Patience is a virtue I don't possess

It's been all of...oh, 4 days since I mailed off the first 30 pages of my manuscript to the literary agent who liked my query letter. The rational side of my brain tells me that a) it probably only just arrived yesterday, b) she undoubtedly hasn't even glanced at it yet, let alone opened it, c) it's totally unreasonable to expect that she will contact you any moment now, and d) she estimated up to two months before I could expect to hear back, which it could very well take. But I'm fidgety and anxious. Probably because this is the first agent I've sent my material to and I find the whole adventure thrilling but stressful. I realize that I should be preparing myself for very probable rejection. But because one of my good friends, and a romance reading afficianado, was instantly hooked after reading the first book and keeps harrassing me to finish the next one, I have high hopes for this agent being intrigued enough to want to read the whole manuscript. I'm certainly keeping my fingers crossed, but the waiting is already driving me bonkers! I've never been a particularly patient person and this experience is showing me just how much of a character flaw that can in fact prove to be. (sigh)

So I've been trying to distract myself by plugging away at the sequel. I'm having a blast and anticipate hitting the hundred page mark some time in the near future. If things go as planned, I may even have a first draft done by the beginning of the New Year. Which would be good considering the fact that I actually have three other books that I've begun work on for different series I'm envisioning in the future. It's really sort of scary, but after writing one novel it seems like my mind has become a veritable wellspring of ideas that are demanding to be put on paper this instant. My muse is definitely feeling frisky these days so it would be nice to get a publishing contract sometime in the next six months so that I'm not writing novels just for shits and giggles. Getting paid to do this would be a nice bonus. Especially considering the fact that I have massive student loans I'm going to have to start paying back once I graduate in 2007. It's not all that far off, and the prospect of repaying over $30,000 gives me the cold sweats. Literally.

Lately though, one thing I've been considering is what the cover of my novel might look like. I really want to avoid any horrid, tacky, or just plain weird images (a la Harlequin, Ellora's Cave, etc.). Don't get me wrong. I've read my fair share of books from both, but the covers! Why? Is there some evil sadistic mastermind behind these things, plotting ways to get readers NOT to buy romance novels? I mean, how often does a crap cover just turn you off? I usually don't even read the back if the front looks bad. But I suppose writers don't have a whole lot of control over those kinds of things. I just hope that if my novel gets published I can get a decent cover that I won't be ashamed to call my own.