It’s so exciting to finally be starting this journey to my first published book. I’m not your typical writer. I do not have the creative writing degrees. I’m a former kindergarten teacher and I always thought I would write. So, here I am. It’s a gift of middle age to tell yourself, if not now, when? And receive the answer that now is the perfect time to write my first novel.

The book is ready for queries. It’s hard to believe that all of my hard work has led up to this. I have a few unfinished books on my hard drive, but this is the first book that I have taken this far. I guess I just really believed in it and believed in myself. It just must have been the right time because everything has fallen into place. I just hope my dream agent thinks I’m the dream client, then I’d really be set. I could keep tweaking my query letter, but I don’t want it to be overcooked. I tend to jump before everything is ready, but I decided to take my best shot and calm my instinct to jump ahead. There’s a lot of waiting in the days ahead as I wait to hear from potential agents, so I need to prepare myself for that. I imagine it’s somewhat like waiting to get a grade back after an exam. I’m not very good at waiting, so I know it will be tough.

I have taken several cracks at my query letter to agents. I tried to be conversational, to explain the book in ways that is too wordy, or too formal. It was good practice, though, because it allowed me to look at the book from the outside and try to think about what someone who was new to the book would think. More on that later.

This whole process is like climbing a ladder out of a hole. You can see the light up top, but it’s so bright it’s hard to figure out how far you need to go and what awaits you on the other side. You know you are moving up but moving up into an unknown. I’m excited to see what lies ahead for me and THE BIRDS IN BLUE SKYE.