My manuscript is finally completed and 50 pitch letters sent out to agents who have been successful in getting memoirs published. I was stunned when, within five to fifteen minutes into the emailing, I received twelve responses, four of which wanted to receive the full manuscript.
The second day, all quiet. My editor said this was a good response and probably more would drip in over the next month. Now, he said, “put your feet up, have a drink and wait.”
I’m sharing this for any of you that haven’t been through it as yet. In other words, you have to have the “patience of Job.” Not one to sit very long with my feet up, I am turning to my writing.
But herein lies the problem in trying to write—anything. How to focus with the enormity of upheaval in our democracy and the ensuing violence. How can any of us go about our daily lives with our sacred building and lawmakers in our democratic system being attacked? Fear is real. I am a Democrat but, knowing that the Republican party is dividing into two factions—gamers and breakers, as Timothy Snyder wrote in his New York Times article—can tear and weaken the very fiber of our democracy. And the fact that the extremists have infiltrated our Congress and policing forces has given rise to more fear. Now what?
We all sit in our Covid isolation stressing out and wondering what we can do to help. Wishing for superheroes in Congress as we fortunately have in the hospital ICU wards across our country isn’t enough. We need to make it known that those responsible for the insurrection, for the mobs, and for those complicit in Congress, need to be held accountable. PLEASE write your congressmen and congresswomen of your support for this. They are receiving a great deal of pressure from their colleagues and need to know their contingency supports them.
So, as I sit here writing a blog, sorry. I have to get these thoughts off my mind before I can start any other writing project.
I recommend reading Timothy Snyder’s article on the split in the Republican party.
Here’s the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/magazine/trump-coup.html