Good News about the Packet

I sent an email to the Senior Scifi Editor at Tor asking him if my submission could be a little longer than the normal proposal due to chapter divisions and all. He responded by saying, "Don't sweat it, send what works." This was a huge relief to me partially because I wanted to be able to include the beginning of Chapter 3 in the proposal, and because I was nervous to hear from an award winning editor, who will eventually be the last men to say "yeah or nay" on publishing my work.
Also, I have finished the first draft of editing on the chapters I'm submitting, so I'll read over it, have some of you read over it, and then start making more changes. It has to be the best I can do, so I'll be giving it my all. My goal is to send the packet off the day I leave for vacation, Wednesday, July 30, 2008.

Working on Tor Packet

I am currently editing the first few chapters of the book to get them ready for an editor at Tor to read. Don't let me mislead you, it isn't as grand as it sounds. Tor accepts unsolicited manuscripts and reads thousands of proposals a year; mine is just one of them. They give very strict guidelines on how to submit a packet, I suppose to weed out those that are not serious about publishing, so I am nervously trying to make everything perfect.
Basically, the 2-3 chapters of my book that I send, and a 3-10 page synopsis have to be convincingly good to the point that an overworked editor, who is forced to read garbage stories day after day, will perk up and take notice of the story, then actually be interested enough to request the full manuscript and then give a big portion of his/her time to reading my story. Then, if it is loved and believed to be marketable, he/she will present it to the board of chief editors who peruse it to see if they approve of it's marketability. Finally, if all goes well, the book will be published and on the shelves at your local bookstore.
Now you see why this is a nerve-racking nightmare. The good thing is, I am trusting the Lord to do all the heavy lifting and convincing of peoples in charge, so I'm just working and trusting him to bring the nightmare to a day dream, and then to reality.

Plot Problems

I am having difficulty developing the plots of the now seven book series. I have plots for books 1, 2, 6, and 7, but the middle three are proving difficult. I would like to see adventures into the lands of the other three races in addition to continuing the overall storyline. Several good ideas have come to mind while staring at several relatively blank notebook pages and a pile of note cards. Some of the ideas have even ended up on the cards!

Founding of the Blog

I originally decided to make a blog for the sole purpose of being able to add witty remarks to my good friend Mike's blog, while he is in Africa with the Peace Corps. God Bless you and keep you safe Mike. But now I admit to being a little excited about having something on the net about my book. I know the series will do well, because the Lord will bless it; He is the one who gave me the idea for it during a sermon!
Anyways, I will be adding litle segments of the story on here for family, friends, and fans, along with my own thoughts as the arduous process of publishing a book unfolds. Enjoy