Getting Serious - Part 4

This must be getting serious, I'm up to part 4 already.

So what is my genius plan for getting an agent interested in my 135,000 word novel? Well, since that many words is too long for a first time novelist, then I'll just have to not be a first time novelist.

Huh? Let me explain.

After I finished Slow Dancer, which I wrote on a dare to myself, I was pretty much spent. In my mind it was a one time deal. The story was unique and it just felt like I needed to tell it. For months afterwards I stayed away from my desk and I didn't want to even look at a keyboard. But slowly the urge started to come over me again. I could feel myself being drawn back. I started thinking about story idea's and playing 'what if' games in my mind. Then one day everything just gelled together into an idea for a second book, and I was even more excited about this one. Slow Dancer is a hybrid between Romance - Mystery - Thriller, which was another reason why it was a difficult sell for a first time novelist because it didn't neatly fit into one genre. But my idea for this new book was a pure Mystery - Thriller, and I would make sure that it came in under 100K words!

So my genius idea was to write and pitch this new book, and if I was lucky enough to have it picked up and published, then I would turnaround and pitch Slow Dancer. Since I would no longer be a first time novelist, the longer word count wouldn't be an issue.

So for the past six months I have been learning as much as I can about the craft of writing, and working on my second book (Fallen Knight). I've also written a short story that I've been submitting to various contests. Having a short story that has done well in a contest is a good line item on a resume when it comes time to shop for an agent.

I have about five chapters remaining before Fallen Knight is ready to read and begin the editing process. I'm excited to let a few people take it out for a test drive.