Both Kristen Nelson and Jennifer Jackson are having a discussion about writers and agents and waiting times. I’ve scanned some of the comments and to be honest, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for the writers. I know this doesn’t make me very popular with them, but just write while you wait. I wrote TWO novels over the year I searched for an agent while I waited for them to get back to me. Guess what? Those two manuscripts are the ones that not only hooked me an agent (the one I’d started querying with had gotten their interest, but no takers) but they are the ones my agent is now shopping around together. If I’d worried that year away, I’d not only be agentless, but I wouldn’t have two great projects done. Just write. Don’t wait.

It’s kind of like when you travel to Europe. You can do the exchange rate math in your head and drive yourself crazy with worry and fear over how much everything is costing you, or you can exchange your money and say, “This is how much I have and so I’m going to enjoy myself.” You’ve sent your stuff out, you know how slow publishing is, so write, live, walk the dog, make love to your spouse, cook for your kids, go on vacation, write some more…live your life.

P.S. My fabulous writer friend, Eileen Cook and my wonderful husband, Victor Anthony and my agent’s lovely assistant, Michelle, are probably laughing their asses off at this post as I drove them all crazy while I waited. But the truth is, for the most part, I do write and live my life and worrying about it is not the focus of my existence. A writer told me once, “It takes a long time, but it’s worth it.” and I think she’s right. Or at least, I hope to find out that she’s right!