Wow, what a bad blogger I've been. I admit THE FRACTURED KEYBOARD has been severely neglected over these past months. I can come up with a whole lot of excuses (That's excuses, not lies.) but none of them are really good enough. I think we can all agree that sometimes life gets in the way and that's the best I've got. So rather than dwell on the aspects of my personal life I'd like to remind you, as well as myself, that this is a place for writers. It is a place to discuss the craft, the biz and the whole writing journey; from pen to publisher if you will. So let me tell you what's new in my journey rather than waste your time on what isn't.

First of all, the release of my new picture book, DON'T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE!, has been moved back. Instead of coming out sometime this year, it will now debut in spring of 2012. Most folks assume this is depressing news. But if you are a seasoned writer, you know it isn't. Writers have the patience of Job when it comes to waiting. We wait for the muse to hit and make the words flow correctly. We wait for the mail to come. We wait for responses from editors and agents. We wait for edits & revisions to come through. We wait. This business is a big game of hurry up and wait. That's just the way it is. Deal with it. So therefore, this little setback isn't a major crisis. What's another few months in the grand scheme of the birth of a picture book? If the extra time is used to make it better, than I'm all for it. Piece of cake.

In other news, things are a little different on my side of the rainbow in 2011. Some of you may recall my post entitled "THE SUBMISSION PROCESS AS I SEE IT." If so, then you know I've been on the search for an agent. Well recently I struck gold when Agent Louise Fury, of the L. Perkins Agency, tweeted that she was looking for character-driven, humorous picture books. I thought, Hey! I have one of those! Of course I immediately jumped into action and as luck would have it, she liked what I sent. Let me just say it is wonderful to find someone who is as excited about your work as you are. It is, well,
E-X-C-I-T-I-N-G!

Of course having an agent takes some getting used to. I mean, for many years I was always on the lookout for submission opportunities. I scoured the bookstores for similar books and their publishers, I explored the internet looking for articles and interviews of editors and agents who were still open to submissions and I hunted through business publications searching for new or smaller imprints that might be a good fit for my work. All in all it has been a very consuming task and one I have worked hard at. Now, thanks to my lovely and oh-so-wise agent, I no longer have to be so vigilant. I can relax a little. I can focus more of my efforts on my writing and stop stressing about the submission process. This is wonderful. I feel so free and unrestrained! Well, not really. Old habits die hard and I still find myself wondering if this publisher might like that manuscript and would now be a good time to send it? But then I picture Louise. And very much like those folks who realize they could have had a V8, I clock myself in the head and remind myself to relax. There is no reason to stress. My work is now in extremely capable hands. Hands much more capable than my own. And I’m happy.

Apparently my family is happy too. My little one surprised me while I was working one day with this little ditty. Luckily I had my video camera handy.