The Waiting Game

by | Jul 10, 2015 | writing

Patience is a virtue…I do not have. I’ll just tell you that straight out. But I have come to find that often in this writing gig that you have to “hurry up and wait”. More than I ever expected. I mean, I expected to wait for publication, to hear back from querying, and the like. But you never really know just how on the edge of your seat you’re going to be. But, right now, I’m in a season of waiting.

time concept, selective focus point, special toned photo f/x

The Lady Bornekova. The book comes out Tuesday! It’s been the product of MUCH waiting. And we’re almost there. Thank you for taking this journey with me. The finish line is in sight! And we’ll just have to wait a little longer.

Agents. I pitched to an agent at the last conference I went to a couple of weeks ago. She received my information very well and even asked for more to be sent to her. So, I’ve been waiting to hear back from her. Will she want sample chapters? The whole manuscript? Or have some good feedback for me? I just have to wait. This is the hardest kind of waiting…an undetermined amount of time. Unlike waiting for my book to come out, I don’t know how long I will be waiting. Could be today, could be another few weeks before I hear something.

Querying. Now that “The Lady Bornekova” is ready to hit the market, it’s time for me to turn my attention to querying the next novel. Which one? And how long after my book’s release should I query? Now? Or should I wait to hear back from this agent? The only thing I love as much as waiting is uncertainty. Another thing that just comes along with the job.

The Work. My Beta Readers are so good to me. They give me a lot of great feedback and things to bring back to the manuscript. And I have plenty to work on. But, with my limited time, the work progresses slower than I would like. As I’ve mentioned, I’m eager to get into the next work, but I’m caught up in rewriting and editing. More waiting.

And so, as you can see, I’m playing the waiting game left and right. Surely, I’m being stretched in this area. It’s never a good feeling when you’re in the stretching process, but in the end, you are a better person for it. So, I’ll wait and look forward to that.

"Sign up for my newsletter and get a FREE copy of the Hope in Cripple Creek prequel novella!"

Sara R. Turnquist