Hmmmm . . . what do blog about now

I haven't posted anything in a while,and the only reason I can honestly give is that I have absolutely no idea what to blog about.  The first advice "they" give when you have a novel coming out is to start a blog.  So, check.  Here it is.  But then what?  You don't really have an audience yet.  The only people who actually read this are the few people who care enough to click on the link from Staci and my Facebook fan page.  By the way, if you are reading this, thanks and I love you for being supportive of our little journey.  I asked Staci the other day why she didn't post anything to our blog, and she said because no one reads it.  And I said, well, no one read anyone's blog when they first started out, but everyone had to start from somewhere.  Right? 

I follow a ton of author blogs,and they post cool stuff about their upcoming releases, events, and have contests and such.  Well, that's not really something we can do yet.  So, I did a little research.  I went back to a few authors' blogs from when they just started out.  And they blogged about, well, not much in particular, but they did blog.  There just isn't much going on when your waiting for your first novel to come out. 

So, in case the few of you reading this are wondering, here's what's going on with us:

1.  We are waiting for the first round of edits to come back from our editor for FALLEN, but that won't be until the spring. 
2.  The release day is scheduled for November 2010.  Yea!
3.  We are going to get posters made soon and graciously ask our teacher friends to display them to help get the word out.
4.  We are working on our second novel, STATIC.  We are about 14 or so chapters in, but haven't been able to get together in a few weeks.  Hopefully, we'll get back on track soon.
5.  We do have our website up and running so that's exciting.  Check it out at saraandstaci.com

Yeah, that's about it.  As for me (Sara), here's what's up with me:
1.  I'm already ready for summertime to come, though I must admit, it's been a much better school year this year than last.  My students are great, and I really can't complain . . . much.
2.  My husband is getting on my nerves.
3.  We got a new puppy.  She is a golden retriever named Belle.  She has finally decided to stop peeing on my carpet and is now going outside or on the puppy pads (which I probably will spend a small fortune on over the next few weeks). 
Here she is:

4.  My son Gavin is the coolest little man on the planet.

5.  I'm reading Sherrilyn Kenyon's Born of Night and just can't get into it, which is a bummer because she is my favorite adult author.  I refuse to put it down because I know I will love it eventually. 

Yes, my life is totally exciting.  Thanks friends for reading.

Cheers!

Sara

Wait time . . .

What I'm doing: just finished up Movie Night with my boys featuring Wall-E, candy, and chocolate milk
What I'm reading right now: Big Bad Wolf by Christine Warren (it's a good one!)
What I'm thinking about: the long wait ahead of me

Staci and I got our official release date for FALLEN.  It's set to be out November 2010, just a little over a year from now.  People keep asking us when our book is coming out, and they are always surprised when we tell them that it won't be out until late 2010.  I don't think a lot of people realize how long this process takes.  We submitted FALLEN to Mundania last October and didn't get an offer until May.  Does it usually take that long?  I think it depends on the publishing house, but I don't think it's all that unusual.  If we had found an agent, which we were trying to do, it may have taken the agent several months to find a publishing house that wanted to buy the book.  So once your novel is complete, it will most likely take several months to find an agent and then who knows how many more months for the agent to find a home for the book.  Then it's another year to year and a half for the book to come out.  I'm thinking unless you're the next Dan Brown or Stephenie Meyer, your going to be waiting a couple of years to see your book in print.  Nothing happens over night.

So, this got me thinking.  Staci and I have written about 14 chapters of our next novel STATIC.  If it takes us 6-9 more months (maybe a year) to finish it, we will probably be looking for an agent or a publisher for it right about the time FALLEN comes out.  Maybe.  Then it could take several months to find someone interested in representing STATIC.  Hopefully, someone will love it.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Then we are looking at another year to year and a half before it will be released.  That means that our second novel might not come out until like 2+ years after FALLEN is released.  That kind of sucks, you know.  It would be really nice if you could just snap your fingers and have everything fall into place.  But, it's a waiting game.  I guess I better get used to waiting.

For now, I'm going to be thankful that Mundania Press loved FALLEN and that I will actually get to see my name on the cover of a novel one day in the future.  There were many times that I thought it would never happen.  And, I'm going to sit back and hope that Staci and I are lucky enough to see STATIC in print as well.  Even if we have to wait :)

Cheers!

Sara