Dream a little dream

A few days after I received a "no thank you" from an agent (see earlier post) about my MG fantasy, I decided to take a look at some old rejection letters from editors. Not the boring form letters, but the ones actually addressed to me that showed the editor had read the piece I'd submitted.

In this small pile of three letters was a 1 1/2 pager from an editor I heard speak at my very first SCBWI conference a few years ago. In her talk she mentioned Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, so I thought she might be interested in my novel. After the conference, I queried her and she asked to see the whole novel.

When she sent it back two months later, I wasn't terribly surprised, but I was happy to have her detailed response and used her suggestions to revise. They were right on target. Her final sentence was "I do think The Guardian Tree has potential for a middle-grade novel, Ms. Regenold, and hope you will be successful in placing it for publication." Since she didn't explicitly ask to see a revision, I assumed she didn't want to see one.

So when I queried her last month about reading a revision (2 1/2 years after reading it the first time), I thought it was a long shot. All she could do was say no (you idiot). But she didn't!

She responded in three weeks and said she'd be "happy to take another look." Well. I really should stop sending queries when my manuscript isn't quite ready.

The same time I queried her, I gave the whole manuscript to my in-person critique group. I wanted one more careful look-see before sending it out again. So instead of popping the manuscript in the mail as soon as I got her letter, I've made her wait a few weeks. I hope she won't notice. It's going in the mail tomorrow.

Now to explain the title of this post.

Several days ago I dreamed that I'd just finished a successful school visit (something I've never done). Then I attended a writers conference where fellow writers' books were on display and for sale. I could see from a distance my brand new book. It was upside down, but the cover was fabulous. And nearby lay a copy of my publisher's catalog for that season featuring my book on the cover. Ah. It was a lovely dream.

Maybe someday.