Friday, November 5, 2010

(Work-in-) Progress Report: Bob

Today, I'm thankful for sunrises, which always bring light back to a darkened world.

Word count (to the nearest thousand): 73,000
Status: FINIS
Attitude: Crazy relieved

I’m crazy relieved because I’m finally done, and I’m just plain, old crazy because I started querying a few days ago and it’s already got me all tied up in knots. But this (work-in-) progress report isn’t about the querying, it’s about the Bobbing, and the Bob (yeah, he’s so cool he needs an article now) is finished. HE’S FINISHED!

(Okay, so I was just kidding about that whole article thing. I mean, I think he’s pretty cool, but as little Sheryl Yoast said in REMEMBER THE TITANS, now ain’t the time to be proud.)

Another huge thank-you to my awesome betas, Amy, Jeni, Jess (who just landed herself an agent on Tuesday!), Liesl, Mandy, and Myrna (double thank-you to Myrna, since she read Bob twice), and to everyone else who has given me feedback on this blog and over at Nathan Bransford’s forums (yeah, that means you, Holly). I’ll quit there, I guess, since this is starting to sound like the Acknowledgments page at the back of a book, and that would be putting the cart way, way, way, way, way out in front of the horse.

Anyway, I can honestly say Bob is the best book I’ve written so far. I’ve grown so much as a writer as I've worked on him this year. I realize that sounds cliché, but it’s true, so I’m sticking to it.

And one more for good measure: BOB’S FINISHED! (At least until the agent feedback starts rolling in…)

What about you? Where are you at with your works-in-progress, and how are they going? (NaNoers, feel free to chime in--unless you'd rather not give away the fact that you're here and not writing:) )

26 comments:

Matthew MacNish said...

Congrats! That's great. Personally I'm still deep in a re-write. Not making much progress lately but I'm okay with it.

Elena Solodow said...

Yay! Excellent news!

I'm waiting for my beta's comments on my final draft. Sending out queries on the 15th.

Ben Spendlove said...

Hooray! I'm so happy for you. My progress is slow. Sometimes it seems unending. (Which might explain why I woke up with the theme song from Neverending Story in my head this morning.)

Good luck and God bless! Snag an agent and get Bob published—as "Whose Teeth are as Swords." I have a vested interest. :D

Abby Minard said...

Congrats! It must feel so good to get that finished and ready to go! I'm almost done with mine, and can see the end in sight!

Jenilyn Collings said...

Congratulations! That's awesome!

Good luck with the querying!!

Stephanie McGee said...

Congrats! Good luck with queries. I'm a long ways from there at this point. A little jealous of it.

S.A. Denson said...

Congrats!! What a great feeling to know you've worked hard and pushed to the finish line! Great job!

Carol Riggs said...

You go, girl! Enjoy your feeling of triumph, don't minimize it. It's a BIG step, rah! And congratz on the guts to query. I'm at the same stage, finished revising and querying. Working on a new WIP to distract me, meanwhile!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Thanks, everyone! Wednesday was a good querying day, Thursday a bad one, and today is pretty neutral (so far). I'll post an update sometime in the next little while to share a few more details.

Ben, I totally should have thanked you, too! Sorry about that. Without you, the subject line of my queries would just say, "query: BOB," which isn't (quite) as professional:)

Liesl Shurtliff said...

Huzzah! I'm so excited for you and I feel so honored that I got to read an early draft.

I'm almost done (so stinking close!) with a first draft of "Herbert" and I'm very excited about it. Are you still up for critiquing? Probably in January after my rest period and at least one revision.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Liesl, I'm DEFINITELY still up for critiquing. I'd be a heel if I didn't return the favor, but more than that, I really want to read Herbert!

lotusgirl said...

That's so great. Congrats.

Myrna Foster said...

Yay! I'm so excited that you're querying.

I'm not very far into the prequel yet, but I like what I have.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Thanks, lotusgirl.

Myrna, I'm excited, too. And terrified. And antsy (but doing better today). I'm glad you like what you've written for the prequel. Can't wait to read it!

Emy Shin said...

Yay! Congratulations on finishing! :)

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

Yay, Krista! Hooray!! I'm so happy for you and so excited for all those requests to start rolling in, which I have no doubt they will. I know querying is stressful -- hang in there!

Amy xoxo

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Thanks, Emy!

Amy, I'll do my best to hang in there. Expect a few e-mails in your inbox on the bad days:) (And maybe even a few on the good days, too.)

Esther Vanderlaan said...

I'm so happy for you!!!!! Great job!!! My work-in-progress is going well, around 7,000 words. I started it around a month ago.

Holly said...

Krista, I'm thrilled! Best wishes to you as you travel through queryland. I can't wait to see Bob on the shelves.

I'm working on my synopsis and will be ready to query in about a week. I've read that it's not a good idea to query during Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I'm torn about when to send them out (not a good idea because so many people query at that time). Maybe the beginning of December, maybe January 15.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Esther, 7,000 words is great! Good luck with your project.

Holly, yay! And I totally know what you mean about sending queries out during the holidays. I told myself I wouldn't start to query in November or December for the same reasons you mentioned, but then an agent requested a partial at the beginning of October after critiquing my query, so I decided to run with it. We'll see how it turns out. Have fun with that synopsis:)

Stephanie@thecrackedslipper said...

Congrats! What a great feeling...and now the hard work begins. At least you'll know EXACTLY where to go for your agent research! :)

My WIP is at 50k words...I think like everyone I wish I could spend more time on new writing and less time for querying!

I will drink a toast to Bob and his future success as I rattle away on...hmmm...have to think of catchy name for WIP.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Fifty thousand words is a great place to be, Stephanie! May I offer a few suggestions for your WIP? I say...Moe, Jack-Jack, or Peggy Sue, just off the top of my head:)

Stephanie@thecrackedslipper said...

I like Moe! Since its book two in a trilogy I could call the one under submission Larry...this one Moe... and you get the the idea...

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Yeah, Stephanie, there's nothing like a strong, one-syllable name:)

Mandy P.S. said...

Krista! I'm so glad Bob is finished and querying! That's soo exciting and I can't wait to hear your results!!

Bob is such a great book. I'm sure it'll find a home.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

What a lovely thing to say, Mandy. Thank you.