I've been a sporadic blogger of late. This week I had two projects I needed to get mostly finished by today: the first set of essays from Rob's online Art Appreciation classes needed grading, and I needed to finish designing the program for the Prospect Theater Project's first production of the new season, which opens this Friday. (Yes, they/we are a bit behind.) That's my newest gig--graphic designer (programs and, sometimes, posters--see image) for a small black box theater in town. The theater's founders are friends of ours, so I'm excited to be helping them out in a very tangible way, even though there's not a lot of compensation (just season tickets). And, frankly, the poster looks damn good if I say so myself.
Today I'm also basking in the knowledge that I have been personally sought out and contacted by an editor at a big-name publishing house. This sounds much more exciting than it really is; it has nothing to do with my actual YA novel. But it's still quite cool. (And a girl can always dream...) Anyway, an editor at Penguin Putnam found our YA book review blog, apparently did some puttering around to find my e-mail address, and contacted me to ask where he might send a book (for reviewing, I assume). I had, in fact, seen this editor speak on a panel at an SCBWI conference in 2005, but it took me a while to remember where I'd seen his name before.
So of course I e-mailed him back to say, yes, please. He seems to currently be promoting this book, which I hope is the one he wants reviewed, because it looks cool; plus it was illustrated by the author, and you know how I feel about that sort of thing.
And now I can spend the rest of my day blissfully daydreaming about editors asking me if they may have the privilege of seeing my novel and, by the way, would I also like to supply the cover illustration? Please? Oh yes, of course, I'd love to.
5 comments:
You are so blissfully non-Machiavellian. It's refreshing. Allow me to disabuse you of that, just a wee bit:
He's contacting you for something that he wants, and something which will benefit his book. Your site has finally generated enough traffic to merit trying to get reviewed by you. So ... it's only fair, at some future point, after you develop a good working relationship ... to ask him to maybe take a peek at YOUR book, to see if he'd maybe be interested, since he knows you and all.
Not that it has to taint your relationship, but it's only fair for him to know that you're not JUST a reader, but a writer / artist, also.
Connections.
I've been in the business world too long, haven't I. Sad.
Of course I'm aware of the Machiavellian part of this arrangement, but thinking that way doesn't help one actually write, so much...I'm definitely one of those people for whom business and art must remain separate in my brain.
And yes, I plan to ask him for writer's guidelines, etc. after we've had some positive correspondence. I do look forward to that part. Sorta.
The poster looks really excellent!
It's almost like Married to the Sea's stuff, in that sort of Victorian looking brown-on-sepia thing. Really neat. And makes one totally wonder what the heck the play is about!
A 'Boston Marriage' was a 19th Century term to describe two women who lived together.
Mamet's play is about one such lesbian couple and it's very good.
Of course, dear Donal, I could have looked that up. No one will ever accuse me of having had a classical education, no one...
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