Wouldn’t it be awesome if it were as easy as grabbing the old Magic-8 ball and giving it a shake? If we don’t like the answer, we can just rattle the sucker until it gives us what we want.

Writing queries is as painful as pulling out nose hairs. And just as repetitive. My proofer worked hard and came up with a good query, but something in my gut told me it wasn’t quite right. Yes, the hook mentioned the Las Vegas tunnels, one of the really interesting points in INTO THE DARK. But it didn’t tell the reader anything about the main character or what she does to resolve the conflict.

So I went back to the drawing board, and I’ve spend the last THREE days writing and rewriting, then writing some more. I’ve written so many hooks they’re running through my head in my sleep. If you don’t believe me, ask Catie Rhodes. She’s read every one. I’d be lost without her.

Finally, FINALLY, I think I have it. The hook is interesting and does everything a query is supposed to do. It’s good, but is it good enough? The worst part about this whole process is that the only way to really know is to get the letter out there. And what if it sucks? Have I burned bridges with INTO THE DARK? I don’t know, but I can’t keep spinning in circles and loosing sleep over the bleepity-bleep.

The two people I trust the most with my writing (and I include brutal honesty in that statement) have endorsed the query, so I’m going to take the plunge in the next week and send it out to five agent and/or editors who accept queries only. My hope is that if I hear nothing, it means the query is no good, and I can start over. We’ll see how it goes. All I know is that I’ve done everything I possibly can, and it’s time to put myself out there.

Those closest to me didn’t miss the timing of my sudden query frenzy: it’s all come about since I got the news of my brother’s impending death. I didn’t have a clue until my friends pointed it out, but they’re right. The only way I knew how to cope was to throw myself into work, and then suddenly the clock started ticking. Life’s so damn short, and I could be gone tomorrow. I’ve got to move forward. So I’m dipping a toe or to into the query pool. Hopefully the experience isn’t too excruciating.

I want to thank you all for your kind words about Jeff. It’s amazing how much the support of people I’ve never “met” can have such a positive effect.

As for my Row80 goals, the query and editing INTO THE DARK for the last time (for now) is all I’ve done this week. My goals for Wednesday’s check in are:

* Finish the INTO THE DARK edit.
* Work on cutting my four page synopsis for INTO THE DARK down to one.
* Dive back into THE PROPHET and write at least 1000 words.
* Get the next Thriller Thursday written.

Again, thank you all for your support, and I hope you’ve had a great week. To all those rocking and rolling in NaNo, keep up the great work. I’ve seen some awesome word counts on Twitter.

How was your Row80 week? Do you have any tips for the dreaded query process?