I … have no words.
I don’t even know what to think.
I remember posting a very long time ago and it wasn’t going to come out until December. And then everything changed.
I have moments of giddyness and then I have moments of ‘big deal, whatever, I have to make supper now’.
But this is a big deal.
And I’ve wanted it forever.
And forever has come.
Random Thoughts:
-must contact so and so about book signing
-must plan
-must contact
-must distribute
-must clean house as beautiful, lovely, editor comes in two days.
-why do I keep waking up with headaches? ouch!!!
Tags: book
Posted in observations | 2 Comments »
Posted on 27 July '10 by Jenn Kelly, under observations. 2 Comments.
From an old teacher friend. Although he was never my actual teacher, he taught me a lot.
“Jen–What can I say?–I’m not a reader at all–but read this twice in a row–now you have to understand that I’m not an editor or a critic–I’m terrible in grammar etc…BUT I do think that I have a better than average imagination and creative mind–mainly related to songwriting BUT I have written some screenplays, so I feel qualified to pass some judgement—even after the second reading Im trying to find ways that i can describe to someone who asks me, what it was like—OH—finding words to describe the crazy journey Jackson is on isnt all that hard BUT trying to convey a sense of how you tell the story is another thing–I tried to tell my wife and I said–I had the feeling that Jen was sitting on my shoulder, at times it was her voice I heard as she explained things or made aside comments–even without the illustrations I pretty well could see everything perfectly–the uniqueness of the bracketed definitions–priceless—I have to tell you I almost peed my pants with the Thompsons Full Mouth Translation Book–brilliant!—the naming of the chapters is genius–the short little chapters had me in tears–ironically enough the bathroom break came right on cue!!!–brilliant again—the talking directly to the kids who might be reading this–friggin creative–
Anyways–as you can guess I loved it–and even though it has been a million years since I saw you or read your stuff–I was not one bit surprised at how you crafted this book–it is so weird–if someone had just given me this book and told me that a former student had written it–I would have guessed YOU 100%–and I have seen some great stuff from former students of mine–(Caroline Pignat–won awards for her books and I have stuff from a couple other former students that I have used in my songs–Jen Dugay and Val Lacelles–but noone comes close to your —Im going to say it–twisted little mind (and I mean that in a nice way)—BUT I WON’T GET INTO THAT NOW!
It is my “Favoritest” book—I hope you are holding on to your stones so that when you hit creative blanks etc..you can remind yourself to believe in the truth that you are a great gifted writer who belongs in the top of the class—so I look forward to the next 3 books–LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN!
I’ve got to go now I think i hear a few CRUBBIES scurrying around in my back yard harasing some night owls–damn gum!.”
Jerk made me cry… wait, I shouldn’t call him a jerk. Because he’s not. And as soon as I get my hands on his songs, I’ll post them…
Tags: letter, You like me!
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Posted on 24 July '10 by Jenn Kelly, under observations. No Comments.
I was about to leave the “Fox and the Feather” (Elgin St) with Dan, when Michelle Obama walked in. She had very pretty long wavy hair. Less matronly than the way she wears it now. She was alone and had a handful of papers to read through. I decided I would go over and talk to her about my book. I told Danny to go out to the car and get a copy of my book. But I didn’t have one. So I was working up the nerve to go talk to her about the book and see if I could mail her a copy to the White House. Then I woke up.
12 days.
Bumpity-bump-bump.
Will head to Barnes and Noble on August 8th I think.
Tags: dreams
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Posted on 24 July '10 by Jenn Kelly, under observations. No Comments.
that my books came out in the bookstore and while they were beautifully displayed at the very front entrance, they had very ugly covers, very bad illustrations and half of them had been changed into blue fuzzy purses that when you opened them, the book was inside. All topped off with a gold chain strap.
I was horrified.
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Posted on 23 July '10 by Jenn Kelly, under observations. No Comments.
“I wanted to let you know that I finished your book tonight. I actually had some free time & decided to sit out back and read the last 20 chapters.
I was excited to read it because I know you & that you wrote the book. I also knew it was a children’s book.
I have to tell you how “wow’d” I was reading the book as I read each chapter. It reminded me a little of the Lemony Snicket books which I actually ordered the whole series from my son’s school & loved! But as I read through I could see you saying things like this or that or see you doing something similar. I found myself enjoying a children’s book at the age of 41 – giggling as I read thru. You have answered the old question of “who thinks of these things?” Answer: Jenn Kelly does!!
