oooh, take another little piece of my heart now baby

I just sent out another query letter. That means that, instead of being 0 for 3, I'm now 0 for 3 with one pending! Upgrade!

I spent some quality time this afternoon revising my query letter again, and I think it's a lot tighter. I've cut the description of my book by about forty words and completely revised the spirit and intent of the first paragraph. So we'll see how it goes -- the agent I queried tonight was chosen specifically because she was the only agent in the top group on my list who wanted only a letter without a synopsis or additional pages. I wanted to get something out today to restart the querying process, but it's way too late for me to be thinking about synopses when I have to go to work tomorrow.

I had quite a full day, all told; I worked for work (bleh), worked on my query letter, and met up with Tom (aka Tom Foolery) to discuss our querying processes. He's written a book as well, and so we discussed what we've learned about agents, how we're querying, etc. We're going to try for a standing Sunday writing date, which should be nice; it's good to talk to someone else about the process, and having someone else in a similar situation helps to encourage accountability.

I couldn't hang out long because I had to come home to finish the preparations for Heather and Salim's postponed dinner. They got here at six, and we had a lovely time; my beef bourguignon was totally to die for, and there was a marked lull in conversation while we all savored the stew, accompanied by mashed potatoes (made with cream and half a stick of butter, so it's no wonder they were a hit). This recipe is a total winner; it's too bad it's so time intensive, or else I would make it all the time. It's also too bad that it's chock full of fat, of course, but once every six months hopefully won't kill me.

Heather and Salim were great; they're moving to Boston next week and I'm really sad that they're leaving. They're an example of 'summer friends' who became real friends -- living, working, eating, shopping, traveling, and doing everything else together for six months will either make you friends or enemies for life. In this case, they're great friends. We discussed a multitude of things, and while they laughed at the sheer number of books I have on English and Regency-period architecture and interior design, they actually spent a not-insignificant amount of time looking at my books. I was sad to see them go, so hopefully I'll get out to Boston to see them and my score of other east coast friends at some point in the near future.

It's tragic that I have to go back to work tomorrow, but unless I fall suddenly ill tonight, it can't be helped. Sleep well, friends!