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.