Ok, less shell-shocked this morning, so more details.
She really, *really* liked the book. A lot. So much so that she wants to keep the manuscript so her sisters can read it. But she doesn’t think it’s ready for publication. (Argh! It’s good enough to give to family, but not to buy? Argh!) She wants me to go back to it in a year or so and rewrite entirely, with an eye to a bunch of specific things that she said. If I do that, she would like to see the manuscript again.
And she did say a *bunch* of specific things, all of which may have a point and not all of which I’m sure I agree with. I will think about it. At this juncture I’m not going to *do* anything about it, because I’m still a little shaky, but I’ll think about it all.
She also says I’m a talented writer, which is nice to hear, and that she definitely wants to see more from me, which is /also/ nice to hear.
I’m still licking my wounds, though, so I’m not quite prepared to announce a new plan of attack. :)
(It will, however, probably involve Children of Proteus, Fred.)
Hell, I’d buy it.
FUCKERS.
Sorry. Got a little weird there for a second. Send me a copy, you freak!
I know, you can read my pathetic NaNoWriMo thing and laugh uproariously and feel so much better for being so much better at writing and stuff. ;)
Wow, she had a lot of real good things to say! Still, it was a rejection, and you have all the right in the world to lick your wounds. *I* know you are a talented, amazing writer, and that counts for SOMETHING ;)
*deadpan* Children of Proteus. Darn. That would be awful. Why would you ever do that.
Sorry it didn’t work out, but that level of constructive criticism *rocks*.