I couldn’t wait to get to the next chaper whether it had 3 words or 100!! LOL I HAD to finish it tonight. What joy to giggle again and at the same time self-reflect on my journey – my story. Thank you for that. ”
Tags: You like me!
Posted in vaguely interesting things | 1 Comment »
Ok, so we find Jenn to be on the couch in the sunroom with a laptop on her lap and she’s watching SYTYCD. She’s wearing a worn gray t-shirt and green Hollister jogging pants, that are far too large. She’s drinking the new pink grapefruit Perrier water and her neurotic dog, Daisy, is asleep on a very large pillow, the size of a couch.
So, Jenn, can you answer some questions?
Yah, sure, but only during commercials, ok?
No, problem. First of all, who do you think will win SYTYCD?
Ah, that’s a tough one. I’m starting to love Lauren because she’s so adorable and so strong, but I think it’ll be Kent. He’s a great dancer and he’s really grown. And all the teen girls love him. Although if Alex was still on the show, he’d win for sure.
Ok, so what have you been up to lately?
Do you not read my blog?
Uh, yes, yes, of course. So, um. How exactly did you find a publisher? I mean, it’s really hard out there getting published, especially by someone as reputable as Zondervan.
It is hard, actually. When I finished my manuscript, I spent about a year editing it and during that time I researched a whole bunch of publishing companies and possible agents (I did not just send it to anyone, I carefully checked out what that agent had done to make sure there was a common theme.) and I had signed up for the Writer’s Guild writing conference in June of ’08 I believe. During that year I sent out my query letter to 76 possible places and I received 35 rejections.
Does any one rejection stand out?
Oh yes. This one guy, I thought he would be a perfect agent because he was quirky and funny. I received a rejection letter written on behalf of his assistant, who told he wasn’t interested. No reason, just not interested. And he had his assistant do it! A friend of mine was kind enough to say that he was probably the kind of guy who was too busy to answer it himself because he was doing his mom’s laundry.
That’s kind of funny.
Yah, I thought so. After. I was pretty crushed though. Anyway, so I went to the conference in Guelph, and hubby allowed me to book a hotel because I didn’t want to share a room with 6 other women while I was there. I signed up for some cool classes (ie How to Write Christian Fiction) and I signed up to sit and talk with a few members. I got to meet Bonnie Grove (who wrote Talking to the Dead) and she read my manuscript and told me I had a unique voice. I had no idea what that meant, but she explained it well. I got to sit with Bill Jensen (an agent) and he said to send him my manuscript. I also met Lloyd Kelly who at the time was with HarperCollins, and then I met Andy Meisenheimer from Zondervan and he was awesome. Granted he told me that they didn’t even have a children’s editor and that he was not interested in children’s fiction. But after I wore him down (impressed him with my wit and weirdness) he consented to take my manuscript when the time was right. And then I went home. Tired, but happy. A few months later I emailed Andy and he told me to send my manuscript to him. I did and then two weeks later I heard from Kathleen. It was such a high.
So you heard from Kathleen, the Zonderkids editor, and then what happened?
I waited. She contacted me in November and told me she’d get back to me near Christmas. In January I emailed her and said, Hello? Remember me? And she said, yes of course, everyone is interested, I’ll get back to you. Six months later I emailed her and said, “Um, clearly you aren’t interested, so thank you for your time” and she quickly got back to me and said, “No, no! We want you!” And then more waiting and then a contract. And then I knew it was for real.
So do you think that this is normal for most writers? I mean, you were picked up within a year of looking.
Gosh, no. I don’t think it’s normal at all. I’ve read awful stories about people taking 9 years to get picked up or they give up after a year and self-publish. I think in my situation God was definitely on my side. I firmly believe that all things happen for a reason, and this is happening for a reason.
So were you ever part of any writer’s clubs or critique groups?
I would have loved to have been part of one, but things weren’t in the cards for that. I mean, most writing groups around here or either not in my genre, or they were closed. Also, with Dan working shift work and cutting trees part-time, when he’s home – I make sure I’m home. And I wasn’t going to take that time away from Jackson either.
Would you join a group now?
Honestly? Probably not. I have a couple of friends that do a little poetry with me and I’ve tried to set up a little writing thing twice a month, but everyone is too busy. And I kind of don’t want any feedback until I’ve written most of it. Except from my editor. Sometimes I get so ridiculously vulnerable I send her 10 emails a day.
Do you think that makes her crazy?
Oh gosh I hope not! (laughs) She’s very kind and sweet and puts up with me. She has a ridiculously awesome sense of humour so she gets me. I’m so blessed to have her. I made her promise if I made it huge she’d quit and become my manager or something. But she loves her job, so I doubt it. Ok, can you leave me alone now? I’m trying to watch this.
yah, yah, of course. Enjoy your show. Can we come back again?
