thinking of structuring the memoir as a series of short scenes, letting them build upon themselves to tell the story without me as narrator having to say, "Hey you! Here's the story!" This afternoon I made a list of all the scenes I could think of, all the stories that could be told in a scene, and I came up with around 30. I'm finally excited to get a start on that. I have a big fear that I'll finish with this revision only to be told, or to have a gut feeling, that I need to go back to the way it was. Oh well, I guess I can't let fear stop me.

I read on Friday night -- Chrissy Kolaya and I were the first to take the plunge. All the mentees have a reading throughout the year, and we signed up for the first go-round. I was honored to share the stage with Elmaz and Chrissy. Elmaz has a serious gift for nonfiction narrative, and Chrissy writes the type of poems I enjoy (and I can't say I enjoy a whole lot!): descriptive, observational, real-world work.

Here are a couple of pictures from the event. The first one is my mom, myself and Elmaz, and the second one is Chrissy, myself and Elmaz.

Oh, the irony

Saturday, Sept. 29, I attended "Cityceased" at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis (see next post). I hauled along my camera and snapped some shots.

The next morning, around 8 a.m., the phone rings. It's my brother. He's a gravedigger.

"Whatcha doin'? Are you in bed?" he asks, clearly already having had a cup or two of coffee.

"No, but I just got up."

"I just went past your house. I'm digging at Calvary. I got my new backhoe. I'm wondering if you'd come over and take some pictures."

I perk up. "Sure. I'd be happy to. I'll be there in a few minutes."

So I walked the half-mile to Calvary with my camera and shot some photos of his John Deere tractor and backhoe attachment.

So less than 12 hours after "Cityceased," I found myself at another cemetery photo shoot. A near perfect weekend.

"Cityceased"

I attended a performance of Kris Lencowski's "Cityceased" Sept. 29 at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. When I first heard about it, I thought, "A play? In a cemetery? I must go!" It was everything I had hoped for. The premise: Characters, who've recently died, find themselves at Lakewood in the world of the dead. It's a funny world, a tender world, a sad world.

The sights, the sounds (live music), the wind blowing through the trees and the headstones as backdrop combined to create a perfect atmosphere. It was an ideal fall evening -- warm and overcast. As I traipsed on the blacktop roads, dutifully following guides clad in black carrying lanterns, I thought I might not ever go to a play indoors again.

Big thanks to Ron at Lakewood to allow a play to be staged there. Let's hope the door is now open to other performances that respectfully honor the environment.

With people laughing and musicians playing, I couldn't help but to think Lakewood's dead appreciated the company and the energy of the living.

Kris was nice enough to let me take pictures, so here are a couple.

piece in 400 Words

I have a story on 400 Words.

http://www.400words.com/2007/09/27/mercy/#more-209

It was posted Sept. 27, so if you're reading this at a much later date, you should be able to find it by date posted.

Thoughts on women, work, housework, and happiness

This is from my friends at "400 Words."

http://www.400words.com/2007/09/26/the-new-york-times-men-now-happier-than-women-work-to-blame/#more-223

Are men happier these days than women? A study says so. And get this: women are unhappier because they aren't able to do as much housework as they were in the past. What the???!!!?!?!

More good reviews for Blueroad

Blueroad gets some nice compliments, thanks to Foreword Magazine:

http://www.forewordmagazine.com/blogs/soundoff/PermaLink,guid,9bdee5c0-696e-4998-9527-90b69cf2b752.aspx

My planned winter vacation

I love winter. I cannot say that enough. I love, love, love winter. I love the crisp air, the blue skies that look as if they'll shatter, cloudy skies pregnant with snow, snow itself, the absence of bugs, and the absence of humidity. I love the admiration that cold-weather people get from warm-weather people. I love the accomplishment of having walked 15 minutes on campus in biting -20 below zero windchills. At the end of every day there's a proud little thought: "I survived!"

Last week's "cold snap" was a tease. It was foreplay that didn't lead to anything, as now we're looking at 80-85 degrees on the first day of fall. Still, that small taste of chill led me to Scheel's yesterday, where I bought an UnderArmour head wrap and a stocking cap.

