The Passionate Pen Presents... 2002 Personal News Archive

2002 Personal News Archive

12/30/02 -- Yes, we've reached the last entry for my Personal News Diary for 2002. The next website update will be in 2003 and I'll archive the 2002 Diary away with the 2001 Diary. But this time of year seems to lead us all to reflection on the past year and plans for the next, and I'm no different from the next person when it comes to New Year's thoughts. Check out the Tips For Writers page, for my own thoughts and hints on setting goals for the New Year.

See you all again in 2003! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

12/23/02 -- Hard to believe it, but it is Christmas week! Things have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to do a real update this week, but I did manage to do a little plotting on a new book. Look for more info, and maybe even a new look, coming in the New Year. To all of you who visit: Merry Christmas!!

12/16/02 -- Just a couple small things to report, not much happening this week. First, I have come up with an idea for my 11th book. This is a big deal for me since I just couldn't think of anything that just cried out "Write Me!!", but now I have and all is right with the world.

Second, the Passionate Pen has surpassed its 15,000 visitor! Congratulations whoever you were and thanks to everyone who has come to this site, used it and especially to those of you who have taken the time over the years to post messages telling me that the site has helped you. I really appreciate hearing that. It makes all the work that goes into maintaining The Passionate Pen worthwhile.

12/9/02 -- Well, as the year is winding down, news is coming in and my "To Do" list is dwindling. First, I did manage to get my revised manuscript of A Widow's Kiss mailed off to my agent, along with a synopsis and copies of the rejections I received on Glorious. Could I be revisiting this story and revising it in the new year? Only time will tell.

And on the submission front, I got a rejection on Tuesday, December 3 from St. Martin's Press. I couldn't feel too badly about it though, as the editor said glowing things about my voice, said she wants to be kept posted on me and then gave specific character reasons as to why she didn't wish to take the work on. Looks like my Sebastian from Heart of a Wolf may be a mite too dark for many houses. But there are still 4 possibilities out on that story and at least three of them aren't opposed to dark stories, so we'll see if he passes the test there.

12/2/02 -- Not much to say this week. I did finally finish the last revisions on A Widow's Kiss and printed it out. I haven't mailed it as of yet, but it will probably go out today or Wednesday some time. I also found out that my Golden Heart entry made it to the RWA office, so that's one less thing.

Other than that, I've just been relaxing, enjoying my long weekend with my husband and our cats. And I even thought of a possible opening to a new book. Don't know if it will go anywhere, but it popped into my head. :)

11/25/02 -- I just can't believe that this is the last week of November, 2002. Time has flown by this year. Anyway, the big news for this week is that I finished the manuscript for Her Husband's Bed on Tuesday, November 19, 2002 at around midnight. Honestly, I'm not happy with the book, but that's what revisions are for. But for now, I plan to rest, relax and enjoy my holidays. After the New Year, I'll decide what to work on next and hopefully whip this book into shape.

Happy Thanksgiving!

11/18/02 -- Harlequin Historicals finally got back to me on the full manuscript of Heart of a Wolf. Unfortunately, it was with a rejection. However, there are still 13 queries and proposals out in the work on Wolf and Lady. And I will most likely finish Her Husband's Bed this week.

11/11/02 -- The packet for the Jordan series, starting with the backcover blurb for the entire series and proposal for A Lady's Desire is out and away. There are 14 happy little proposals, fulls and queries out for my work now (between Lady and Wolf), so I am sending vibes and fairy dust to NYC in the hopes that someone bites.

Meanwhile, work on my revisions and new book is coming along well. The full, revised manuscript of A Rake's Vow went out to Michelle on Friday. I've also decided to enter this book in the Golden Heart, a contest for unpublished authors hosted by RWA, so I paid my entry fee this week and prepared my submission for mailing this coming week. I'll begin revisions on A Widow's Kiss this week and hope to be done with them by November 29.

