Sparks Fly Sometimes or Strange but Wonderful Things Can Happen...

A strange but wonderful thing happened yesterday. I was asked for a short partial - 10 pages - and a few hours later, a full manuscript for my novel SPARKS FLY SOMETIMES: CONFESSIONS OF A ROCK PRINCESS (SFS). My one line pitch for this novel is: Life as a rock princess in the Denver music scene does nothing to prepare Jenny Sampson for life as a domestic goddess in the suburbs of Philly.

Those of you who have been following me for a while may remember I queried this novel in the spring and when I finished MURDER ON TWILIGHT CIRCLE (MTC) began querying that. Then I went on to begin the follow-up to MTC called MURDER ON SONGBIRD LANE and, since the 20th of September (yup, that's the exact date I started writing!) I've been immersed in my first YA novel called THE SECRET KEEPER.

So, back to the strange thing. First of all, the agent who requested it is someone I met in person at the Backspace Conference in May. I fell instantly and madly in love with her and wondered what devil I could barter my soul with to get her to represent me. I queried her, at her request, and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Then she hired some help, got caught up with her queries, and lo and behold, requested my partial then full manuscript of SFS.

THE GOOD NEWS AND THE BAD NEWS
Said agent has kindly given me as much time as I need to review the ms. It's only been a few months since I finished writing it, but it seems like ages due to all the writing I've done since then. The good news is, I'm thoroughly enjoying reading SFS again! What an unexpected treat. The bad news is, I'm going to be slowing down on THE SECRET KEEPER, which I've been flying through at an average of about 2,000 words a day, while I re-read SFS.

You may be wondering why I need to review SFS since I completed it in May. I'm reviewing it because I know I'm a better writer now, and I'm taking my "new" eyes to peruse and lightly edit the entire ms. Fortunately, it's in pretty good shape. The biggest change I've noticed is due to the fact that since I finished writing SFS, I've become an avid Tweeter. That means, communicating in 140 characters or less, which translates into being a more economical writer. I'm eliminating a lot of unnecessary words in SFS or rewriting sentences to be more succinct. It's inspiring to see how far I've come in such a short time. I love SFS, and it's a gift to be given the opportunity to revisit it and tweak it that much more, all the while knowing it will be before the eyes of an agent I greatly admire.

So, there you have it. Like an unexpected bouquet of flowers, sometimes, when you least expect it, strange but wonderful things can happen. ;-)
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