A Very Messy Re-Entry

But you have to start somewhere

Hey there,

Where have I been? you ask. Yes, it’s certainly been a minute. With the beginning of the school year, things turned a bit messy, and I had to make some thoughtful decisions about what I could handle doing. Unfortunately, I ended up with so many must-dos that some of the nice-to-dos ended up falling by the wayside.

I still want to chat, and I will keep reaching out as long as you’ll have me, but I might be a little less consistent until I get my feet underneath me.

What’s got me so busy?

My job started, and it’s awesome. I get to spend time with teachers and kids on the regular, using neuroscience research to make math accessible for all kids. Which is basically my dream job. While I love the work, it it does eat into my writing time, so I’ve had to strip my work down to the absolute essentials, which for now doesn't include much blog- and letter-writing time.

My to-do list grows each day and involves reworking the beginning of The Other Women and resubmitting to another handful of agents. I’m putting that off until I have a solid chunk of work time without the day job, so I can really focus and make it as good as possible. I guess I’m also putting it off because, as you know, it kind of breaks me to not be finished, after I really felt like I was finished. Another option would be to just keep sending the book to agents and hoping the right one recognizes how special this story is with its current beginning. But if I can increase my chances, why wouldn’t I?

Also on my list are all the things that come with having a toddler and two school-age kids. After a year and a half of being at home, it’s been jarring to get back into the groove of lunches and snacks and homework and folders and backpacks and changes of shoes and all the other things that have me moving every waking moment. And, of course, there’s the masking and sanitizing and quarantine protocols that come with COVID-era schooling. Oh, and the constant undercurrent of worry, which I hate-wrote about on the blog just now.

With all the stress, and with all the out-of-the-ordinary things that come up in this strange and confusing world, I’m happy we are able to safely do some of the activities we’ve missed. I wrote most of this email, for example, in the gymnastics gym while my kids (masked and distanced) practiced for two hours. Just the routine of getting up in the morning and getting out the door helps to feel a little more normal.

Not normal enough, yet, to be able to relax, but more normal than before.

So, it’s been messy. It’ll probably continue to be that way for quite some time. But I’m here, and you are too, and that’s something special.

See you soon!

P.S. I went through all that above about how I'm delaying rewriting the beginning of The Other Women, and then in the time between writing and sending this note, I got a lovely and encouraging rejection from an agent. I had the benefit of being able to have a brief dialogue with her, and that conversation gave me the encouragement to try one more time without rewriting. So, I submitted to another handful of agents yesterday and will probably do a few more submissions next week. The key is to find just the right person, and this agent gave me the confidence that, while she isn't that person, I will find her if I keep doing my research and putting myself out there. So, here I go!