2011: A Recap Odyssey (or Everyone Else is Doing It, So Why Can't We?*)

*with apologies to The Cranberries

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: Books are not coasters. Please do not use them as such. Thank you for your support.

It's that time of year -- the beginning! And time to reflect on the previous year.

In 2011, I read 178 books. To see my favorite four, check out my LiveJournal. Wow. So many great titles came out in 2011. Here's to many more in 2012!

And now for my month-by-month recap of the highlights:

January
--Successfully threw Dad a surprise 80th birthday party
--Sent my newly completed YA to my agent (FASHION)
--Started writing a new YA (the one that would become BLACKOUT)

February
--Got revision notes from agent on FASHION
--Stopped writing BLACKOUT to revise FASHION
--Sent revision back to agent
--Repeat

March
--FASHION goes out on sub
--Traveled to San Francisco to visit sibs; stopped by the legendary Books, Inc. bookstore

April
--Had planned on writing a proposal for BLACKOUT (synopsis and 50 pages), but I liked it so much I kept on writing
--Wedding dress purchased

May
--Rochester Teen Book Fest! Got to hang with awesome authors Selene Castrovilla, Shari Maurer, and many others
--Accepted as a new VOYA reviewer!
--Trip to Rhode Island with librarian friends
--Bridal shower, Paint-Your-Own-Pottery style
--Have received a handful of rejections on FASHION since March
--Still writing BLACKOUT
--Dad breaks his shoulder

June
--Dad-in-law breaks his arms
--Dad breaks his hip
--Try to keep the wedding jitters together despite the broken bones(!)

July
--Wedding!
--Send what I have of BLACKOUT to my agent
--Agent gets back to me that she doesn't love BLACKOUT and offers revision feedback
--FASHION has pretty much come back with a dozen rejections; editors "like the writing but contemporary realistic fiction is a hard sell right now"
--Revise BLACKOUT, a darker book of a speculative nature that I hope will resonate better with editors in this market

August
--Continue revising BLACKOUT

September
--Send revised BLACKOUT's first 60 pages to my agent
--European honeymoon!
--Read part of a novel on our new-to-us iPad with its Kindle ap on the airplane for my first time

October
--My agent still doesn't connect to BLACKOUT; after two years and two books that haven't sold, we amicably part ways
--Writing Retreat Weekend with Emily and Tina in Frankenmuth, MI!
--I sub FASHION to a few more editors on my own
--Decide to have BLACKOUT polished and ready to query new agents by December 1.

November
--Plow through revisions of BLACKOUT, excited to complete this book

December
--Send queries to agents on BLACKOUT
--A mix of rejections and requests for pages come from the queries
--Get a request from an editor for the full of FASHION
--Mom gets her MLS! Sibs come into town to celebrate
--Get a Nook for Christmas! Download and read my first full novel on an eReader.

Wow, it feels like a lot has happened when I put the whole year out there like that. Phew! Here's hoping for a busy, fun, successful 2012 to all of our blog readers!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing