Zoom, Zoom

The holidays are over, and my back is much better...nothing like some extreme tobogganing to snap all ones discs back into place! I was a good girl though and didn't try skiing. My legs on a snowy hill tend to have a mind of their own, and the thought of ending up in weirdly contorted positions while splatted on my back facing the sky was just a little bit to risky to bear when I was still feeling the odd twinge of pain.

I'm waiting to hear from a reader who has also kindly offered to help me with edits on my manuscript before proceeding much further with agents and publishing houses. I've had some good feedback so far...yahoo. I'm up to about 11 or so rejections from agents, most very kind, and so far, no one has said, "Your talent is less than that of a blind two-legged cockroach," so that gives me hope. The reality of No One In Particular is, I believe, that it doesn't quite fit into any one neat little category. It's not just a romance, it's not the typical chick lit with a heroine who shops at Prada. It is a twisted, dark, quirky, but very funny look at life, death, work, injustice, love and relationships. It makes sense that I wrote a book that doesn't fit neatly into any categories, my life has always had that theme running through it. Not quite fitting, always sort of floating. Floating has its advantages though. One is never pegged as only being a certain way, and therefore there's a mystery that is appealing to others. One can sit back, observe and learn and not be shut out of anywhere because one doesn't quite not fit either.

Now that I've had some time to sit and reflect about the process of trying to get published, I think it's really funny that I titled my manuscript No One In Particular. That is pretty well how I am looked at in the publishing world. No one famous, no one well known, no one who has created a scandal. So, despite the fact that my mansucript might be leaps and bounds better than something written by Paris Hilton, or Tori Spelling or any other scandalous, but famous person, I am looked at as No One In Particular, and am therefore seen as a huge risk for marketing. Can I just say here that I would be more than happy to have my manuscript, written solely by me, compared and rated against some of the books out there that are being published? Fair? No. The reality of the publishing world? Yes. So come on Paris, I challenge you. Get me published so we can really see who writes a better book. That being said, apparently there is a huge population of people out there who are more than happy to plunk their hard earned money down on a book by Paris vs. a book by No One In Particular, who also happens to be a counsellor, a real life Jane, and a woman with a lot of life experience. That's smart. No wait, that's hot. No wait, that's not.