Same Karma, Different Signs

Status: I'm in an incredibly good mood at the moment, for a number of reasons. Among them is the fact that my falling down, crap fence has been replaced! It's so pretty and new and wonderful! It also doesn't have panels falling over or missing slats making holes just big enough for my dogs to escape. So yay! A second reason is I'm about to go on vacation! I'm visiting my very dearest cousin in Phoenix. Never been there, and I can't wait to see my cousin. Arizona, here I come! The final reason is detailed in the post below.

Number of queries sent: 27
Number of form rejections: 14
Number of requests for additional materials: 0 (but kind of 1??)

Okay. So. As I mentioned in this post, I entered another contest. I took my improved query/opening combo out for a spin. A very successful spin, as it turns out, at least so far. In other words, I'm a finalist! Out of 200 entries, a panel of internal judges chose the 50 best (each of the 5 judges had a group of 40, and picked the top 10 as finalists). So that means I'm in the top 25%. It makes me really proud to know that I earned my way into this contest, instead of being chosen by a lottery.

This contest is the Surprise Agent Invasion contest on a fabulous blog called Cupid's Literary Connection, where any agent can request more materials on any entry for three solid weeks. I have no idea how many literary agents Cupid notified, but it sounds like a lot. Whether or not they come look at the contest, no one knows. Time will tell on that one.

So what's the next step for me? Well, basically, I don't get to sleep for three weeks. I already have the post with my entry saved as a favorite on my computer. I know I'll be checking all the time. Just in case. But I did promise my dearest cousin that I won't be a bad houseguest as a result of this contest. In fact, here's my exact text: "I promise not to obsess while I'm visiting you! I'll check for requests from agents with whatever we decide is a reasonable (read: not crazy/not normal me!) frequency."

And like the totally awesome cousin she is, her reply was, "Lol, that's no problem. I totally understand."

Oh yeah! Karma and signs. I got sidetracked again, and forgot about what I titled this post. At any rate, as I explained in this post, I think I got into a previous contest due to a karma cash out. And that's what led me to revise, revise, revise. And the revised version got me into this new contest, where there's potential for quite a lot of agents to see my entry. So, that's karma.

As for the different signs, these are a little farfectched, to say the least. But my entry number is 9, which is my beloved husband's favorite number. So he thinks that's a good sign. The contest opens on the 27th (today), and 27 has been my favorite number ever since I got married on August 27, 2011. And it will close on April 17th, and 17 was my favorite number for most of my life. So yeah, like I said: farfetched. But that's okay. It's nice to hope that something wonderful will happen. Sure, it'll hurt like hell if my nice big dose of wonderful never shows. But then I'll just hope for something else. Eventually, as long as I'm willing to work hard and be patient, wonderful will happen.

Oh, yeah. And the "but kind of 1??" in my status refers to being a finalist. That's obviously not actually a request for additional materials (hence the 0), but it's still a positive reaction to my stuff. It's still validation. And it's still not a rejection. :)