(Left the room to get berries and frozen yoghurt with chocolate sauce)
Tags: interview, me, publishing process
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Posted on 21 July '10 by Jenn Kelly, under observations. No Comments.
I finished…
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Posted on 20 July '10 by Jenn Kelly, under observations. No Comments.
Today I will work my cookies off to get the book put together. My lovely editor is going on holidays soon and mentionned she’d bring the manuscript with her provided I had it done by tomorrow. Hm.. I don’t think that includes edits but at least she can give me some feedback because although I “think” it’s good, it might not be as good as I think it is.
We had a most interesting conversation about the second print. I never knew what that meant. What second print means is once the bookstore sells out and orders more copies. They only print what has been pre-ordered. So I’ll have a new cover. Hm. And a tagline. Which is a sentence they put on the cover of the book. I was asked to come up with a tagline for the second book and I was like, “hm.. ah… huh.” I don’t think they’ll print that.
In other news, my book comes out soon.
Ohmygoodness.
reading: Perfectly Dateless by Kristin Billerbeck (for a review)
watching: pathetically, Bachelorette. I thought it was hometown date and I wanted to see if Ally brought them to her dead grandmother’s house.
eating: greek salad with couscous
listening to: strangely nothing. I usually have music going but at the moment, I’m not noticeing. Does that mean I’m changing? Oof, I hope not.
Tags: book, marketing, me, publishing
Posted in observations | 1 Comment »
Posted on 20 July '10 by Jenn Kelly, under observations. 1 Comment.
Was very excited to talk to brilliant editor friend Kathleen last night, (I get to meet her in two weeks!) and found out they want to do the cover of my book, like now.
So we chatted a bit and after awhile it dawned on me that she wasn’t talking about the second book, but the first one.
“Wait, you already have a cover. Why are you redoing it?”
“Because it’s ugly and we aren’t happy with it. So when doing the second printing, we’ll have a new cover.”
Huh. I’m a little excited to see the new cover. But I don’t know how many books qualifies for a second printing.
Hm…
In other news, I ‘think’ I might be editing soon. As in, finished the book, and now just have to make sure it doesn’t royally suck…
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Posted on 15 July '10 by Jenn Kelly, under observations. No Comments.
I feel very good today. I just figured out my Miss Flaversham chapter and I think it’ll work really, really well. So I’m excited. I’m also eating a delicious spicy beef burrito from Farm Boy and it’s soo good! I will definitely need a tums or two, but I don’t care!
I had a moment. I was listening to Robbie Williams singing ‘Have you met Miss Jones?’ from the Bridget Jones movie. And I remembered the silly home video they play at the end of the movie with him singing about Bridget splashing about and whatnot. And it made me realize that I’m that way. I mean, I’m a handful. Which can be construed by others as “too much”.
My wonderful, dear friends (of whom at the moment, I think are 3 that actually read this blog, but I pray for more over time) you can never be ‘too much.’ I don’t mean the people who get angry all the time or throw things for no reason. I mean the people who have such an imagination, who daydream (without falling down sewer holes if you know what I mean), who want to and believe they can change the world. We are so so interesting! People who always do the proper thing and don’t get emotional about anything… they have no fire in their bellies, no passion in their hearts. Stay away from them! At least until you can develop a thick skin, and let me tell you, it takes years upon years to do that. And if you can’t stay away from them and you don’t have a thick skin, don’t share your dreams with them. They will just try to shove you down and tie you to the ground so you can’t go back up and float in the clouds. Don’t listen to them. Be responsible in your life, but don’t listen to them. Don’t let them tell you you can’t do things, that you aren’t any good at it and that you’ll never amount to anything so just be a lawyer.
Do you know why I brag about the fact that I failed English at Ottawa U? Because you don’t need to have the degree or the honours or the papers to write a book. I took Forestry for goodness sakes, and while I was brilliant (my words, not theirs) at the tree silviculture and identification and horrible at the maths, I still wrote a book. My dreams came true! I don’t even know what to do with myself except pinch occasionally to remind myself that this is happening!
But I will give credit to my God. Because I honestly don’t believe it would have happened without Him. And I must tell you, He doesn’t think I’m too much. He thinks I’m marvelous and funny and clever and wonderful.
I happen to agree with him.
Ok, I’m done babbling. I don’t even know if this post makes sense because I’m just gushing in the way that I do.
Happy unpredictable day.
Tags: me
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