As promised

So I went on a roadtrip this weekend with my friend Erika. We had several adventures and got to see some beautiful sights. We drove up to Saugatuck and walked along Lake Michigan and through a forest (hence the allergy attack I believe). The waves were so pretty - so blue and perfectly formed. Then we drove up to Traverse City where it was cooler but also beautiful along the lake.
The excitement came Saturday when we met with the president of a book publishing company. Erika had emailed him out of the blue and off we went to a bookstore Saturday morning. He was very sweet giving us time out of his weekend and listening to both of us talk about our projects (hers - nonfiction, mine - fiction, Deployment). I felt so, what's word, significant, sitting there having that conversation. It was interesting. Like writing matters - like what I put down on paper might actually be real. And so I took a deep breath and handed him a copy of the first 33 pages (at that point the only 33 pages) of my book. I'm pretty sure there's some rule that says don't approach a publisher with an unfinished manuscript but I couldn't help myself. And I figure screenwriters do it all the time when they pitch ideas and concepts. So I mollified myself thinking I was pitching a story with a pretty good start.
He emailed Sunday saying it was nice to meet with me and that he'd read my chapters and get back with me early this week. So we'll see. If nothing else, it was a great experience and a good contact. And he gave me a copy of a book he'd recently published about golf. So there's that.
After that meeting we headed to Gwen Frostic's place which was pretty cool. She was a businesswoman and artist who left a pretty amazing legacy (and a cool 5 mil to WMU's art dept). She did these neat little art drawings and printings of animals and such. Check her out!
Ok - so the allergies are still going although the expensive little pills are helping. Time to finish a few more pages of that manuscript then head over to the afterschool program for some homework and puzzles. I'm hoping to do the 300-piece tiger one today!