The “Doink” of a Mouse Click

In the millisecond before sending a crucial email, I feel like I’m participating in a Schrodinger’s Cat experiment. Simultaneously I succeed and fail miserably. The message is grammatically perfect and riddled with embarrassing errors. I won’t know the final verdict until I “open the box” so to speak. Or recheck the sent folder and see what I really wrote. Then I either breathe a sigh of relief or die of embarrassment.

This experiment also applies to manuscript submissions. Simultaneously rejected and accepted.

To honor such a momentous occasion, I say, “doink” just before I click “send.” To me, doink means, there’s no going back. Once you click that mouse, your message/submission is out there.

As Frama-12 continues its journey toward bookhood I’ve uttered, “doink,” numerous times, beginning with my synopsis and sample chapters submission. I’ve said it before sending both rounds of edits to my editor, Jo.

My latest doink: Cover Art Sheets in my author’s portal.

This is the first time a publisher has ever given me a say in my book’s cover design. When I’d first seen the form I eagerly reviewed the artist websites connected to the publisher. Since The Wild Rose Press mainly specializes in romance novels for adult readers, the majority of covers I viewed featured men’s bare torsos.

While half-naked men have their place, it wasn’t on my book cover. When I brought that up with Jo, she kindly directed me to the YA section of the publisher’s site for more appropriate concepts. Why hadn’t I thought of that?

After reviewing the book covers, I narrowed down the field to two artists. Next, I wrote up a few Frama-12 possibilities to run by Jo. She liked them, so with a doink, I submitted my completed Cover Art forms.

As fate would have it, a better idea popped into my head a few days later. No sooner had I emailed my new thoughts to Jo when she let me know that the art department had already completed the cover.

Happily, I fell in love with Kim Mendoza’s cover. I like the colors and the playful vibe. And I like the curiosity factor. I’m hoping a potential reader will see it and think, “What the heck is Frama-12 and what does it have to do with toy soldiers on a beach?”

My final doink for the week, not counting the one to post this blog, was to submit the book’s blurb below:

Winnie Harris, following a warrior code in honor of her mother’s fighting spirit, will do whatever it takes to protect her little stepbrother, Mikey. Kip Skyler, charming to everyone but Winnie, impresses her stepbrother with his sleight of hand. Now Mikey wants them to pass through a time tear into Frama-12 and save the inhabitants from an invasion. She’ll be the general and Kip the wizard.

Winnie sees two problems with the mission. Frama-12 is just a fantasy game, right? And Kip is majorly annoying. But she’s only half right. If the incompatible teens can’t work together, an enemy could march through a very real time tear and attack Earth.

It feels like the process is speeding up now. If this experience were a rollercoaster ride, I’d be almost at the top. Thanks for letting me share this wacky ride with you!