As for Her Husband's Bed, Dominic and Kat are nearing the 2/3 mark of their story and things are beginning to heat up as I work toward the downward spiral to The End. It's definitely been a busy week.

11/4/02 -- Well, I managed to complete both my "backcover blurb" for the Jordan series and finish my revision for Lady, so both are off to my agent. I should be hearing about who the series has been pitched to some time this week. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am that she likes the series enough to pitch it in its entirety. It's a risk, and it feels good to know she believes it could pay off. Makes me believe in it, too.

I have to tell you, writing a summary for one book is going to seem easy after trying to encompass nearly 1200 pages of work into two pages. It was like tearing my hair out. Thank goodness for the kindness of my good friend Susannah Carr, who must have looked at fifteen versions of the thing and also helped me brainstorm for the perfect words.

I also wanted to say thank you to those of you who are visiting the site. In the past few weeks I've gotten email and messages from several different places saying how much people love the site and appreciate the work that goes into it. Hearing that is so nice and makes me feel really good. I do put a lot of time into maintaining The Passionate Pen, and it's so cool when I hear that it's helpful to people or that they visit regularly.

Happy writing all!

10/28/02 -- Wow, faster than a speeding bullet, my agent has read and given the ok to the revisions for both Lady and Rake. What a relief! Now I just need to write a "backcover blurb" encompassing the entire series as a pitching tool. This is something I've never done before, so I'm hoping to manage it without too much trouble. And then... she will be pitching the series!!! Oh, I love sending work out into the world. The risk is so worth the potential benefit. And I learn so much from the process every time.

Now if someone would just take a liking to something I've written... but that's a complaint for another day. For now I'm very pleased that my series is going to see some editorial eyes. Lots to do this week! Happy Halloween everyone!

10/21/02 -- Well, the revisions for the first hundred pages of Lady and first three chapters of Rake are on their way to Michelle. What a learning experience for me. I really think that I've seen an issue in my writing and now can eliminate that before the manuscript sees professional eyes. There's still no word on The Heart of the Wolf from the camps that still have it.

10/14/02 -- Wonderful news! Just when you are full-on wallowing in your own angst, there is a beautiful blinding light at the end of the tunnel. One of my very good friends, someone who has been so supportive of me through thick and thin and has really been a rock, has just gotten THE CALL. Congratulations to Lilles Slawik whose first book from Harlequin Presents, The Green Tycoon's Ultimatum will be released in the UK in late 2003 and for US distribution probably some time in early 2004. CONGRATULATIONS Lilles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As for my news, my agent has given me some revisions to do on A Lady's Desire and A Rake's Vow, the first and second book in my Jordan series. I've been working on making those changes so we can start pitching one or the other to the editors who have already rejected The Heart of a Wolf. I had a nice vacation and am excited to do these changes and then get back to Her Husband's Bed. Dominic and Kat are just calling to me from the back of my brain, asking me how I'm going to get them out of their current predicament...

9/23/02 -- Well, after months of waiting, the answers are starting to come in. After last week's Historical Voice rejection, this week my agent informed me of three more. Ballantine, NAL and Pocket passed on my The Heart of a Wolf. I must say that getting four rejections (probably with a second from Dorchester coming soon) in a week's period has been very disappointing for me. Especially when I thought this book would get a better response. I've been doing my best to keep my chin up, but it hasn't been easy.

But for the next couple of weeks visiting is going to keep me busy, both as hostess and then as a guest myself. I will be hosting my in-laws this week and next I will be jetting off to Idaho to visit my parents. The website won't be updated during this time. Look for more info (and hopefully less of it on a negative note), when I return from Idaho.

9/16/02 -- Not much going on right now. I'm slowly writing the new book and got a rejection from the New Historical Voice contest. This is the first rejection I've had in a long time, so while I like that they pointed out both the strengths and what they perceived as the weaknesses of the story, it hasn't made it any easier.

