January’s cold. Frigid even. So I thought an update on the status of the mystery novel See Jane Run! might cheer folks up. Before writing this, I checked to see when the the last update was posted and was shocked to discover it was September 21…just a few weeks before day of my fateful kitchen accident that left me one-handed for 3 months.

But because I’m as hearty as Jane, the heroine of the novel, I used the hunt and peck method to complete the book proposal and send it off to my agent. The couple of weeks I thought we would spend polishing it turned into months (the hunt and peck method does that to a person), and by mid-December my agent said it was ready to send to publishers.

She sent the proposal to 2 publishers before Christmas, and my best guess is that both copies spent the holidays stacked on the editors’ desks, looking on glumly while those in charge of their fate sipped eggnog and gathered round the Christmas tree to open presents. My agent agrees with the scenario and assures me that with the northern half of the northern hemisphere in the deep freeze, those editors are now curled up by roaring fires, sipping hot chocolate, and reading my proposal.* This week she’s also sending the proposal to another publisher, a long shot, but as she said, “We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”**

The other big news about the novel is that after 3 months, 4 departments, and 2 answers to questions I didn’t ask, the publisher who holds the copyrights for the old Dick and Jane reading series finally sent an answer to the question I did ask. Which was this: Does using A Fun with Dick and Jane Mystery as the title of the series and See Jane Run! as the title for the first book break any copyright laws?

Their answer was yes. It does. No big deal now, but my agent and I will soon have a brainstorming session about new titles for the series and the novel. If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comment box. They would be most welcome.

That’s it. That’s all. As soon as we hear something, I’ll let you know. Which I hope is soon. Because I hate to think of the book proposal languishing on the editors’ desks until mid-February or beyond, watching glumly while those in charge of its fate open Valentine’s Day cards and work their way through a box of chocolates.***

My baby novel deserves better than that.

*Those were not her exact words, but she did say editors go back to work with renewed vigor after the holidays.
**Those were her exact words.
***Those are my words, not my agent’s.