Susan Whitehurst

Hello,

Good Dog Eddy and I are living in Morelia, Mexico. I have just submitted a new book about the Zoo and I think you are going to LOVE it and I hope the Critics Will Rave. After 30 years of writing, re-writing, tossing in the garbage, retrieving from the garbage, starting all over again, reject, reject, reject, into the garbage, back out of the garbage, more editing, more re-writing, I am here to tell you that this germ of an idea and these characters will not leave me alone AFTER 30 YEARS! For their persistence, how could I ever give up on them? The've been with me longer than my three marriages combined. My daughter has even promised to keep submitting it, should I die before it is published. That's how committed I am. It is a gem among gems.

But we're getting close. It has made it to the Big Cheese at ____________ (not telling you). Of course, they never say much. Only that it has made it this far and I got a 'Good Luck.' Now we wait.......Mr. McHugh, Fiona ,Gregory, Donald and Doris, Eleanor, Louise and I wait. I'll let you know how this story ends.

Tip to Authors: Start you Inquiry Letter with your most compelling paragraph. I always start with a dynamite quote. Leave your profile, your awards, your previously published until the last paragraph. SHE doesn't care. Who is she, anyway? She is the Gatekeeper, the Secretary, the Summer Intern (probably unpaid) with or without (probably without) ANY knowledge or training in Children's Books. She is the Publishing House's first line of defense against the 100's of manuscripts they receive everyday. If you don't catch HER attention in the first paragraph, you're in the trash bin within 30 seconds. Engage HER or take your marbles and go home.

(Damned that Copy Machine anyway, remember when each author typed and sent out a manuscript to one Publishing House and then waited for about a month for a reply. A month seemed like a long time.

But now, thanks to the Copy Machine, we can send out a manuscript to 50 different Publishing Houses. Reply in a month? In your dreams! Six months, a year, two years, no reply at all. No wonder the Gatekeeper's eyes are glazed over.)

Words to my page, breathe to my life. I can't help myself.

One more Author Tip: Faced with the DREADED BLANK PAGE? Write anything, even your grocery list (I'm sure it will be a very creative Grocery List). The juices will kick in, I promise. I also sit in the same spot and play the same music. Gets you in your groove.

So, I will continue to dance through life, have a marvelous time doing so, and tell you all about it.....susan