Danger door

Lyn Stone15th February 2016

Danger door: I am shocked at how long its been since I last blogged! I’m sure it’s over a month? What have I been doing? Well, I’ve been very busy! You may be thinking why ‘danger door’? Never underestimate the damage a door can do to your face in the middle of the night. It’s a bit of a cliché I know, but I really did walk into a door. It’s only now beginning to stop hurting. That’s twice I’ve broken my nose now. Well to be honest this time I just cracked it, but wow, did it hurt!

Aside from the danger door incident I have been very busy writing and illustrating. I have been working on and off for about a year on a picture book, which originally rhymed throughout. I love tinkering with rhyme. However after a lovely email from an agent, suggesting I try prose instead, I have just finished re-writing it. It is most unusual for an agent to give any feedback and this one did, not only did she make very useful suggestions, but also went on to say that she thought I was an, “incredibly talented author/illustrator and would like to see any future ideas”. This is nothing short of miraculous! Unused to compliments and once I’d peeled myself off the floor, I went straight to my notebook first and started re-writing with gusto. I quite enjoy writing on buses, bizarre I know, but there you are. I have now submitted the new version to that original agent and to another, who requested a copy. This was an unusual email too and it went something like, “the deadline for viewing your manuscript has expired and so could you send it again, please”. I’m hoping that if it’s still not hitting the mark, I might strike lucky twice and get further priceless feedback. So like every other soul out there, who has taken the plunge and sent something to a literary agent, I await my fate. The thing is the whole industry is so fickle. Even if you have written a hum-dinger of a book, if it arrives on an agent’s desk at the wrong time, you’ve had it. It’s as simple as that. You need talent, but you also need a huge walloping dollop of lady luck. It has to arrive at the right time, land on the desk of the right person and just at the time when whatever you’ve slaved over is about to be the next big thing. At the end of the day all you can do is make sure you thoroughly enjoy the process of writing and illustrating, and then the rest is in the hands of the Gods. Oh, and do avoid the old ‘danger door,’