So Many Manuscripts, So Little Time (or Born of Frustration*)

*with apologies to James

Tip of the Day: Don't move to upstate New York if you are against the possibility of snow through the end of March...and into April.

All right, readers, it's INVENTORY TIME! Let's see what Deena has buried in her trunk of manuscripts!

1. character-driven YA that was the first novel I ever wrote, and has since been revised and rewritten about 5 times over 9 years. I love this book very much but think the fact that it is not plot-driven in today's market makes it a tougher sell. ***

2. character-driven YA, the second novel I wrote, that I still like the root of, but I know it would need lots of work to fix, and it would need a new ending since I now hate the "easy" way the "mystery" is solved. Will remain in the trunk for now.

3. fun, light, plot-driven MG with many characters that I think is cute, but needs to much rewriting now an will stay in the trunk.

4. YA that has good bones, but never quite came together the right way. Will remain trunked.

5. historical MG with twinges of magical realism. It got me my first agent, has been heavily revised twice, and I am now querying agents on it again. I love this book and really hope it finds a home! ***

6. contemporary MG that got me my second agent. At the time an element of it was not overdone, but since I wrote it a lot of books have come out with that type of family business. I also think it has one too many sub-plots going on. I still love the idea of it and the relationship between the two main characters, and may revise it at some time.

7. paranormal YA with a setting I love but characters that definitely need more development. I turned it into....

7a. a New Adult novella that I would love to develop into an e-serial series at some point. ***

8. contemporary YA with a great hook, but that got lots of rejections from editors who all wanted it to be something else than it was. I still love this book and have tweaked it and sent it out on my own to some new editors. ***

9. YA thriller with pseudo science fiction elements and dual pov. This is my first truly plot-driven novel, my first novel with more than one pov, and my first male narrator. I love it. I am revising it again next month (a few tweaks to the science and girl's chapters) to prep it for self e-pubbing this summer/fall. I also wrote... ***

9a. 50 pages of the sequel, which I can't wait to get back into. I plan to self e-pub that as well by the end of the year if all goes as planned. ***

10. I am about 7k words from the end of a fast draft of a new MG light mystery. What I thought would be a simple story has of course gotten headier than I expected, but I can't wait to have it finished, let it sit, and then return to it when the timing is right. ***

10a. I am also almost done with a New Adult realistic/contemp novella that I do want to finish. ***

*** means I want to actively work on these projects. As you can see by the number of *** on this page, I have so many ideas and not enough time to devote to them all! I also have two new YA ideas I am jonesing to write....realistic story of a small town based on an actual health case that came up in my area over a year ago, and a realistc story of a girl who has been brainwashed about a certain thing for her whole life, and finally learns to think for herself after being scarred.

I LOVE my day job as a YA Librarian, but there are definitely times where I wish I had even  just one month to completely be a full-time writer.

Can someone just transport me to a Hawaiian beach for six months every year with my laptop so I can bang out some pages? 'Cause, ya know, I'm sure that's exactly what I would do once there.... :)

What's in your manuscript trunk that you are dying to get back to?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing