An absolutely lovely review of "Some Girlfriends Can" has been published at Tangent. My favorite line: "In our society, where women struggle every day to dig up a shred of self esteem, Lauren is a touchstone of wisdom and courage." Wow. I'm going to save this review and cherish it. On a day when I wasn't feeling very good (mentally or physically), finding that review felt like getting a wonderful gift.

(Of course, I am not nearly healthy enough to read reviews of my work without help. I made Patrick read it first, to tell me whether or not it was safe...in my current stressed-out state, there was no way I could have handled reading a bad review today!)

Last night I finally, finally came up with a query letter for Masks and Shadows that I like. This feels like a minor miracle. Now if I can just put together a decent synopsis...I hate trying to summarize 105,000 words within 5 pages! (And don't even ask about those agencies that want 1-page synopses...) Between working on academic job applications, research statements, and novel query packages, I feel like I'm spending way too much of my life trying to market myself right now. Bleagh.

But the good news is, it's nearly time for the Leeds/Frankfurt Christkindlmarkt to start again! Yay! Gluehwein, Stollen cake and chocolate-covered strawberries, here I come...