Just when...

Just when you think you're finished, you end up being fooled.

Such is the case with FID. I thought I was finished.
Then an author friend of mine (Thanks Nancy!) pointed out some issues. So, I'm back into it once again.

Unfortunately, this means I get to put my other WIPs on the back burner. It never ends.

Thanks to all those who gave me comments and votes over at Gather.com. I imagine that it's not going to be high enough to garner a second round attempt.
But with this new input, I'll probably be busy for a while reworking some of those issues. So, it all works out in the end, I suppose.

After that, it'll be off to the majors with some queries.

Bowing Down to the Man

So, I decided to just bow down to "the man" and submit my work to the First Chapters contest after all. It took a bit of work to juggle the chapters to get them into the "proper" form for the contest.

So, here's the sample.
Enjoy.
I believe you have to join Gather.com to vote, but hope you do.

And then again...

Maybe not.

I attempted to submit my manuscript to the First Chapters contest. I debated it for quite a while, and then figured I would take a chance.

I then received a rejection today in my e-mail, citing the fact that my submission did not meet the word count guidelines.

Oh well...

I did question them (just for grins and giggles) about whether it was due to the full submission or the three sample chapters. The former had no stated absolutes about word counts (though the standard "completed book length manuscripts" probably would be enough, since those who know me realize I'm not big on fluff in my writing). The latter had a 2K - 10K limit, and is probably the bigger reason for the rejection, since the first chapter (being a teaser chapter) comes in under the 2K limit.

So, my guess, either way, is that I'll be *verboten* from the First Chapters competition...I'm all broken up about that, as you can probably tell.

So, on to the majors, which was my original plan before I talked myself out of it in the first place.