Out of the Blue

I often take a few seconds to read my horoscope as I reach the final pages of the paper. Now comes the news that for believers in astrology the world is forever changed, thanks to the science of astronomy, among others. Three different horoscopes of late for Virgos have suggested unexpected sources for professional advancement. As always, I folded the newspaper and took it to the recycling bin.

Then I got a phone call. I'd received a very nice rejection to a query I'd sent a small publisher. As I'm wont to do, I had responded to it with some kind of thanks. There had been almost three months between the sending of my letter and sample and the rejection note. A phone call from that publisher was certainly nothing I was expecting. The conversation took place on speaker, presumably so other(s) in her office could hear the lady in question and me talking.

You know how occasionally you meet someone that you know is on the same wavelength, who seems to give off those "vibes" that promise you can understand each other. This auditory meeting was like that. Without going into the details, I'll just say that I hung up feeling as though I might have made the acquaintance of someone who could become a friend.

After I agreed to send the complete manuscript she asked for, I tried to pull together my scattered thoughts. I already knew from their website that they offer "services" of various kinds to writers, not just the possibility of publication. While I await a response to the whole novel from the editors who are reading it now, I have to decide how to receive any advice they may offer short of a total refusal. They know the book has already undergone a professional edit, but if they think it has possibilities for publication, they will ask me to pay for advice and instruction. Do they really think the book is worth the effort and expense of publication because it could be profitable to them? Or are they interested only in gaining the income writers can provide to their book doctors? Two editors who will presumably decide have already sent humorous and welcoming notes.

As the king of Siam kept repeating in the musical, "'Tis a puzzlement." So now I have to sit around while they presumably read my novel and either decide to forget the whole thing, or to offer me for a price something to salvage it--and of course, with no guarantees for either of us. Such a temptation.

I wonder whether my sign would now be Leo or Libra--and if it would make any difference anyway.

P.S.: I see the debunkers are now being debunked. The Zodiac is still in control as it has been for millennia--or is it?