The Waiting Game, wasn’t that a book title? My current definition of frustration is waiting for responses to the query letters I’ve sent out. I certainly understand and sympathize with the agents though. I can’t imagine the number of submissions and queries that they have to read through every day. Then, they have to find time to see publishers and work with them to get the manuscripts they’ve accepted published. No publishing, no income to put it simply. Still, you toss your baited hook into the water hoping for a bite. The nibble may not come for three to six months if it comes at all. Some agencies are kind enough to send a rejection letter; others tell you that if you haven’t heard from them in a certain time period, they’re not interested. So, you wait, and wait, and wait. Your mind gets anxious and you go back through the book. You’ve read it so many times it starts reading like “crap,” despite what your friends and family say. I’ve debated self publishing so many times that I can’t remember what I’ve decided.
My waiting game isn’t wasted though. I’ve finished re-reading and editing the first fourteen chapters of my second book. Now, I 
need to finish chapter 15 and I’ve outlined chapters 16 through 20. So far, I like what I’m doing with/in the second book. I am hoping that I am giving the writing even more of a Peruvian flavor. I haven’t got the complete story in my head though and no title yet. With the first book, I had two titles in mind at this point. The complete story will come as I write.
The writers’ group is now defunct. With the loss of Katrina and Amanda we are down to only two writers, Victoria and me. Victoria has deserted fiction for now and is working on her poetry/song writing which leaves me as the only one working with fiction in mind. I’m hoping that at some point in the future, we will be able to regroup with some new writers. I would like any new group to be mixed and it would be wonderful if I could find an experienced/selling author to join. Time will tell.
I had several meeting with friends this week. I enjoy the café life here in Lima. Sitting over a steaming cup of strong java and discussing what’s happening in our lives, in Peru and around the world always makes for interesting conversation. On Wednesday I met my friend Kano for brunch at Café Z. I met him when I was taking Spanish lessons at ICPNA and we have stayed in touch. He is on his week’s vacation from work and has been relaxing, hitting the gym and taking an on-lone course from Apple. He works at the Apple Store in Jockey Plaza. Naturally I met Larry for our Friday morning coffee chat. After taking a break from his creative and artistic side, Larry is working on some new essays. It will be interesting to read them on Living in Peru after they are published. We always spend some time talking about topics other than writing. Organ donation in Peru, New writers, strange words (do you know what a palimpsest is?), politics, immigration and healthcare just to mention a few. I met with Kathy also; she’s still struggling through her divorce. She has planned a trip to Chile in August though and another one back to the USA in the fall to visit her new grand-baby.
I have made another new friend. His name is Diego de Soto, an American, who has aspirations to be a writer. We’ve met twice. 
He’s given me the beginnings of a new book he has in mind and I have sent him a couple of chapters from my second book. We sit, have coffee and give a quick critique of each other’s work. I, in particular, am looking for a male perspective on my writing. He, I believe, is looking for help in putting emotion and better descriptions into his writing. He’s a nice young man (30’s), living in Peru and teaching English. He has family here and a girlfriend I haven’t met yet. He has written one book already, an autobiography.