The Long and Short of It

This week will bear slim pickin's on the blogspot...unless one of my children does something outstanding, cleaver, or just doggone silly that needs to be written about least I forget it ten years from now.

The reason is 2006 promises a multitude of things that I hope will bear much fruit on the creative side of life. I've listed them in order of priority:

1) This week (Dec. 31, to be exact) I have a book due at the editors. It is a literature book for Catholic parents. Under contract, I had a year to write it and it is written, but I'm still tweaking and grinding and editing and still not completely satisfied. By week's end I will just give up and hope that the editor can do something with it. I leave it in God's hands.

2) I have in my hands a contract from Hillside Education for the Catholic Mosaic study. This is basically a Living the Liturgical Year Through Literature type study. The publisher promises to have the cover image sent to me shortly. I look forward to sharing it with you. We're hoping to have it finished end of January and published in spring (I'm hoping). I leave it in God's hands.

3) Plans are to finish The Lacemaker's Shop (a devotional book centered around the mother of St. Therese of Lisieux, her home, and lacemaking shop) this year and have it published. I have had many publishers interested but no contract commitments. One has asked me to check back with them in spring '06. If it is complete, I might. Again, I leave it in God's hands.

4) I'd also like to ask prayers for this publishing intention. The long and short of it is I wrote a picture book about Rose Wilder Lane (daughter of famed children's author Laura Ingalls Wilder) and sent it to Pelican Publishing in New Orleans. I waited. They were interested and asked if I could rewrite it into a middle grade reader. So I wrote the first two chapters, rewrote the outline, and submitted a marketing ploy, which they requested, and sent it to them. And I waited. I was notified that I was to deal with one specific editor and that my manuscript was being reviewed by the board. Again I waited. Then Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I anxiously waited for word, and found out that the Pelican building had been spared massive damage. Then Hurricane Rita hit and we were evacuated for a month. The next month was full of getting back to living. I finally received word from the editor at Pelican which read in short:

"Dear Cay: I'm glad you are well. We are recovering and making little progress in acquisitions. We have been deferring decisions, especially with children's material. Right now your sample is 7th inline for evaluation, and we are doing no evaluations at the moment. I have no idea when we can resume. Possibly at the start of 2006."

And so I continue to wait...and hope...and trust...and leave it in God's hands.

Maureen Wittmann did recently share good news with me. Sophia Institute Press will be coming out with her book The Catholic Homeschool Companion to which I am a contributing author. That book will come out in early 2006 so we joyfully await its release.

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam (AMDG): To the greater glory of God