Christmas is only a week away, meaning that everywhere you look it shows. Stores are full of seasonal decorations, toys, gifts, etc., and even on TV holiday themed movies line the cue. I’ll admit i’ve been indulging in some of these Hallmark movies lately. They’re a bit corny and mostly predictable, but call it a guilty pleasure of mine.
At least I have finished all my shopping and baking for the season. I decided to go simple this year and focus on home-made gifts. So my sewing machine was working at full blast these past couple of weeks. I’ve created a number of triangle shaped Santas out of fabric, some Christmas tree shaped decorations with a cinnamon stick as the stump, and stuffed bird ornaments that seemed to be a tradition of mine now, (i’ve made them for three years now).
As for baking, I went all out! Fruit cake, gingerbread house and cookies, two different types of shortbread, one of which has lavender and two different types of truffles. I do find baking being one of the main events that helps me get into the spirit of the season. I’m not sure if it’s the sugar or the nostalgia feeling that comes around to make me feel that way, but i’m glad I had the time this year to really go at it and make several containers full of goodies.
Part of my baking and home-made gifts this year was to hand out flavoured butters instead of traditional gifts to those family members that i’ll be seeing on Christmas day. I’ve never made flavoured butter before, but thanks to Pintrest I’ve found four ‘easy’ recipes to try. The one good one I know turned out well was the cinnamon one, but I hope the other three turn out to be just as good to those who receive them. If it does turn out well, i’ll be sure to do it again for other get-togethers.
So now that I have Christmas all looked after, it’s time for me to get back into my writing and sending queries out to potential agents. For the past almost six months i’ve probably sent out a good 15-20 queries… and so far i’ve received rejections from almost 10 of them. The rest I’ve still haven’t heard either way. I’m sure most of those are instant rejection as i’ve heaven’s heard back in three months. Not only that, but the rejections i have received have all been the basic response – the whole ‘just not the right fit’, and to ‘keep trying’. I have to say it’s not just disappointing but frustrating that I don’t know if it’s just not the agent’s style or it’s my writing that are getting rejected. If it’s my writing… i’m not sure how to fix it.
In the mean time, i’ve completed another 50k novel for NaNoWriMo and i’m currently working on the sequel of the novel i’m currently seeking agents for. I hope I can get the sequel in better condition before sending it out to beta readers. I also have an adult fantasy novel in the works that I hope i can focus on in the new year as well. Until then, i’ll be trying to keep sending queries out and writing as much as I can. I’ll also try to keep up with my blog more in the new year.
I hope everyone else is having a good lead up to Christmas. It’s a time for kindness and giving and I hope that despite the commercialism, the stress and business of the season that spirit can still seep through.
N. J. McKay 