Thursday, July 27, 2006

Li'l Pieces o' Paper -- Jay

Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs.
C'mon, sing it!
Blocking up the scenery, breaking my mind.
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the siiiiiiiiign?
(I know, I know. He doesn't say blocking. But this is a PG-13 blog.)

Now that my YA manuscript is out, I’m seeing signs everywhere. Not physical signs, but signs from Above...from The Almighty (and yes, like Robin said, The Almighty bares a striking resemblance to Dr. Seuss). The novel is called Baker’s Dozen: The AudioBiography of Hannah Baker. A baker’s dozen is thirteen. And the day my wife finished her critique of Baker’s Dozen, we walked down the street for some burgers and fries. Our ticket number? 13!

A while back, an agent took an interest in my query and asked me to submit the first three chapters via e-mail. I did, but I never heard back. So I sent my manuscript out to three editors. A week after that, the agent e-mailed to ask if I’d received her previous e-mail requesting sample chapters. She never received my response! I explained the situation and she asked me to send her the entire manuscript…via post. So three editors and one agent have my manuscript right now. The day before the agent received my full manuscript in the mail, my wife and I went out for Chinese food with some friends. My fortune? Watch for a new relationship to develop within the month. Hmm… Does that mean by the end of July or over the next 30 to 31 days?

I’ll keep ya posted!

- Jay

DiscoLove to the first person to correctly identify the background of the above picture.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's Dr. Seuss's OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

Disco Mermaids said...

I knew the answer, Jay. But since I get love from you all the time, I waited until someone else got it. Will we see Anne Marie at the conference?? Disco-love in person is pretty special!

Eve

Disco Mermaids said...

Yes, Anne Marie, you're the winner of my DiscoLove. And guess how much I DiscoLove ya. This much!

(You'll have to imagine my arms spread really really wide!!!)

- Jay

Disco Mermaids said...

Since when did we start giving out the love? Shouldn't this be a group decision? I thought I was special...
But I'm glad Anne Marie came up with the answer. Cuz I was all "I know it, I should know it, but I don't!"
Anyways, I just wanted to "thank" Jay (and by thank I mean strangle) for making that song stuck in my head! AAAGGGHH!
-Robin

Greg Pincus said...

Darn it. I shoulda stopped by here realllllll early and gotten some very easy Disco love. I just wish to note that I'd've said "You've used some great artwork, you're off and away!"

Does that help?

See y'all in a week.

Disco Mermaids said...

Yes, Greg, it helps. But did you just call our DiscoLove easy?

Chris Barton said...

I've thought that BAKER'S DOZEN sounded terrific ever since I first heard about it -- it got an SCBWI grant a couple of years ago, didn't it?

Some brilliant editor will agree with me -- I like to think that all the brilliant editors will always agree with me, because they're brilliant -- and here's hoping it happens soon.

Good luck to you three at the Skibwee conference next week...