I love playing outside in the winter. I love to snowshoe, to cross-country ski, and I run outside all winter. I will bike outdoors as long as ice and snow aren't covering the roads.

But I thought, "there have to be more ways to enjoy winter." First on my list this year is to try winter camping. Get a cold-weather sleeping bag, bundle up in two or three layers of long underwear, get a fire going and sleep in the chill. Can't wait!

However, most exciting to me is this:
http://www.dogsledding.com/lodge-to-lodge_trips/photo_workshop.html

I plan to combine dogsledding and photography at the end of January. This little nugget is keeping me going now while it's still too warm for September and as I slave away at work.

A little breathing room

Gosh, it feels good to wrap up big work projects! I just finished a ton of grading for my online classes. Finally, a break! Having that out of the way should free up quite a bit of time. Now I can get to projects that have been on hold for several weeks! There will always be something to replace free time, and unfortunately, it is rarely the book. Hmmmm, when will that change? Will it ever change? Grrrrrr!

book excerpt in Ghoti magazine

An excerpt from my memoir was selected for the Labor Day issue of Ghoti magazine.

http://www.ghotimag.com/labor%20day%20cover.htm

A book, or a memoir?

Talk about splitting hairs! A family has settled a lawsuit against Augusten Burroughs ("Running with Scissors") and his publisher. The family claims defamation and invasion of privacy resulted from the book's publication. So Burroughs and the publisher agreed to call it a "book," not a "memoir." WTF? What's the difference? So now a "book" implies that it's not true? In future editions, Burroughs has to say that the family's recollection of events is different from his own. Well, I know for a fact that my recollection of events of my childhood is different than my sister's or brother's. Can't everyone say this? No one remembers an event in the exact same way. A memoir should stay true to the emotional truth, and the writer should write about events as he/she remembers them. If Burroughs did that, then there's nothing to apologize for.

Ants in my coffee!

This is too funny! This is a machine in a hallway at MSU. It was a wonderfully funny moment that brightened my first day of school:

If you can't read it, it says, "Notice. This machine is full of ants. Do not use!! Yuk :("

Kind of makes me want to try it out anyway.

Literary crushes

A friend and I were talking the other day about our "literary crushes." These are people to whom we are attracted solely because of their writing. We desire nothing more than to be in his/her presence, drink coffee and talk writing. That's it, end of date. It goes no further than the coffeeshop. But yet we swoon with pleasure. Our heart skips a beat when we see them. And oh, if they actually talk to us, how magnificent! We want them to take us under their wings, to whisper sweet nothings about how we're the best, most talented writer they've ever discovered. They will show us the way. They will show us the light. They will make us see stars between the covers. Between book covers, that is.

I can't reveal my literary crush on this forum because what if he would see this!? But I can give a hint: He's a man, and he's in Blueroad.

Can anyone reveal theirs?

My first media mention!

Holy crap! My name is in this week's Minneapolis City Pages, the metro alternative weekly. There's a little preview/review of Blueroad in the A-List, the extended calendar of weekly events. We had a nice little reading today in St. Paul, and the preview/review appeared to support it. It's a good review, and my name is one of three contributors mentioned by name within the short piece. It says something like "it doesn't take much digging to find gems... The narrator in Rachael Hanel's 'The First Glimpse' meditates on the deaths of members of her family."

So, that's it, but whatever, it's a mention! It feels pretty cool.

And they spelled my name wrong. I'm used to it. I corrected it above, for obvious reasons.

On a side note, I'm typing this from the Holiday Inn Rivercentre in St. Paul. I have to report to jury duty at 8 a.m. at the St. Paul courthouse for U.S. District Court. Should be interesting.

R.I.P.

New bike!

Check out my new road bike!

The very lovely Charlie at University Cycle in Mankato built it for me. The bike rides so smoothly--it's like silk floating through the air. I had been riding a trail/road hybrid for more than a year. That was a fine bike, but I wanted something faster and smoother. I got it! So instead of writing a lot this summer, I've been riding instead. Good for my body, not so good for my memoir!

