Current location:	St. Augustine, FL.
Current mood:	hopeful
Current music:	Finger Eleven - Paralyzer

The Plan.
So, I've got a plan.

But first...I'm going to fill you in on my...predicament.

Three years ago I told my Dad that I wanted to rent a very cheap studio apartment in downtown St. Augustine. I was sixteen at the time. My plan back then was to live downtown for two years allowing that time to give myself my own 'space' and to help me write on my own. Without any stress or worry. My Dad freaked, not because I was sixteen and too young for an apartment but because he hates anything that is 'rented', he claims it's like flushing money down the toilet since you're not paying to own and because you can't make money off of it later down the road. He is...a money man.

So what does he do? Instead of just letting me rent a cheap-ass apartment for a few years (something that I wouldn't be obligated to after I had spent the two years I originally wanted to downtown and could just up and leave onto my next adventure when I wanted to) he decides to BUILD a two story house right in the middle of downtown. Three years and $400,000 later my Dad has a half built house without a C/O, I'm almost nineteen years old, and my wanting to spend two years downtown (during the years of 16-18 because after that I planned to escape to Europe) has expired. My Dad has the notion of me moving in the house once it's done and living downtown for at LEAST a few years or so. I'm not regretting him building the house, after all it was his decision what right did I have to stop him? But it's hard to tell him that...that isn't my plan anymore. (Also keep in mind though that the house wasn't really built 'just for me', he saw it as an investment--and--it won't be going to waste. He's selling the ranch and moving into the house downtown so it'll be in good use....)

Now this...is my plan.

In early January (after the holidays) Tobias and I plan to get married and then take a roadtrip to the closest Swedish Consulate to fill out the necessary forms they need for me to get a Swedish Residence Permit, the waiting period is as long as six months. During the month of January I also hope to hear from some literary agents I will be sending queries to, my top choice is Maya Rock at Writer's House but that would be like winning the lotto and lets face it...I'm not that lucky but one can dream. My Dad is waiting till mid February till he gets a registered C/O for the house downtown because he wants to save money on taxes. After that he plans to let me and Tobias move in. A month later--March 17th to be exact--Tobias will be going back to Sweden. By then I would have waited about 2-3 months for the Residence Permit to be cleared so I could hear from them as early as March, if not I'll have to wait till June...at the latest. Hopefully if I have successfully gotten an agent around Jan-March I should have a publisher snatch up my manuscript around the time I should be receiving the Residence Permit, that is if it takes all the way to June to get it.

Hopefully--if all goes well--I should get an advance from them and I plan to use whatever money I get from it--no matter how little--to fund my trip to Sweden to be with Tobias and hopefully if I get enough money...possibly even get an apartment soon after. The tricky part is that getting an advance from a publisher is a HUGE gamble. Especially in my genre. I could get anywhere from $5,000 to $800,000. I'm hoping to at least get $45,000 but I doubt that'll happen...especially since I'll be just getting my foot in the door. The good thing though is that my book is aimed towards 'young adults' and they are the biggest and most trustworthy of readers in the market. If a YA book does well it will definitely have a strong cult following; some good examples are Harry Potter, The Twilight Series, and His Dark Materials. All of which have spawned movies as well. Also, my book is one in a series. Series books get a bigger advance, especially if they have enough faith in it to go ahead and give it a 3-book deal try which is what they did to Stephenie Meyer and her first advance was around $750,000. Which is a huge shocker because most publishers avoid books that exceed more than 300pages like the plague.

If all goes well I should be going to Sweden with my Residence Permit in hand around June/July and should be getting an apartment about two to three months later. I'm crossing my fingers!!!

I Broke Your Soda