(Not a) Blog Blog

A little over a month ago--right after the Oscars, whenever that was--I rented Julie & Julia (despite Richard's protests). I really enjoyed it.

I feel like I learned a little bit about who Julia Childs was as a person, and of course the publishing struggles were extremely relatable. It was shortly after I started this blog, so that part where Julie talks about blogs being vain and self-indulgent and narcissictic... (sp?) I totally got that. I felt that way. I still do... sort of.

So why am I doing this? Well, I read an agent's (Janet Reid's) blog post on "How to know when you're ready to start sending query letters." Her advice included the following: 1-Your book's finished, 2-You've done your research on agents, and then (cringe) 3-You've established a web presence, and I don't mean Facebook.

OK. I'm a smart person (stop giggling!) and I know. It does make you more appealing to publishers if they see that there are people out there (other than your mom/husband) who actually like reading what you write. (I also finished J&J, so I saw the end with the phone ringing off the hook because of her blog. A.k.a., "the dream sequence.")

So that's it. The answer to "Leigh, why did you start a blog?"

In its defense, since starting my blog, I've revised my initial judgment on them. I've really gotten to know a lot of you better through it--through your emails and comments--and I suppose you'd say the same of me.

I like it when you send me suggestions of things you'd like to see (Anthony! Next post~), and I especially like reading your comments. It's cool because I can see how once an author's books are out there, s/he really doesn't know how people respond to them. Unless s/he trolls the Internet to find chats or whatever. Here I can actually post the occasional literary musing and hear back from you guys almost instantly. I love that.

Update, I got a reply from an agent I queried back in January yesterday. She asked for a sample of the book. And there you have it. The speed of this game. Otherwise, still in "no news is no news" purg. I feel myself growing... and not just from the stress eating.

In music, I managed to get Richard's original "(Not a) Train Song" up on YouTube! I had to make it into a video, so if  you want to turn off your monitor and just listen, that's better. Otherwise, you'll be treated to family photos. (I tried to find ones of Richard playing music, but we actually don't have a lot of those. JRM asked why there were no train pix. LTM: It's not a song about a train.)

Musical guests include "Na$hville" Dave Harper on guitar (and production) and Margrette "Marge" Lane on mandolin and backup vocals. Here's the link.  Enjoy!