9/9/02 -- After a few weeks of just having a very difficult time of it, I seem to be coming back around . I think a lot of that has to do with really writing again. My tenth book is now officially past Chapter 1 and I'm enjoying it. There's nothing like racing to get your "Marriage of Convenience" couple off to the alter kicking and screaming. (Well, she's kicking and screaming).

I've also been trying to have a little more fun, hence the new page.

Still no news on the submission front, but no news is good news. Or at least, it isn't bad news. :) So I'll just keep watching and waiting and jumping when the phone rings.

9/2/02 -- What a busy few weeks it's been. Something about the end of the lazy days of Summer and the beginning of the Fall always spurns me to do new things. Sometimes it's cleaning... like when I painted the bathroom. Now I'm about to tackle the wallpaper border I've been avoiding for nearly two weeks.

But it also works the same way with writing. In the past two weeks I've tackled my two major projects. One was A Widow's Kiss. My critique partner sent me her suggestions and I have finished the second revision. Then I beat a synopsis out of myself and am sending the entire thing to my agent today. Now she'll have the entire Jordan series. I just hope she likes it and that this will be our next "pitching project" if we ever hear anything back about The Heart of a Wolf.

During the revision period, I threw myself full-on into the next book. I've been plotting Her Husband's Bed for the last few weeks and finally wrote the first chapter. Now that I've done that, I'm very excited about writing this story. Look for more information coming as I write.

In the submission front, the cupboard is still empty. No answers yet. Yes, I'll admit I'm getting quite antsy, but focusing on new work has helped a bit. Hopefully there will be something to report soon.

I would also like to thank all the ladies (and were there gentlemen?) who participated on the Yahoo Discussion list that was part of this website for the past year and a half. The list is closing as of September 8 (time constraints on my part have caused this), and I wish good luck to you all! I'm sure we'll bump into each other in cyber-space... and maybe even the real world someday.

8/19/02 -- I'd originally started off this week's entry by saying things had been pretty quiet. Then I actually looked at all I'd done and decided, no, it had actually been quite busy. Funny how sometimes you don't notice everything you're doing at the time. Guess I was having a good time.

Anyway, the first news for this week is that I finished the revision of A Widow's Kiss. Not too many changes. A few cosmetic things and a couple extra descriptions and clarifications. All told, I added about ten pages to the manuscript, so it comes in at about 93,000 words now. It's safely off with a critique partner. Hopefully she'll be able to tell me if I knew what I was talking about when I actually thought it was good.

After I finished, that I'd promised myself that I'd write a synopsis for my next book, Her Husband's Bed before I started the manuscript itself. I know I'll have to do that once I make a first sale, so I wanted to get myself into the groove now. After conference and talking to two published friends, I'm beginning to see the value in a very short synopsis, so I sat down, arranged my notes and my plotting of the book, so far, and cranked out a two pager. I was very pleased since normally my synopses are at least 4 pages and often 8 or 10. I tweaked it a little, then sent it to Michelle, who liked the concept.

I also did a bit of plotting. Normally I write down scenes that come to me without any order or much big description. Just something like: "Katherine and Dominic on the terrace, first meeting, he doesn't know she's his brother's fiancée". Then I sit down and start putting those scenes in order with much more description, goals for the scene, dialogue snippets, etc. This helps when I sit down to write.

And I must say that having the synopsis to guide me in my scene selection did make the entire process so much easier. I knew where the book was going in a much more concrete sense than when I start out with a general idea and do scenes until I just want to write the book so much that I stop. It should be interesting to see where this new process takes my writing.

