Thursday, July 14, 2005

Back from CBA . . . IRCS . . . or whatever they call it today


Wow. Talk about a need to decompress. I spent yesterday in the air, mostly, after saying farewell to several friends and lugging armfuls of flowers to some friends who could continue to enjoy them.

What can I say? I spent most of the booksellers convention in meetings . . . trying to do my part of the business while still remaining in the backseat so God can do his part. I've been in this business long enough (and yes, it is a business as well as a ministry) to know what I write, for whom I write it, and how I write. What remains to be decided is for which company I'll be writing.

I have four ideas rattling around in my head and at some point today I need to shape up a pitch letter for my agent. But back to CBA--the best part is seeing retailer friends I somehow manage to bump into every year. Gail and Pauleen have been crossing my path for years now, and they told me that this is their "farewell tour"--their last CBA. They're retiring, selling the store, though they will still be selling books online. They've had a hard loss this year, and Pauleen and I took a minute to pray in the aisle before we both had to move on.

Those times are special.

As soon as I get my desk cleared, however, I need to do a few things around the house and then I MUST jump into the next project--I now have a working title that just might make it through to the published book: MAGDALENE. Sort of says it all, doesn't it?

BTW, I have a TBR stack (to-be-read) a mile high, and for the trip home I picked up ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card. Scott is a Mormon, and I can see echoes of his faith throughout this book, which was first published in 1971. It's an amazing story--I'm only a few chapters from the end, so I must also set aside some time today to finish it. I love science fiction but don't often indulge, so this has been a rare treat. Truly a book for all time.

Well, the chores are calling. Blessings on your day!

1 comment:

Sara Horn said...

Angela,

found your blog through our mutual friend Randy at Ethos and wanted to say hello. I'm a published writer/author as well and I was really excited to find your blog and read about your start because you have been where I am about to be.

I turned in my notice this week to the company I work for to take on writing at home full-time - as well as hopefully achieve a little more flexibility as a wife, and mom to our 4-year-old.

Both the book I did in 2004 and the book that is currently waiting to be published are non-fiction and I totally agree with you that the novel is definitely the hardest form to master! I attempted the starts of one a few months ago for a change from my non-fiction projects and it is certainly challenging!
But I love a challenge, so I hope to keep going with it.

Sorry for the long "comment" but I couldn't find an email address for you and I wanted to write and see if you might have any words of wisdom for the day to day work of writing at home? Any specific approach you found has worked well for you?

I appreciate your time!

Sara Horn
Email