Posts Tagged ‘Leigh Royals’

There  has been much to say on both sides regarding the inclusion or recognition of epubbed, or also known as, digitally published authors. I am working on two submissions right now. One for Samhain and one for The Wild Rose Press. I am unagented. Agents don’t do digital (yet) I do want to make it to print. (part of the allure of TWRP, some do go to print.) But either way, I would like equal representation.

I’m new to these rules and learning the ins and outs of the industry. I, for one, do not understand the rule on advances. It seems that the merits of the work should be what allows it entry for the contest. The nature of electronic publishing and the sheer volume it presents, making it inexpensive to buy, to use, prevents the advance. But if total sales were a value, it wuold surely go to show. I know of a survey asking in which pay range you fit. http://surveys.polldaddy.com/s/904EFBDB8B8B97FD/ Please do excuse my lack of finesse, or of eloquence.

What I so sollemnly want and desire is to share my work. Being paid for it would certainly be nice, but actually, my sole motivation is to share my love of writing with others. I want to have people enjoy something that I provided. What an even greater delight if my peers also recognized my love in my work. (through a contest, of course.)

I AM for change. Only because I can see what is occurring to my friends and fellow authors. Writing is more than just something for fun. I do it because, I have to.

And hopefully, one day, that will included contracts.

Dreaming while awake is interesting. No, I don’t mean daydreaming, although that’s nice too. I mean following your dreams with such a passion that you are almost blind to anything else. I wake up, and besides wanting to go back to bed as soon as possible, I think of writing. It consumes me. If I’m not writing I’m plotting, I’m thinking of those two new twists that just came to me. I’m planning on ways to torture, or at least be cruel to real people put into fiction. (C.L from work, I’m working on YOU! [it's ok. they don't know I write.])

I’ve moved past my malaise and discouragement about me taking so long to get anywhere. I mean, if I drew a graph for time spent and effort put forth, it would NOT be an inverse diagram. (where’d THAT come from.)  So besides obscure math references, I have oodles of romance fiction  waiting to be purged.

I will exorcise these characters, so help me…

I’ve been a reader forever. I read at 4 years old. But of romance, I’ve only read since maybe my senior year of highschool. My tastes have ebbed and flowed depending on what was available. Only in the last 4 years or so have I actively sought a certain genre. But again, there is a trend that makes certain types of books more available. Regency seems to be the most popular lately. It has been said that it is fading out, but I haven’t seen evidence of that. I have seen that other’s are making a surgence, without diminishing the others. (I think the reason for that is because there are as many varied tastes and likes as there is people. And also because reading is one enjoyable pasttime that will not be hindered overmuch by the economy-some, but not much.)

I’ve read tons of regencies. (haha, i made an unintentional pun.) I’ve read westerns. I’ve read indians. (not exactly the same as westerns.) And there are other historicals. 

So, perhaps some writers would say, I must write x because it is ‘hot’ now.

But not me. I’m not necessarily against riding the wave or current trend. I’m no fashionista, or glamor goddess. But I know what I like. The same goes for writing. I write what I love. And I love history. American history. And why not start around the birth of our nation?

Theres a beginning trend now for this type of historical. I haven’t read much. And when I started this ambitious series, I had seen none. So, I felt a little aprehensive. Would this be accepted because there isn’t this out there right now. But I snapped out of it, quick-like. Whether there is or isn’t wasn’t going to stop the story. It had to be told. And I’m telling it. Where it goes from here, no one knows. So, am I part of a new movement? Did I [preconceive where the next trend was going? 

I don’t think so. I think I’m writing what I love and that perhaps, just maybe, someone else would like it too.

I have been on and off the fence regarding looking for a literary agent since I seriously started to pursue writing. I’m going very slowly, having half-way finished a work last year only to realize after contest subs that I needed to start over. Which I have. And for the better. But now I want to move forward. Not too fast, because I want to do it right and do well. 

I want to get a critique partner and polish up the first few chapters so that I can begin shopping my work around. I have little clue to which agents I should pursue. I have some clue to which publishers I will try. I want to ultimately aim for New York, I mean, who doesn’t, but should I aim small at first? There is an e-publisher whose lines have a perfect fit for me. I think I’ll go there. Dare I mention them? Ok. I will: The Wild Rose Press. They have an American Rose line. Excellent! It would be so perfect for the series I have planned and started. 

When I think on it, I get all fluttery in my belly. Excited, nerves, anxiety. but…

I don’t have anything completely ready to sub.