8/12/02 -- Well, I finished with the final read-through of A Lady's Desire and it is off to Michelle today. Yes, I know, I've had a "final read-through" of that book about six times now, but this is the life. It's never final until it's in print... and even then, people like Catherine Coulter or Susan Elizabeth Philips can go back and re-issue a revised version. But I'm hoping Michelle likes it enough that it will be the final read for a good, long while. I was to the point where I seriously considered chucking the happily ever after ending and letting the hero and heroine die in the pagoda fire in the end. Just so I wouldn't have to read them again. :)

But now I'm fully into the revision of A Widow's Kiss, which I began reading on Thursday. In fact, I really enjoyed my read-through and have been shocked by how little editing I'm doing. Surprising, considering how fast I cranked this one out (3 1/2 weeks, 90,000 words). I figure either it really is good, or I accidentally killed my internal editor and no longer have any judgment left. One way or the other, it's looking like I'll be done with the book by the end of August.

8/5/02 -- It's so nice when the spirits are raised. Despite still being sick, my talk with Michelle really was a morale booster and reminded me that the publication part of writing is the one thing I can't control. The only thing I can do is continue to strive to write the best books I can and present a professional face. I even managed to do a little bit of plotting for Her Husband's Bed and plan to begin revisions on A Widow's Kiss as soon as I've finished a final, cursory read-through of A Lady's Desire before I mail it to Michelle next Monday.

In other news, the Romance Writers of Australia were kind enough to ask me if they could reprint my character article from Tips for Writers. I don't know when those of you "down under" will see it, but look for it coming soon.

7/29/02 -- Hey guess what? The writing life is not easy. Sometimes it downright sucks. Sometimes you doubt yourself so much that it physically hurts and you just need a break. Which is where I've been for the past week or so. Thanks to some good advice, I decided to take some time off. Unfortunately, my time off coincided with the exact moment that I came down with a painful sore throat and ear infection. <Sigh>.

But I'm beginning to feel better thanks to massive doses of antibiotics, rest and the fact that my husband is home again. I'm beginning to feel a draw to read over A Widow's Kiss for its first revision (which was my next goal). And I'm hoping that when I talk to Michelle today I'll be even more spurned to return to writing.

7/15/02 -- Well, I managed to hunt and peck out the last 100 pages on my latest revision on A Lady's Desire. Michelle has the first fifty pages again and I'm hoping she'll like the changes I made to them enough that sending the full will be a go. I'd love to start pitching that one once we start hearing back about Wolf.

In other news, I am out of my stitches as of July 9 and very happy about it! My hand is still a little stiff from being braced for nearly two weeks, but I'm recovering! I leave for conference in two days and I hope to have lots of great updates, pictures and news when I get back!

7/8/02 -- Well, the operation went very well. I never had much pain and I'm more annoyed by my reduced use of my right arm than by anything else. I'm hunting and pecking this message as we speak. But the stitches will probably come out tomorrow and then I'll go back to normal. I haven't finished my revisions yet, but that is on the agenda for this week, as well as continuing to plot my next book.

Yes, you can read all about Her Husband's Bed in My Books. I'm very excited since my hero, Dominic Redford is going to be much darker than any of my Jordan books and I've always enjoyed a dark hero. Case in point, my Sebastian. Still no word on how things are going with him. Harlequin Historicals has had Wolf for 11 weeks this Thursday and the partials have been out for nearly 8 weeks. So still waiting... twiddling my thumbs... well, one thumb, I can't use the other.

6/24/02 -- I finished the book!!! Woo hoo! Though I hope to never do this again, it's nice to know I can write a 90,000 word book in a month if the deadline crunch is on.

This week? Revisions on A Lady's Desire so I can send it off to my agent before conference.

6/17/02 -- Well, I'm happy to say that I finished with the final read-through/revisions on A Rake's Vow, at least until my agent or (one can hope) an editor asks for more. It feels good to be done with that book, especially since I'm so focused on the next one now. The Passionate Pen BIAW challenge (open to anyone on the Passionate Pen Email Group) went very well. I had set a goal of 100 pages and ended up with 103 at the end. I'm nearly to 250 total in the book now, so I'm almost to the home stretch. After page 300 the whole book is pretty much downhill from there.

6/10/02 -- Well, I had some odd news last week. Turns out I'll need a very minor surgery on my wrist at the end of June. Although this should be a routine procedure and I will be up and around in a couple of weeks, I won't be able to write for a while and then I'll be off to conference.

