and let them be silent in the grave

I had an utterly productive day, and while I shall regret going to bed at 2:30am when I have to drag myself out of it for my training session with Alyssa, I don't particularly regret it now. I woke up around nine this morning, intending to put on gym clothes and talk to my agent, but I rather impulsively showered and put on a dress and three-inch heels instead. This was a good move on my part, since I felt oddly professional and so got a ton done today, but the consequence was that I didn't make it to the gym. I did, however, spend half an hour on the phone with my agents -- the good news is that she loved my book and the synopses that I wrote, and while I need to send her a few slight tweaks tomorrow, it looks like we're ready to go out on submission. She won't send it until next week, since a lot of publishing professionals are at a conference in LA this week. But then the waiting game shall begin, and as I will be biting my nails down to the quick in anticipation of an answer that may take months to come, you will forgive me if I don't update you regularly about our progress.

After our call, I talked to my mother, then went to Joanie's Cafe and treated myself to breakfast/lunch out of the house since I was already dolled up. I started brainstorming ideas for other books while I was there -- I intend to write Ellie's story next, but I'm also thinking about other options in case these books fail to sell. Then, I came home, did two loads of laundry, got some of my summer clothes out of the garage and put some of my winter clothes away, and spent a couple of hours catching up on email (both my real-life email and all the plans I've failed to make/keep in my hermitage, and the hundreds of emails my alter ego has gotten in the last couple of weeks). I also talked to my parents in more depth than I was able to this morning, did the dishes, ate some dinner (leftover greek salad and some precooked chicken from Trader Joe's, which paled in comparison to my diet of chocolate chip chewies earlier in the week), then watched some "Top Chef" while painting my nails a glorious shade of dark blue.

I knew better than to pick up a new book at 9:30pm, but I didn't want to watch any more tv and couldn't stand the thought of looking at my computer. So I picked up SILENT IN THE GRAVE, which can only be described as Victorian mystery/suspense with strong romantic elements and a slight (v. slight) touch of the paranormal. The first person narrator (Lady Julia Grey) had a voice so vivid, and the descriptions were so lush, that I was completely swept up in the story. I enjoyed it thoroughly; the part of me that can remove myself from the equation thought that it was lovely, and the part of me that is driven by ego and competitiveness despaired of ever writing anything so beautiful. So, if you're into Victorian mystery/suspense with strong romantic elements and a slight (v. slight) touch of the paranormal, I recommend it. The whole reason I got around to picking it up, after so many years of hearing good things and never buying it, was because the fourth book was just released. As it's called DARK ROAD TO DARJEELING and involves a trip to India, I decided it was finally time to start the series and see where it goes.

And now, I'm off to bed; I have to train with Alyssa tomorrow, then get my strained calf worked on by Art (he who examined me like a poorly-tuned used car), then finish the edits I promised my agent. Goodnight!