And the nail biting begins...

About this time last year, I made a New Year's resolution to get serious about my writing with the ultimate goal of submitting something to an agent or editor. I started off by joining the RWA and the Toronto Romance Writers. And immediately realized just how much I still had to learn. Oh, sure, I knew about passive vs active verbs, and voice, and tense, and point-of-view. But the writers' group I used to belong to never mentioned anything about how to write a winning synopses. Or even how to write a good query letter. So I've spent the year climbing a really steep learning curve.

Somehow I found myself pitching a story to an editor in Dallas at the RWA conference in July. I'm still shaking my head over just how that happened (blame -- or credit -- my writing buddies Sue and Terri) though I wouldn't trade that experience for anything in the world. Especially when I remember that knee-shaking/heart-stopping moment when the editor actually asked for a partial. (I'm still waiting to find out that manuscript's fate, but I'm just happy that it's not been rejected yet.)

Today I can proudly say I've overachieved on my resolution. (I wish I could say the same about my resolution to lose weight!) I submitted my short story Private Property to Ellora's Cave for their Jewel of the Nile birthstone series. Even though I had submitted a manuscript back in July, I found it nerve wracking to actually click on that send button and send my latest baby off into the ether. My heart is still racing. For those of you who have been doing this longer than I have -- does it get any easier?