Vanilla Ice said it best. “Love it or leave it you better gain weight, You better hit bull’s eye the kid don’t play.”

Okay, that actually makes a lot less sense than I remember rapping as a teenager, but the key here is that there are some things that I really hate doing and writing query letters is one of them.

Agency’s make it pretty clear. Failure to include any one of their specified submission components, inability to demonstrate extensive knowledge of the agency’s or agent’s particular publishing interests, a single misspelled word—committing any of those these mistakes is grounds for immediate refusal (and don’t even look at the ‘attach file’ button or you’ll be banned from the entire industry for life). All of that makes for the most STRESSFUL writing that I have ever undertaken.

And yet, every time I send a query letter off, a tiny bit of hope froths in my heart thinking, hoping, that this could be the one.

I’m in my thirties. I work. I do laundry. I wipe bums. Frankly, I don’t get that excited about too many things in life anymore. It’s a pretty nice feeling when I do.

So yes, as I hit my ¼ of the way there milestone, part of can’t wait till this whole hideous process is over—and part of me, will be sad.