A quick Sunday night update

Hi there. I hope you had a nice weekend! I got to spend lots of time with my best friend Laura. My favorite part was taking a 10-mile bike ride on the boardwalk, overlooking the beach. What a view! And, of course, great chatting along the way.

I've been feeling a bit guilty because I told you all about my BIG MEETING for my book, and then I never gave you an update on how it went! Well, it went really well. The woman I met with was very supportive about my book idea, and she suggested a few other people I should talk to within the publishing company. So, as of last Wednesday, my 62-page book proposal is in the hands of three people -- and I'm waiting to hear back from them.

As I've said before, and as Tom Petty said in a song way before me, "the waiting is the hardest part. " To help my nerves, I've been trying to amp up my exercise routine. I ran 2 1/2 miles today (a big milestone for me, since I usually only run 2 miles and I'm really trying to break that plateau). Maybe I'll even try that "Boot Camp" class again at my gym this week; after all, nothing's more distracting than painful lunges!

I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything about the book. 'Til then, I'll keep ya updated on all the other stuff going on.

xoxo,
Marisa

P.S. Were you as devastated as I was about Natasha Richardson's sudden death? My heart goes out to her two teenage sons. I hope they find support through this sadness.

Book Update: I finally finished my book proposal!

Well, you can't see it, but I'm smiling a tired and satisfied smile. It's 1:19AM on St. Patty's Day, and I just finished my book proposal. Big sigh of relief.

It's 62 pages long. Of course, two-thirds of that is sample chapters, but still. It's by far the longest Word doc I've ever been required to create. All my college papers were 1-20 pages long, and the majority were 1-3. After all, I was being trained to write magazine articles, not novels. That used to be a joke, but now it's serious. I'm writing a novel. Sometimes I still need to take a step back and say "Whoa."

But don't worry. There's motivation behind my madness. Remember that "big important meeting" that got canceled two weeks ago? It's rescheduled for Wednesday -- as in tomorrow. This could be a big step in finding a publisher... or it could be a total flop. Only Wednesday will tell.

Wish me luck -- not for the actual meeting, but cross your fingers for me that it doesn't get canceled again! At this point I'm done with nerves. I'm so ready to get this baby started!

The butterflies are... postponed

Hi all!

Thanks for your sweet wishes on my last blog post. Here's the update.

1- Writing group. My meeting went really well. The three girls in my group had minimal changes to my book proposal, so as soon as I make the few edits, it will be officially ready to "shop around" to literary agents and publishers. It's all starting to feel very real.

2. Big meeting. Well, unfortunately, she had to postpone our meeting. A bit of a bummer, but also a relief. I felt SO NERVOUS about the meeting -- like, not normal nerves. Crazy nerves. So now I'm glad I have another week to regroup and go into the meeting feeling 100% fantastic.

Have you ever worked on a project so much bigger than you that it scared the daylights out of you? Share your tips for how to calm down. I need them!

I have (book) butterflies in my stomach

Ladies and gents, Monday and Tuesday are bound to be big days for my book.

MONDAY: I have a meeting with my writing group. I meet with three other writers (two of them wrote "The Hookup Handbook"!) and we review each other's work. Tomorrow they'll give me feedback on my book proposal -- a 62-page document that details everything about my book: an overview, marketing plan, chapter outline, and sample chapters. The proposal is what I'll eventually send to literary agents and publishers, so I'm really curious to hear what they say.

TUESDAY - I have a meeting with a super-smart woman who says my book might be a fit for a certain book publishing company -- and she has the pull to forward it on to the right person. I'd say more but I'm afraid of jinxing it.

Please cross everything for me this week: fingers, toes, whatever it takes. I need it!

xo,
Maris