I'd hoped to finish A Widow's Kiss before the RWA National Conference July 17 - 20, and I'm still going to try to make that self-imposed deadline. In the next two and a half weeks I'll be doing a BIAW and pushing through 250 pages. I'll keep you posted if I can reach this goal, and if I do, how much the writing stinks! :)

6/3/02 -- How weird is it that it's already June! We're halfway through the year with the rest looming up and rushing by. All in all, it's been a pretty good year for me so far. I'm crossing my fingers that it will be a great year by year's end. On that note, my obsessive plotting has paid off. On Tuesday, May 28, I began writing on my new book A Widow's Kiss and ripped through well-over sixty pages in a few days. Trap your muse long enough and it's bound to burst free when it can.

5/27/02 -- Much news to tell this week. I got the list of publishers that my agent sent Heart of a Wolf to, and was very pleased with her selections for "Round 1". Then on Friday I got a rejection from Pocket, which has had the full manuscript of Her Silent Heart for ten weeks. The editor was complimentary about my writing style and level, and her comments about the story problems were right on. All in all, I felt really good about it. I contacted my agent, and she is going to put another partial of Wolf into the mail for Pocket in order to strike while the iron is hot over there.

I also got a rejection from NAL. For those of you interested in them, they aren't taking any material that isn't solicited or agented... including query letters. Couldn't feel too bad about it, though, since the book had been sent, agented, to them again on Monday.

Finally, I've been plotting like mad this week and have a really solid chunk of my next book plotted out. I wrote chapter one a few weeks ago in order to get a feel for the workability, but Tuesday, May 28, the real writing will begin. I'm confident I'll be done with the writing and editing of this new story by year's end.

Happy Memorial Day to all of you in the US!

5/19/02 -- Well, the partials are going out on Monday! Hooray! I've got my fingers crossed that I'll have some more good news to share soon...

5/13/02 -- While I'm moving through the edit on A Rake's Vow and preparing for the submissions to editors on The Heart of a Wolf, I am also, unfortunately, checking the mail. On Friday I got a rejection from Avon on the first book in my "Jordan" series, A Lady's Desire. I should be boo-hooing, but I'm too excited about the other good things going on.

I also bought me plane ticket to go the RWA Nationals Conference in Denver in July. I'm very excited about going and seeing so many people I've "met" online, meeting Michelle again and going to so many great workshops.

5/6/02 -- Now that we've settled in to our new surroundings, I'm back in the saddle as far as writing goes. I'm happy to say I took a few weeks and have finished the first edit on A RAKE'S VOW. It is now with two critique partners for feedback and then I'll be back at it for round 2.

4/24/02 -- Well, I'm back online after our big move and have a lot of news to share! First, my husband and I moved into our beautiful new home and are happily getting settled in. I love my new office and feel it's going to be a great place to write and produce new stories.

In writing news. I had two rejections waiting for me in Illinois. Both were from agents. Of course, the sting of those rejections was utterly wiped away when Harlequin Historicals asked for a full of HEART OF A WOLF on April 20. Add to that the fact that Michelle Grajkowski of Three Seas Literary Agency emailed me on April 6 wanting to talk to me about THE HEART OF A WOLF. We finally connected on Tuesday, April 23 and I am happy to say Michelle is my new agent! I'm very excited about a partnership with her and am hoping this is just the beginning of happy things to come.

So I've had a very productive, happy month since our move. Look here for upcoming updates on what's happening with all these things in the future!

3/18/02 -- What a week for wonderful news. First, Pocket Books asked for a full manuscript for HER SILENT HEART after I sent them the as query with the first three chapters and a synopsis in November 2001. I've heard this is very quick turnaround for a partial from Pocket, so I'll take that as good news!

