Books, Characters, Inspiration, Literary Agents, Manuscript Requests, Query Letter, Science Fiction, Writing

Revisions, Unicorns, and lot’s of Face Punching

Kerri Maniscalco

Oh my, oh my, OH MY. I can’t believe it’s Friday, which is a good thing. But STILL. Where does the time go? More importantly WHERE DID MY BRAIN GO?! There’s so much happening.

Here’s the deal:

I received a reader’s report on my current manuscript several weeks ago, LURVED the suggestions and got to work going balls deep in revisions. In the end, I was SUPER pleased.

Wait…did you notice my word choice…was…that wasn’t a mistake.

I’ve been sick with a fever and bronchitis and somehow during my feverish delirium an amazing idea struck me. LIKE SO EFFING AMAZING I CAN’T BELIEVE I DIDN’T THINK OF IT SOONER. I SHOULD HAVE FEVERS ALL THE TIME THEY MAKE ME SO SMART.

Then another thought hit me…and I banged my head against my laptop for a good forty-five minutes.

STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID…

Ahem. Excuse me.

Where was my crystal ball three weeks ago? Why didn’t I foresee this plot twist? WHERE IS MY LITERARY PSYCHIC CAP?!!

Face punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch.

I promised myself I wouldn’t touch the damn book again. Then I remembered I write fiction…I LIE.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I sent my project out into the query world prematurely. Quite the opposite. It’s been beta’d, critiqued, beta and critiqued, beta and critiqued and slaughtered and shelved a MILLION BA-JILLION KA-TRILLION times before it ever saw the light of day.

It’s getting a lot of requests as is. But this one little added detail, which is SOOOOO easy to build into the current framework of the manuscript is REALLY something sparkly. Like superhero power sparkly.

Sigh.

It’s like the difference between a unicorn and a goat. Subtle. So, so very subtle. They both have horns and four legs. But they’re just not the same.

I can only hope one of the agents who currently has my manuscript will fall in love with it and then I can share my additional WOWZA factor. And they can be all, OMG I was thinking the SAME EXACT THING we are literary twinsies. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

But whatever way it works out, my current manuscript is super sparkly. And that’s the most important thing, right?

So that’s my story.

Wish me luck, I definitely need it. Also, send vodka. Lots and lots of vodka.

Wishing you all a very wonderful weekend. May the creative gods shine some goodness on you. And if that doesn’t work, there’s always alcohol. XOXO

7 thoughts on “Revisions, Unicorns, and lot’s of Face Punching”

  1. I haven’t gotten to the querying stage yet, but I have gotten struck dumb by an awe-inspiring scene/ development after submitting for contests/awards. It was all the more poignant when I didn’t win. You wonder if having that little bit of awesome could have sealed the deal. Hopefully you find someone who loves it and is as excited about your twist as you are. Good luck

    1. Oh that STINKS! I definitely feel your pain. Where were our muses BEFORE the contests/querying/submission stage? Le sigh. The best thing we can do is keep pushing our projects to the next level and hopefully all our hard work will pay off 🙂

      Thanks so much for popping in and thanks for the luck! I’ll be sending some your way, too!

      <3333

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  3. Eeek! I’m sorry, twinkie! Gar. Me HATES when that happens. ;-/

    BUT SUPER HUGE YAY on that twisty twist!! Worst case scenario, maybe someone will ask for an R & R, then you can stick that little treasure in to suprise them on the reread. Best case, like you said, someone may love as is, and your addition can make them over the moon excited!!

    Oh, and it’s so true about being sick. Did you know that I wrote most of Wonderland’s world building under the influence of niquel whilst wrestling a vicious cold?? HEE

    Hmm. Been needing some inspiration for my newest WIP. Think I feel a sniffle coming on. HA

    Good luck, my twink-squad sistah!

    1. Oooh the R&R, I forgot all about that possibility!!!! The sun shines again! See, this is why you’re my twink squad sistah.

      And holy guacamole, I had no idea you wrote Wonderland’s world building “high” on niquel, (A. I CANT wait to read it, B. BLESS NIQUEL!!) I definitely think we need to get “sick” more often while we’re drafting our WiPs. Cough. Cough. 😉

      But seriously, I did/still-sorta-do have a fever/bronchitis and it just won’t quit! Which is probably because the INSTANT I start feeling better, bam! I’m out of bed and running around like a maniac 🙂

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