My first round of queries was/is going well, and was relatively fast because of the success I had in the contest (The Writers Voice) and the conference (DFWCON) that bore the bulk of the "who to query first" pressure. This is not news either.
But in the month (two?) since I "finished" my book, some really smart, insightful, brilliant people have read it and shed some light on a few issues that I didn't even know my book had.
My book may be readable, but there are a few things I could do that would transition it more completely to a don't-wanna-put-it-down sort of place.
The feedback that I am getting from the friends, colleagues, CPs, and even a few immeasurably generous agents is that it is really, really, REALLY close, and if I can nail a few things then it will really ratchet up the magic in my MS. This is exciting! This is good news! This means that people (PEERS!!) (AGENTS!!) want to read my book and want it to be even better.
The process of executing those changes, however, is daunting.
I, Kelsey, am stalling.
Shocking.
And I guess it's my prerogative (incidentally, I just learned that "prerogative" has two "R"s) to take my sweet time if I want to.
But WHY?
That's the question.
At lunch today with the intensely amazing Annie and Febe, they really encouraged me and helped me to feel really, really ready to dig in and make those changes for my characters and my story.
So, I guess I'm officially NOT stalling anymore.
I'm (like my main character) putting on my big girl panties and rolling up my sleeves because, dammit, my story deserves to be finished.
Not perfect... not flawless or enjoyable to everyone, but finished.
REALLY, truly, complete in that way that stories can be when writers get to the point when they know they've done their part and they're ready to stop spinning the wheel and take their hands off the clay.
When they're ready to put it in the fire.
