That's something like 67 pictures, right?
Yeah, horrible joke, I know.
So, I've been working on this novel off and on for a few years now. It started out as a story written for an entirely different purpose, and then I started thinking that with a little editing, a few changes, ... okay, a lot of changes ... that it could be a pretty darn good novel. So for the past two or three years (sporadically, like I said) I've worked to turn a rather amateurish but saga-length rendering of an interesting plot into a polished manuscript.
Well, okay, as of January it still sat unfinished on my hard drive. I've had more pressing things to do.
But then I heard about this contest on Gather.com. They're awarding the winner a publishing deal with Simon and Schuster. So I figured this was the perfect reason to get my ass in gear and finish the damn thing up. And so I did. Lost some sleep over it, pushed aside other projects to make time for writing, and felt pretty darn elated when I finally finished all my edits a couple of weeks ago.
Then I gave the manuscript to my sister and my girlfriend for some additional proofreading, and got the really REALLY finished manuscript sent in just hours before the deadline.
Yes, I cut it close. But I'd read some of the other entries, and didn't want to be one of the ones raked over the coals for grammar and punctuation mistakes or too much passive voice. Silly me, trying to get things right.
So I waited and waited for my confirmation email. And waited. Then yesterday, I get a message saying my entry didn't meet the guidelines.
Say what?!? I double and triple checked my word counts and everything!
To make a very long story shorter, after a lot of griping and groaning and gnashing of teeth with the other forty or so "rejects," I got an email today saying they'd made an "administrative error" and that my book would be entered after all.
Except that instead of being available for votes for an entire fourteen days, I only get ten.
So, if you would, please go to http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976936995 , join Gather (it's free), and rate my first chapter. I really do want honest feedback and ratings, but I fear I won't get any at all if I don't send some eyes that way.
I promise I'll love you forever, no matter what happens to my entry in the end.
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