by Mindy McGinnis
It happened. The day I'd dreamt about ever since I knew what a career was came and went and... I didn't feel much different.
To be clear - I'm not an OMG type of girl. I don't jump up and down, I don't overly-italicize things, and I certainly don't have a victory dance. I'm Irish, so I've got a barbaric YAWP in there, but it only comes out on certain occasions. Most of the time I keep the poker face on.
I'd been on submission for about six months when my agent, Adriann Ranta of Wolf Literary, sent me an email letting me know that somebody cared. A few somebody's, actually. So we were at auction, and it's a lovely place to be. I monitored my emails like a buzzard hovering over a sick mammal, but things didn't get terribly exciting until late afternoon. The offers came in, and I was stuck in what passes for traffic in rural Ohio - behind a combine.
I don't have a smartphone. My phone is in fact, a dumbphone (I have to manually spell the word "text" of all things), so I had to get home before I could check email. Once I managed that, Adriann and I fired off a few emails to each other discussing pros and cons and made our decision. And it was done.
I closed my laptop and looked around my house. I picked up dumbphone and called my mom but she couldn't find her phone (this is typical). I dialed my sister, who was already talking to someone else and didn't pick up (also typical). The boyfriend was at work. So, I scooped the litter and went to knitting class.
No glitter canons, no Hallelujah chorus, no really attractive men giving me armfuls of white roses. But you know what?
It was still damn cool.
Nice one! I think I remember glitter cannons behind my eyeballs. But mostly there was me jumping over a low, decorative chain fence at my friend's house, and then jumping back, jumping over, and back, with my phone in my hand, shrieking.
ReplyDeleteEven when dreams are met in real life, there is no soundtrack. Nevertheless, when I sold my book, there were a few happy dances in the grocery aisles (when no one was looking of course,) Cause you're right; it's still damned cool!
ReplyDeleteCool, indeed!!
ReplyDeleteKnitting class, I love it. I was doing laundry when my agent called with the big news. Sorting lights and darks on the bathroom floor!
ReplyDeleteThanks preggers! Yeah. In retrospect it's pretty fitting for me. I mean really if a bunch of attractive people showed up and started handing me white roses I'd say, "Well, I'm in a relationship and these flowers are going to die soon, so this is all rather pointless."
ReplyDeleteYour book went to auction!? That IS pretty damn cool! And yeah, I'm the same way. I hardly ever call other people except to just say hi. Only, whenever I have something IMPORTANT to say? I always end up begging the voicemail to CALL MEEEEE!!! If anything ever comes of my book, I'm sure this is what will happen.
ReplyDeleteOh I can relate to this! Great post, and YES, it is damn cool!
ReplyDeleteSarah - yeah totally. I'm kind of cavewoman about the phone thing. Most people who want to communicate with me draw on walls and get an answer a week later.
ReplyDeleteEllen - Damn cool. For sure.
I love this. It's the writer's life. When it's time to shout to the rafters, we find that the rafters are the only ones there to hear.
ReplyDeletePerfect.