My new mantra

I'm going to start subscribing to this philosophy:

"Standing in the sun with a popsicle/Anything is possible"

Courtesy of this fine gentleman:

North Shore pictures

These are my favorite pictures I took from my North Shore vacation:

The Summer of Fun

I've labeled this summer "The Summer of Fun." Not too original, I know, but it suffices. I was trapped in the house all winter, both by snow and by work. In the summer, I purposely back off on work to catch my breath and to have time for things I normally don't have time for. So far, here's my little list of "new" things I've done this summer:

1. Bought a Canon Digital Rebel XT. Lots of manual settings to enhance creativity. I'm having a blast with it and slowly learning what it takes to create a good picture.
2. Went to the stock-car races in Arlington, MN. Just had to see what all the fuss was about. I'll probably go back.
3. Bicycling like a maniac. After years of running, I'm a little bored. In July I was able to put on 90-100 miles a week on the bike. This week, I'm getting an actual road bike and I'm looking forward to even more mileage.
4. Reading Harry Potter for the first time. Not like I'm opposed to the guy, but I tend to shy away from things that are all the rage. Besides, the heft of the later books intimidated me. I'm almost done with "Sorcerer's Stone" and I'm liking it a lot. It feels good to read fiction because I rarely do.
5. Had a Web site created. But of course you know that if you're reading this blog.

If I think of more things, I'll keep posting.

Back from the North Shore

I just returned from a wonderful couple of days on Minnesota's gorgeous North Shore of Lake Superior. I could go back there again and again and never get bored. I love everything about it: the pines, the massive lake, the cool breeze and fog that rolls off the lake. If I had a money tree, I would move there instantly.

I bought a few books (like I need more books!) but I wanted to support the independent booksellers in Duluth and Grand Marais. Besides, it seemed wholly appropriate to buy "North Woods" type of books and read them while relaxing on the shore. So I bought books by Sigurd Olson, Paul Gruchow, and one of Jim Brandenburg's photo books. Now that I've gotten more into photography, I find myself looking at professional photos in a new light. I wonder where the photographer was when he/she took the picture, what type of lens was used, what shutter speed was used, etc. Then I think, "I'll have to try that." Except with Brandenburg. It's like I could not even come close to doing what he does -- he's in another league, another galaxy, far, far away from me and my abilities! His photos to me will remain beautiful eye candy.

I took more than 200 pictures up there. I found about 40 that are worth tinkering with. I'll post a couple on here.

Bellingham Review

I received my Spring 2007 issue of Bellingham Review, the one in which my essay appears. I'm pretty excited to be included in this issue. I was notified of its acceptance in May 2006; wow, this publishing world is slow! I better get used to it!

Here's a link to the journal:

http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~bhreview/index.htm

Book delivery

This shipment was delivered to me today:

These are the books I wrote for Creative Company last fall: The Slave Trade, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Gladiators, Knights, Samurai, and Pirates. Finally, my name on a book!

Good news!

I got a call from the program director at The Loft today letting me know I'm one of four participants chosen for the Mentorship Series in nonfiction. I'll be working with Barrie Jean Borich, who wrote the memoir, "My Lesbian Husband." I read it a few years ago; it's a compelling story.

I really stressed in my essay that I want to use the mentorship to work on revising the entire manuscript. The mentorship lasts the academic year, so I hope it will result in a good end product.

It's funny, too, because the past few days I've really been wishing for some good news. I've been putting so much out there -- book excerpts, grant applications, cover letters/resumes for more children's nonfiction work -- and not hearing anything back. It's like I just wanted some outside validation, and I guess I got it!

Weekly Reader Thursday, July 12

My guests this week on the Weekly Reader are John Gaterud, his daughter Abbey, and contributors to Blueroad, a new literary journal/book in southern Minnesota. Tune in if you want to learn more about the publication and hear some of the writing contained within.

The show airs 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 12, on 89.7 FM in the Mankato area, or on the Internet at www.kmsu.org.

Blueroad Reader publicity

The Mankato Free Press ran an article on July 8 about John Gaterud's new literary journal venture, Blueroad. This is one quality publication, and I'm not just staying that because I'm in the inaugural issue! I've known John for more than a decade and you will not find a more committed person to the craft of writing. He knows how to visually present creative work.

http://www.mnsu.edu/news/read.php?id=1183990823

Check out Blueroad's Web site: http://www.blueroadpress.com/

Free Press opinion piece

On Sunday, July 8, The Mankato Free Press published an opinion piece I wrote about the economic value of arts in our communities. I felt it was my duty as a Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Center board representative to get the word out about the monetary value of art.