I’m surprised I haven’t been able to get a CP yet. Having one seems crucial to me. It is an integral part in being able to give your best. Having objective eyes looking at these words and characters is necessary so that I can offer my best. I just need to have the gumption to get it out there. I am wondering if waiting for a CP is worthwhile, even as badly as I need one. But I’ve been working on this one book for too long, and I refuse to lollygag. Part of the length of time is because I have been toying with it. But last year, It got real.

I wrote 150 pages. I was proud of and impressed with myself. But, it was dreck. I’ve been guided some since then and hopefully have managed to learn from what information I’ve been given. The work isn’t too terrible, I hope, to warrant a second look. I’ll polish as much as I can, but editing can be done still. Just like it. Like me. Believe in me.

I think I’ve already established to my readers that I love history. Why else would I write historicals. But I really thoroughly enjoy history. I have recently acquired, through renting, the HBO series John Adams. I have watched all but the last episode. I am enthralled. The first night that I watched it, I stayed up until 1 am reading about him on Wikipedia. That led to more reading on other revolutionaries. Sure, I could chalk it up to research for the series, but honestly, I was having fun.

In doing so, I reinforced knowledge I already had, and gained further insight to the men of that time. Having done this ‘research,’ as I watched the rest of the series, save the last episode, I found the series very close in line with what I’ve read, even down to the quotes from certain figures, namely, King George III. Although it’s History, the story draws me in. It’s so encompassing to ‘witness’ the events, as it were, and take them into my psyche.

I don’t know if I could ever convey the conviction I feel for the Nation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a laid back gal, but I love being an American. I love how this came to be. And adding to this emotion, this passion, is the conviction of those who began it.

So much interesting trivia among those pages, and those episodes. Pay close attention, I gathered more information for my next scavenger hunt. (One such fact relates to the question of date of death for Adams and Jefferson. Did you know another president from that time died on the same date five years later?)

Anyhoo, I’ve spilled my guts and brain on this topic. How does this pertain to my writing. Well, it could come in handy. I mean, the whole series is before during or soon thereafter the events depicted. And I liked doing that research.

Now, to research for the sweet scenes. ha ha. Lucky Mr. G. Royals.

So, who hasn’t made a few in their life, eh? I know I have, and I’ll continue to do so. However, at any venture, I know that I strive to do my best. The same was two or three years ago when I wrote First Love First Aid. It is a cute short story about a nurse who falls in love with her employer. It’s kitchy, cliche. And awful. Well, not very awful, but a bit.

None the less, I still have pride in my work. Am I proud of writing something that years later is making me cringe for just a second? No. I’m proud of the fact that I can recognize the growth that occurred since it was created.

That is why in my recent contest, I included a signed copy of it in the prize package. I hope that the cuteness of the story makes the reader enjoy it; I pray they forgive me of the grammatical and spelling errors still present that neither myself nor the editor saw the first few times before it was set in internet stone.

Most of all, I hope that it isn’t as cringe-worthy as I no longer think it is because I want readers to want more. I promise I’ve improved. And I’ll show you.

How do any of you feel about your former writing?

So. I decided that it is imperative for my current WIP be entered into a contest. (I haven’t paid yet, but I will) With that motivation behind me, pushing me, I realized that the required first chapter or first 25 pages is NOT ready. For a week I’ve been hemming and hawing about it. I procrastinated enough. But I did make a painful decision. I decided that I had to cut out the debris. Let loose the detritus that was my superflous prose. It was all info dump. What is that, you say? Well, it was mostly information that I had thought was pertinent to the story. But it was all back story told as it happened. It didn’t move the story forward. In fact, it backpedalled. So, somehow, I will have to craft the most important threads of that forsaken 30-50 pages (I know! A lot!) into the forward momentum of the rest of the story. If I do it right, I can sprinkle some here and there and reveal bits of character for the H/h as I go. That would go so much farther in connecting with them, instead of me telling you how to get there.

And speaking of telling. I have GOT to stop doing that. Bad writer, Bad, bad. I know to use my senses. And I’m improving, but, still a lot of polishing to do. I decided at my halfway word count goal (151 pages so far out of a hopeful 300, at least) to start editing now. Because if I go on without editing, that might mean massive, and I mean ginormous rewrites. My tired little brain can’t wrap around that. I’d feel much better if I got things honed now and moved forward from there.

I even devised a clever little scheme. In the work in total so far I color coded the segments in pink for her, purple for him and brown for other scenes. After I did that I reordered some of them and didn’t color code what I haven’t transfered yet. What I have is started the book in a different spot, much later than I had earlier. This way, you drop right in the middle of ACTION baby, instead of waiting for it to happen. I know this is a smart move. Besides, all of the flotsam and jetsam is political or inconsequential. