Okay, I still can’t format, still can’t double space and hitting the “enter” key sends me off to La La Land. I’m going to find some other tricky way to break up this long ramble. How about switching colors for paragraphs?I’m terribly excited about Brian Keene’s new blog, World Domination 101 . He plans to talk writing and in his own, blunt and sometimes painfully truthful fashion. Just the way I like it. Here’s a clip:
RULE #1: No matter how good of a writer you are, you can always be better. The day you decide that there is no room for growth, the day you decide you’ve written your magnum opus and will never top it, the day you decide (like Anne Rice) to publicly declare you don’t need an editor—that is the day you deserve to be tied up, bitch-slapped, and have Ira Levin’s terrible Son of Rosemary read to you at a high volume.
Oh yeah, baby. Bring it on. I suffer from the exact opposite problem. An overwhelming desire for absolute perfection before I start sending these babies of mine out into the world. I stuck my toe into the water years ago, received bad and even some very good reviews from various editors, but I knew in my heart the books weren’t up to speed.I’m sure every writer out there feels that deep down, they have this fantastic story or style, that if they reach deep enough, they’ll create something that will take a reader’s breath away. We know the ability is there, we just have to chip away whatever walls we’ve built around it.
But at one time, I thought my books were good enough and I tried. Later, after taking a break to help with a family business (never a good idea, btw), I went back and looked over those books. Ouch. No, they weren’t up to speed. But, I did see a few things that surprised me.
Some of it was good. Very good. My first book — er, no, not good. It was a conglomeration of every Harlequin Presents novel I’d ever read. I was twenty one when I wrote it and it was full of so much stomach churning melodrama, I purposely lost it the manuscript.
Book two was a little different. This was my first try at paranormal and while the plot is thready and the heroine icky, my hero, Ian, was pretty damned cool. The setting in Wales was also good… This one can be reworked.
My third book was fun but broke all the rules. An engineer being roped into stripping for a bachelorette party in the first chapter. But then, I went my usual shadowy route and gave the pianist heroine all these deep, dark issues. The editor said my style was lively and fresh but I had too many mainstream elements and not enough conflict and technical skills. She also had a problem with the heroine’s job.
So, I decided to take a break and study writing. This can be a good thing and a very, very bad thing. I have more “how to write” books than one person can need. So, my fourth book was technically perfect. Sent it to the same editor and well, got my all time worst rejection letter. She could see absolutely no reason for these people to get together or stay apart. She didn’t care for them and why did I have to add that dark element of the heroine taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s? Not romantic at all. Whoa.
So, now we’re on my fifth manuscript. Great title, great characters, pretty good location, okay villain… Got a new editor this time and she sent me a two page write up. Loved the writing. Said it was fresh and compelling but once again, I got the old standby that I dealt in too many mainstream elements and it took away from the romantic fantasy. Oh, and my heroine was too strong. What? In one scene, the hero stayed in the shadows to watch a byplay between the heroine and some teenagers giving her a hard time. He was there to jump in if needed, but he wanted to see what was going on since she never would tell him. He watched to see what was said and also because he knew instinctively, that she desperately needed to handle this on her own. The editor hated the fact that he didn’t jump right in to save her. Today, this scene would work. The market has changed and heroines are stronger and more independent than before.
So, now I’d written five category romances and after being told repeatedly by both editors and critique partners that my style wasn’t category… I finally realized I don’t write category. I still want to and will probably try again, but I have too many characters and too many of those pesky dark elements. Not that category romances don’t have dark elements, they do. They just apparently don’t in my style of writing. Good, but too harsh I was told. The last editor suggested I go single title. So that’s what I’m doing now.
I like reading about people with real problems, with damaged souls, finding love and happiness. I love themes of redemption and simple human kindness. And I like the scary shit. So, as I recently told an editor at Surreal Magazine, I finally learned to embrace my dark side and write what I really love. Today, they call it urban fantasy. What a freaking cool description.