don't fret lil novey, your mom thinks you're cool

So I just received my first official rejection letter. I have to admit, I feel kind of proud. It's like a badge of honour. Ok, it's more like a participation ribbon, but it's a participation ribbon that says "I put myself out there and I'm part of this crazy system now!" or something like that... In all honesty, the first rejection, while disappointing, wasn't at all unexpected (I'm not dellusional) and the agent who penned it is an agent for whom I have such immense respect that the whole thing hasn't got me down. It's just left me hungry for more replies! I'm getting close to the point where I can enter phase two of my querying (the phase where I begin to query more widely), but I'm still anxiously awaiting for more replies from phase one (my fantasy league agent picks).

In honour of Lil Novey's first official rejection, I want to share a little more about her with you. For starters, her working title, which is Chameleon. (*gasp!* Does this revelation mean I can no longer call her Lil Novey?). As I said in a previous post, the idea for Chameleon struck me like a bolt from the blue while I was on vacation and the title struck me pretty immediately as well.

Here's the gist:

The overwhelming pressures of high school are enough to leave anybody feeling lost, but sixteen-year-old Brynn Davis knows what it feels like to actually disappear. When a chameleon bite leaves Brynn with the uncanny ability to camouflage herself at will (rendering her completely invisible), she finds herself fumbling to grasp at the responsibility demanded by her unfamiliar and temptingly powerful new gift, a struggle that is only heightened as she unwittingly becomes aware of its dark origins.


Ok, so that was just a little taste, clipped and pruned from my query. As you can imagine, sixteen-year-old-girl + invisibility = wacky hijinks ensue. Throw in a hot guy or two, some hilariously colourful BFFs and you've got yourself 102,000 words of YA fun. At least, I think it's fun and I really hope some lucky agent out there thinks so too :) More than fun, I think the story has a lot of heart. Having grown up in a small town (well, small city), I wanted all of the quirks and charms that go along with that existance to shine through in Brynn's world and I feel the story is that much richer for it.

I think I'll leave it at that for now. I really hope there comes a day when Brynn and my other darling characters (who, let's face it, are practically real people to me now) will get to have their day in the sun, but for now, it's back to the query-grindstone as I remind myself, it'll only take one "yes" to make my publishing dreams come true. *sigh*