Blurb and my journey

Here's the blurb for The Other Life (not the official Publisher's Lunch pitch yet. That'll probably appear tomorrow.):

3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I'd seen daylight. One-fifth of my life.

Sherry and her family have lived sealed in a bunker in the garden since things went wrong up above. Her grandfather has been in the freezer for the last three months, her parents are at each other’s throats and two minutes ago they ran out of food.

Sherry and her father leave the safety of the bunker and find a devastated and empty LA, smashed to pieces by bombs and haunted by ‘Weepers’ - rabid humans infected with a weaponized rabies virus.

While searching for food in a supermarket, Sherry’s father disappears and Sherry is saved by Joshua, a boy-hunter. He takes her to Safe-haven, a tumble-down vineyard in the hills outside LA, where a handful of other survivors are picking up the pieces of their ‘other lives’. As she falls in love for the first time, Sherry must save her father, stay alive and keep Joshua safe when his desire for vengeance threatens them all.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here's a little bit about my journey:

January 2010: I start writing The Other Life and finish the first draft within four weeks.

February 2010: I join Absolute Write and find fabulous beta readers. (Best decision ever)

End of March 2010: I start querying.

April – July 2010: Revising and querying.

August 2010: I accept Julia's offer of representation.

September 2010 : We go out on submission.

October 2010: We get an offer. A few days later we get another offer - from Usborne - and accept.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last but not least, a few thank you's are due:

Thanks to my beta readers Catherine, Elke, Dawn, Kathy and Debra who made The Other Life so much better. Another big thanks to Jill for going through the process together! And, of course, thanks to all the fabulous people on AW for their encouragement and wisdom! You rock!!

Thanks to Shveta The Other Life is already on Goodreads! Danke, Süße!

Letting Go

I went on sub on Wednesday and now I'm trying to keep myself busy with something.

Anything.

I'm desperate.

So desperate that I even cleaned the house and folded laundry yesterday. *gasp*

But now that I'm done with cleaning, I'm confronted with the same problem again.

How to distract myself?

Many people say it helps to write something else. That sounds reasonable.

There's no better way to distract oneself than to focus on a new WIP, maybe even a SNI (shiny new idea).

I'd love to do that. I have two WIPs and had a SNI for a YA Thriller yesterday, so what's keeping me from delving into them?

The answer's easy:

THE OTHER LIFE

The book I'm on sub with. I spent weeks with revisions and the last few days with synopses for sequels. It feels like TOL has become a part of me. It's the last thing I think about before I go to sleep and the first thing I think about when I wake up.

I know the characters. Their fears and hopes. Their future and past.

I know what'll happen to them and I want to let it happen to them.

I want to write the next book. I want it desperately.

But working on the sequel to TOL won't do me any good if I want to distract myself from the subbing process.

I need to let go of TOL for now. Need to let go of the characters and the little voices (don't worry I'm quite sane) in my head telling me to write their story to the end.

Like with many things in life, letting go of a book isn't easy.

I'm still in the process of letting go.

How do you do it? How do you let go of a book and its characters, and delve into the next project? Is it easy for you or are you struggling?

What should I read?

I just finished The Poisoned House by Michael Ford and I loved it.

I'm not sure what to read next. There are seven books on my desk right now.

So guys, I need your opinion. :)

What should I read next?

(Oh and btw, I just got my submission list. Yay!)