I saw a crocus, two, three...

Okay, it is official. Spring is here! 

When you don't have a job, learn how to trade...

A lot of my friends have been asking me how I have been making ends meet these days. The answer is not what they expect. No teaching, tutoring, or general help giving. No indeed. I am trading financials on the NYSE (well, on my computer). My father traded for a very long time until the crash in 1987, so this is one more way I am like him, which is wonderful!

Do I like trading? Yes and no. I know things I feel are unnatural for a writer to know. For instance, I know the intraday highs and lows for FAZ (Direxion 3x Financial Bear ETF) for the past two weeks in a row. It's my thing, I tell my husband, who cheers me on when I am able to buy him a new Mac, which I did last week. But my brain kind of hurts from all of these numbers and I really just want to write, so...

That's where I am right now -- playing the stock market in after hours and doing just fine.

Sometimes, this is what living in my house feels like.

Getting Ready...

My literary agent Michelle said it perfectly the other day: "the process of publishing a book is all hurry up and wait."

And wait.

And wait.

This has been my feeling about spring these last few weeks; can't a single obliging crocus pop up for me? My receipt from my local greenhouse answers that question for me. But at least I have some new plants and pots to keep things cheery around here. My African violets are definitely looking better already and the succulents look like they despise me less after getting some new soil. So...spring...I know it will come and I know my book will go out into the world, but damn! I am impatient. 

Welcome!

I know my first post should be something a bit more inspiring/interesting than "welcome," but that's all I have in me this morning. So -- welcome! I am going to try to capture here my experiences with writing a novel, finding an agent, and going through the publication process. For all of those people writing, querying or just biting your fingernails down to stubs for general reasons, hold on...more info is to follow!