WAITING BLOWS

THEY SAY NO news is good news. Whoever said that probably never sent out a manuscript of a novel that took 6 years initially to write, was summarily rejected by several publishers, before being revised for another 10 years.

SO AS I wait to hear from the publishers, I try to busy myself with finding a new job after being "laid off" 2 weeks before Christmas (I am still unable to write about this without negativity so I won't). Job searching is a tedious, tedious job in itself. Even though the internet has made it easier (I can't even imagine hitting the pavement, going to different companies to fill out applications), it's still an exhausting process -- creating a username/password for every organization/company, copying/pasting my resume (which I have to revise for every job depending on the position), cover letter/letter of interest/letter of intent, then filling out the application portion.

ACCORDING TO ONE literary agent, a writer should never be "waiting", but "writing" and "submitting." So I should be working on my third novel while submitting the second novel to other publishers and agents. One thing about not having a job, you have no structure. And for a procrastinator, no structure is lethal.

IN THE MEANTIME, I've been doing some readings. The photo above is from a reading at Ponce @Nite, a monthly open-mic at Ponce Restaurant (http://facebook.com/ponce.atnite).

I've also read at Proyecto Latina (http:proyectolatina.org) where readings are currently held at Cafe Cathedral (which has a delicious strawberry-banana-mango smoothie). Both venues feature some awesome authors, poets, and performers which make me proud to be Latina.