F-F-Freaking Out

Who exactly do I need to see about stopping time? OMG, so much work to be done. Did I really spend my night watching The Next Food Network Star Challenge? Am I really that lame? Or is it just a bad dream...?

The good news: I have a literary agency interested in seeing a book proposal and sample chapters from me on a new cat book. (Not Kiss My Kitty Butt. Different book.)  The really good news is that the agency responded in a short time frame to my query letter sent out on the book. They are taking on new clients in September, so I need to get this proposal and chapters out to them no later than mid-August--and that's pushing it.

The challenge: When I sent the query, I did so with the expectation of having to wait the traditional 2-4 months to hear anything. I had just started writing my proposal when I heard from the agent. As for the book--a couple of sample snippets are written but there are miles (miles, people) to go.

The hope: I have busted my (kitty) butt this week pulling together what I think is a stellar proposal. Or what is shaping up to be one. A friend of mine who ghostwrites proposals for a living is critiquing my work and she's on me to dig, dig, dig and make it better, better, better. Stats, specifics, humor, details... this thing has to be spot on. I just got her latest feedback. I thought I was 90% done but ha--shows what I know. After reading her suggestons, I'm sweating bullets at the work still to be done. I'd estimate I just dropped back to 70% done.

The freaking out part: I'm out of town at the end of this week and need to devote some long hours to articles that are already on tap. But it's crucial I get drafts of the chapters down on paper. Humor on demand is hard work and I need time to let the work sit in order to go back and hone it. I see a lot of late nights in my future. (Or realistically, early mornings. NOT a night person.)

The awesome part: I am LOVING this. Love the pressure, love the work, am having loads and loads of fun cranking this out. I am creating a career out of writing about cats. 

That makes me a happy, happy camper.

Hanging With A 13 Year Old

It's 5:30 AM and the cats are swarming around my ankles like a herd of great whites. They're lonely. My niece is in in town for her annual summer visit and the cats--antisocial beings that they are--refuse to be in the same room with a stranger. 

We've had a great visit with K----- but as always, I'm exhausted. It's been non-stop since she arrived. The two of us have a tradition of cooking when we get together which is a laugh because neither of us knows which end of the stove is up. But we poured over cookbooks Wednesday night, went grocery shopping early Thursday morning, and then literally spent almost 8 hours in the kitchen. We shredded carrots for carrot cake, shelled pistachios for stuffed mushrooms, made our own breadcrumbs, and sliced and diced anything that stood still. (Perhaps explaining why the cats won't stay in the same room with us.) The upshot is that we rocked the menu this year. Each and every dish was delectable and I'll spend the next month running off the damage I did with that carrot cake.

After that is was movies. Her Uncle Blair took her to see HellBoy II. He also introduced K--- to the wonderful world of discount books at Edward McKay (she's still talking about the Harry Potter sorcerer's dictionary she found) and they found the Vivaldi flute music she'd been looking for in a music store. K---- is an accomplished flutist for her age and practices, voluntarily, 1-3 hours each day. She sight read the music for us and it was amazing. 

Then it was bowling, eating out, board games, and a visit last night to The Idiot Box, Greensboro's Improv Comedy Club. Aunt Dena and Uncle Blair are pooped!

And the fun doesn't stop. I've got an agent interested in seeing a book proposal and sample chapters for a new cat book and I've been writing the proposal all week. Now I've got to pull out the funny and slam some top notch chapters down on paper. 

But first, I must pet the great whites at my feet. That's a good kitty!

Coming soon...

(The site isn't up yet but I wanted to share. I'll have at least a page up in a week or so.)

Twitter Scat

 Very upset at the Twitter folks this morning. I've spent the last month building up Lucy_Cat's Twitter profile only to awaken this morning to find all but one of my followers deleted. Not to mention the links to everyone I was following are gone as well. Some sort of system meltdown which I understand is not uncommon in the Twitter world.

Bad Twitter! You don't deserve tweets!