Chop Chop!

So, from the looks of it, I have finally reached a draft of the first book of "The Adventures of the Blakes" series, "The Time Traveler," that I can submit to agents. I should be excited, but holy crap, that's frightening! It feels like the equivalent of chopping off a body part and sending it to someone for their approval. Is this arm too flabby? What about this leg? Yeah, just ignore that cellulite there, it's nothing a good edit can't fix. 

The comparison may be a bit exaggerated, but that's what this feels like. 

But it has to be done. And in order to do that, I have to start my query letter. There is so much information on the net about query letters that it's easy to get brain gas from it. 

Brain gas? What on earth is brain gas? It's when your brain gets filled to the point it's uncomfortable, and you desperately need to release it. It usually results in the brain fart - that moment where you lose a simple train of thought, and you start wonder if you need to be in a nursing home being fed applesauce. 

I've gotten a lot of brain gas and had a lot of brain farts while working on this book and researching the query letter. But two of the best articles I've read on query letters come from the Adventures of YA and Children's Writing blog. If you're suffering from brain gas, they may help you as well.

What agents DO want from query letters: http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-agents-want-in-query.html

What agents DON'T want from query letters: http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-agents-dont-want.html

Off to begin chopping. 

A.C.