The Waiting Place

The Waiting Place…

…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or the waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for the wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this passage from the Dr. Seuss story Oh, The Places You’ll Go. I hate waiting. But then again, does anybody really like waiting?

No. Nobody likes waiting.

But I’m finding it particularly difficult as I wait to hear from the editors in New York who have my manuscript in their inboxes. I feel like the guy in the Dr. Seuss illustration with the weird bird thing standing on his head. I catch myself just staring off into space.

Of course, I know that waiting a couple weeks, in the grand scheme of things, in the publishing world, is NOTHING. Seriously, nothing. I know editors are busy (and if you happen to be one of said editors – please know – I know you’re busy). It’s just that, for so long I worked on that manuscript every day, and now that it’s out of my hands, I feel adrift.

So I’m keeping busy. I am working on my next story, making good progress in fact. I’ve even allowed myself to start thinking about the outline for novel number three. I mean, a person does not spend nine years building up a habit of writing every day just to quit when the first manuscript is done. No sir. I’m in this for the long haul.

But the anxiety I’m feeling over having my work out there in the big old world is highly, highly distracting. I wasn’t even going to blog about it, because what am I writing really? I’m not complaining. I’m thrilled to have an agent who is excited about my work and is shopping it around. And I’m not trying to figure anything out. There’s nothing to figure out. I’m just waiting.

Maybe I’ll watch Princess Bride again. I love that movie.

Anyway. Sorry for the rambling post everyone. I promise to get my act together and come up with something useful to say ASAP.

Cheers.