Maybe I can say, "I knew her when ... "

Somehow it just makes this business of writing seem a little more real when something good happens to someone you know.

It's kind of like today when we figured out that the cute little squirt in the movie The Gameplan (Madison Pettis) is the same cute little squirt who was in my daughters' hiphop dance class two school years ago. We've seen the trailers and the ads, but it took my mom saying, "That little girl is from Arlington," for us to say, "Um, OH YEAH!" She's probably even in the home video Todd took of the girls doing their dance. Only problem is Todd kept focusing on some unknown little girl because he thought it was Kristen instead of focusing on the whole group. We were saying tonight at dinner, "We should have purchased the class photos." Some day they might be collector's items. I know, I know. (But, seriously, you never know.)

Anyway. I digress. I was reading Elayne's blog tonight and was so excited to see that she had a request for a full manuscript this week! Now, if you don't know much about how all this works, here's the deal. First, you send a query to an agent or editor. If they're interested after reading your query letter, they usually request what's called a "partial," which is usually about three chapters of your manuscript. Then ... if they like that, they request a "full." That, my friends, is the whole enchilada. That is a big deal! They might still pass on it, but just to have an agent or editor request a full is awesome. I wouldn't know yet, but I would imagine it's a big boost to the ol' writer's ego.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed for Elayne. I know she's a good writer--we sat in several read and critique sessions together at the 2006 La Jolla Writer's conference. Perhaps her manuscript will be the one the agent or editor is looking for!

I get butterflies in my tummy thinking about when that day comes for me ... and then I remind myself that first, I have to get that manuscript finished so it's even a possibility. Heh.