You can view the piece here:

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/letters/local_story_189004842.html

Don't let the gigantic head shot of me scare you away! That picture is about five years old, back from the days when I used to work at the paper.

A neutral mail day

Received writing-related mail on Thursday -- while no one was exactly raving over me or my work, they weren't shooting me down, either.

I've sent out several packets over the last week to various children's nonfiction publishers, asking to be considered for possible freelance work. I include a self-addressed stamped postcard with a few choices -- "Yes, I'm interested, call me; no, I'm not interested in hiring at this time; I'll keep your information on file for future assignments." I got a card back yesterday with the latter one marked. Now hopefully I'll actually be called! I've really enjoyed every one of the 12 nonfiction kids' books I've worked on in the past 18 months; I'd love to do more of that work.

I also got a short essay returned yesterday. I had submitted it to a contest earlier this year. There was a handwritten note on the top -- "Please consider submitting this to the memoir contest we're having next year." It's nice to get that type of encouragement, even if the first submission didn't work out.

I don't have a good track record this year on contest/journal submissions. Last spring, I submitted twice and batted .500. Beginner's luck, I suppose. But if the pieces I'm sending out this year aren't hitting anywhere, that's a sign that something isn't working and I need to take a closer look at how they're written.

Great book to read before July 4th holiday

I bought "Where Valor Rests," a photo book about Arlington National Cemetery, a couple of weeks ago. I didn't have time to page through it until this past weekend. I'm glad I read it right before the July 4th holiday, as it got me thinking about our country, those who choose to engage in combat, and those who die doing so.

As a budding photographer, I found the photos in this book to be incredible. There were a variety of shots, and even some infrared photos. I plan to experiment with infrared photography later this summer.

Many of the pictures brought tears to my eyes, especially shots of family members during graveside services.

The mother lode!

I had lunch today with my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and MIL's cousins. One of the older cousins brought some old family pictures to distribute, which came from an aunt who acted as the unofficial family historian. There's nothing like looking at old black-and-whites. Even if I don't know the family, such pictures fascinate me and I could look at them for hours.

The best, however, is that there were three pictures of a freshly dug grave from 1926, heaped upon with fresh flowers. Someone thought it important enough to take a picture of this grave.

The cousin has a wealth of old pictures at her house -- I can't wait to visit and see what other treasures might be lurking there.

Writing nonfiction for children

I attended a class Sunday, June 24, at The Loft in Minneapolis titled "Writing for the Children's Educational Market." The instructor, Laura Purdie Salas, gave participants a number of useful tips for finding work in this niche market. I wasn't sure how helpful the workshop would be going into it, as I already have some experience writing for this market. However, the workshop was definitely worth my time and money. The work I've done has come as a result of personal connections, so I've never had to send an informational packet, query letter, work samples, etc. I'm looking to expand in this field, and the information I gleaned will hopefully help me do that.

Once again, The Loft proves to be an excellent writing resource!

A good mail day

I got home Monday evening and there was a mysterious check waiting for me from Western Washington University. I'm used to getting checks in the mail from colleges, as I do some online teaching. However, this university wasn't ringing a bell. I open it, and realize it's for my piece in the spring issue of Bellingham Review! It's not much, of course, but this represents my first payment for published creative writing work. I feel like framing the check, but then I wouldn't be able to cash it.

Also waiting for me were several Photoshop books from my friend Katie. She graciously agreed to send them to me since she was going to recycle them anyway. All I had to do was pay for shipping. Now I have giant Photoshop books to go along with new Canon Digital Rebel.

My husband wonders why I eagerly wait for the mail each day. It's for days like Monday, when I receive money and free books. Is there anything better?

What I'm reading and why

I get cranky every time I pay my satellite TV bill. We added HBO and Cinemax a few months ago, and I wonder "Why?" when the bill comes due. More often than not, we have 100 channels and there's nothing on.