Also, on Thursday, March 14, 2002, I finished the first draft of my 8th manuscript. That's right, A RAKE'S VOW is in the bag! I'm planning on taking a long break from it while I move and get settled into our new home in Illinois, then I will begin the editing process. Look for more information on RAKE in the My Books section.

3/11/02 -- Well, I got home to only one response, a form rejection from St. Martin's Press on HER SILENT HEART.

3/4/02 -- I've gotten two rejections since I last wrote. Ironically, both were from Ballantine. : ) One was the one my former agent had received and sent to me, so it's old. The other was a form rejection for A LADY'S DESIRE and Ballantine has officially rejected everything I have to offer... for now. Although I hate to get them, at least a rejection is resolution of some kind.

I'll be out of town from March 5-9, so perhaps I'll get a bunch of news to tell all at once during my next update! : )

2/19/02 -- Two big pieces of news. On the writing front, Avon has asked for yet another partial on yet another book. This time A Lady's Desire goes up for analysis. :)

On other news, my husband has taken a transfer within his company and we're moving from the Seattle area to Illinois, probably within the next month or so! If anyone lives around Bloomington-Normal, IL and wants to share their thoughts or advice, please feel free to email me!

2/10/02 -- It's been a long, disappointing week around here. On Friday, I got a rejection on The Heart of a Wolf from Roberta Brown of the Brown Literary Agency. Saturday, Avon rejected my partial of the same story.

On a lighter note, I finally finished my final edit of A Lady's Desire and will soon begin the process of pitching it to agents first, then editors as I hear responses on The Heart of a Wolf and Her Silent Heart, the two stories I'm currently pitching. I am also within two to three weeks of finishing A Rake's Vow. So soon, I'll have so much to pitch, I won't be able to see straight.

2/4/02 -- Well, I finally have some news to report! First off, Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency has requested a partial on my book The Heart of a Wolf. There is a lesson in this, always double check your information! I had taken the email address the RWA has on the online update for members and sent a query that way. I hadn't heard anything for three weeks so decided just to double check. When I went the The Knight Agency's website, I found they had a different email posted for email queries. I emailed my query again and had a request within three hours.

On a darker note, I also received a rejection from Cornerstone Literary. If you are a historical author, Helen Breitwieser, the romance agent there, has informed me she is not taking any new historical romance at this time.

As for writing, this week my goal is 50 pages, which, if met, will bring me just shy of page 300 and the downhill slide to The End for A Rake's Vow. This is a very exciting time for me and I'm really anticipating what will happen next for Rhys and Marion.

Happy Writing everyone!

1/27/02 -- The wait goes on, so I have nothing to report on the submission process in the past 2 weeks. Darn! But that is part and parcel of the writing game so you learn to grit your teeth and bear it.

I do have news on the writing front. This week I will pass the half-way point of my new book, A Rake's Vow and have definitely decided to write the third book in the Jordan family series. You can read more about it in the My Books section. With the writing cooking along, the waiting isn't so hard (insert me laughing hysterically at my own bad lie).

01/14/02 -- After a couple of months of editing and taking a break from writing, I have started my eighth book, A Rake's Vow. It's the first time in a long time that a book has really taken charge and simply poured onto the page. I'm really enjoying exploring Rhys and Marion's chemistry and the way they are handling the challenges I'm throwing at them. I wrote the first 50 pages last week and have the goal of getting to page 100 by Friday, January 18.

I did hear from Warner, a rejection on Her Silent Heart, but by Beth de Guzman the Mass Market Director (woohoo!). Otherwise, my mailbox has been painfully empty and lonely for a week or so.

01/02/02 -- Happy New Year to one and all! There's something so exciting about a new year, it's a blank slate where everything is still possible. I've made several writing-related resolutions this year, including to write and edit two new books, so keep your eye here and in the My Books section for more information as I complete and submit these new books. I've already started one of the two. It will involve characters from my latest book, Always and Forever.

On the submission front, I've had a request for a partial of The Heart of a Wolf by Linda Hyatt of the Hyatt Literary Agency.