Follow up to: Writing Should Be Fun, or Why Evil Never Sleeps is On Hold

Hello!

So, back in January (the last time I posted, egads, I need to be more active on my own blog), I posted the following... post, which explained why I was putting Evil Never Sleeps on hold.

I had two options, pitch Evil Never Sleeps at PPWC as is, or get a solid first draft of Photos in Darkness pounded out in time to pitch that instead.

I ended up pitching Evil Never Sleeps to Alec Shane of Writer's House (a big, fancy New York agency). And...

HE WANTS TO SEE THE WHOLE EFFING THING!!!!!

I also participated in The Ultimate Pitchfest here in Colorado and pitched ENS to my dream agent, Michelle Johnson. She requested the first three chapters and a synopsis and told me, "It was a really good pitch." Yes, that is a direct quote.

Once again, don't get all dance-baby-dance-like-the-world-is-ending just yet. Both of these agents just want to take a peek. It doesn't mean representation (though I hope to heaven it does!)

I worked my butt on in May and half of June to get this thing up to snuff. My main character, Ann, is a lot more motivated in this rewritten version. It is currently with my Beta readers until midnight tomorrow, after which I will implement any of their feedback. I took Friday off from the day job this week to give it one last quick and dirty, out loud read through.

After that, I will be submitting the... er... submission packages to three agents. Alec Shane, Michelle Johnson, and an agent I met at PPWC 2015 during a Queries with Claws class, Andrea Somberg. Michelle is my top pick, then Alec, then Andrea.

I'm really excited to have gotten ENS to this point, even though back in January I was ready to give up on it. Perseverance, right? That's what this game is all about. It also doesn't hurt to have a little tenacity.

I also rewrote the beginning... again. The whole freak out at the school thing didn't make sense. "They" say the ending should inform the beginning. Well, I rewrote it so it does a better job of that. Running through the woods = running through the woods. I feel like this is THE beginning I was meant to write. It feels great.

I can't wait to get it sent out. If none of these agents want it, I'll be setting it aside for a while to work on other endeavors.

Photos in Darkness

And maybe a few short stories to get published in the horror arena. Get my name out there a little, get some publishing creds, etc.

I have other news to share, but it is a secret for now. I'll spill the details in September. It is writing related.

Peace and Keep Writing,

Claire L. Fishback