But I recently watched "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" on HBO and was thankful I kept paying the bill. The docudrama about U.S./Native American relations in the Old West is airing every day in June, so tune in if you haven't already.

Only until I watched the movie did I realize the politics behind laws regarding Native Americans and the perplexing rationale behind those laws and policies. When the credits rolled, I saw the movie was based on a book and thought, "I should get that book." Then I realized, "You know, I think I already HAVE that book." Sure enough, a paperback version sat on my bookshelf, untouched since I bought it at a garage sale a few years ago. I'm glad I can anticipate future reading interests so well.

I thought this passage from the book (written in 1971 by Dee Brown) was so eloquent and sad:

"Their musical names [of the tribes] remained forever fixed on the American land, but their bones were forgotten in a thousand burned villages or lost in forests fast disappearing before the axes of twenty million invaders. Already the once sweet-watered streams, most of which bore Indian names, were clouded with silt and the wastes of man; the very earth was being ravaged and squandered. To the Indians it seemed that these Europeans hated everything in nature -- the living forests and their birds and beasts, the grassy glades, the water, the soil, and the air itself."

Rejection isn't always all bad

If you’re a writer, you deal with rejection. I thought I’d post a few of the rejections I’ve received.

Mostly they come from literary journals, agents, and editors. I’ve been trying to submit more pieces to journals lately. I had some success last year. The first chapter of my memoir will appear in the Spring 2007 issue of Bellingham Review (which should be out very soon!) and the third chapter is in the Summer 2007 issue of Blueroad Reader.

So now I feel like a junkie, submitting pieces of my memoir in hopes that I’ll get another bite, another sense of validation. But those success stories are rare. Let’s take a look at a little tally:
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve submitted work to 15 journals/contests/awards. So far, I’ve been rejected on five of them, and I’m still waiting to hear from the other 10.

Late last year, I submitted my memoir proposal to a few agents/editors (18, I think?). I’m a terribly impatient person. I think my query letter is solid, because that received a few responses from people who wanted to see more. However, my manuscript was nowhere near ready to send out to agents/editors. In fact, it’s still not. I’m hoping to have something decent to send out by the end of summer.

But anyway, the response I got last year was encouraging. It did help me to know I was on the right path, even if no one said, “Yes, I must represent you/publish your memoir right now.”
I discovered in the past few months that there can actually be encouraging rejections. Let me share a few:

From an agent:
“We are writing to let you know that we must pass on We’ll be the Last Ones to Let You Down. Because of the amount of client work in our office right now, we must often make hard decisions about what we will represent. You write well and we wish only to encourage you even though we can’t pursue working with you at this time. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your work.
We wish you the very best with your writing.”

From an agent:
“Dear Rachael,
Thank you for the opportunity to review the material for your memoir, We'll Be the Last Ones To Let You Down. While your story seems quite compelling, I'm afraid this type of book just simply isn't right for my list. I encourage you to continue with your search, as every agent is looking for something different.
Best of luck in the future and with your writing!”

From an editor:
“Dear Rachael,
I want to thank you for letting us keep the mss. sample a little longer. After careful consideration, it doesn't seem quite right for us, I'm sorry to report. I'm passing along the notes from the Assistant Editor who spent more time with it than I did in case you find them useful. As you know, these opinions are subjective, so it might well be that another publisher will have a very different reaction to your work. My best good wishes as you continue to search for a home for it.”

From an agent:
"This sounds lovely, but too minor and quiet to succeed in today's literary market."

I actually find this one the most encouraging. I'm glad that it sounds lovely; that's better than a manuscript that isn't lovely. But I believe there is a market for quiet and minor books, and that keeps me plugging along.

Update

Finally, it's summer. This means I have time to work on my book and other projects that have been put off for too long.

Status of "We'll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down": I'm nearly finished with a second revision. A few readers will give me comments on it, and I hope to finish a third draft by the end of August. At that point, I'll take a stab at sending queries to agents/publishers.

Other plans for the summer: work on a children's picture book idea; take lots of photos with my new Canon Digital Rebel XT; bike a lot; try not to think about how busy I'll be once school starts at the end of August; dream of the day when I do nothing but write books for a living.