last week i sent out my first round of queries. my first reaction was to not tell a soul that i sent them. but, isn’t that what i’m trying to undo here? to resist the urge to wait to share until perfection is at least within reach? so, they’re floating out there in the inboxes of literary agents who are likely busy and on vacation, but the queries and pages of my hopefully debut novel are out there. and, there is relief in the release. whatever will happen, will happen. and the more authors that i talk to, the more i realize that it might/probably won’t happen for me in this round. and that’s okay (or i keep telling myself as much). what matters is that i am here and i am moving towards becoming a writer, and not just wishing i could snap my fingers and become one.
anyway, this isn’t my therapy session! although, what are your thoughts on chatgpt therapy? i keep hearing about it. while i love claude for my to do lists (hack: you can talk to claude and when i’m feeling overwhelmed i just ramble off my to do list and claude organizes it/prioritizes it/adds to it), ai scares me.
while i check my inbox (and spam folder), i am on cape cod for a few weeks with the kids. my husband is back and forth from home as much as he can be, and the three of us are filling our days with beaches, libraries, uno, and pinterest crafts. it is HOT here (and everywhere), so in a moment of heat exhaustion, i had serious doubts that i could do this much time as a solo parent in a rental house, but i am now hydrated and excited and grateful for this special (though sometimes very challenging!) time with them. i spent ~6 weeks with them here last summer, just weeks off of losing my job, and it’s crazy how different things feel this year. my nervous system is definitely more regulated, and a 3 and 5 year old are, it turns out, very different than a 2 and 4 year old. naps are optional, the chaos is more organized (as in, they organize against me), we can stay up later, and i’m less stressed about screens.
speaking of screens, i should turn the tv off and take them to the beach :)
favorite things (bc aren’t my highlights and lowlights already here):
my kids vyed for this last summer, and my husband suprised them with it when we got to the beach. popular for all ages, always full of crabs.
i know i’m several years late to this, but given that i started using this last week and have been chasing two kids around in 95 heat and still smell good, i can’t say enough good things.
i randomly bought this ribbed lulu lemon headband 5+ years ago and i love it and wear it to work out and in a nice way? great for really hot days when i need my hair off of my neck.
that’s all for this week! if you have any questions, feel free to drop 'em in the comments or dm me over on instagram @writewithemma !
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Congrats on sending out your first queries! You're doing it!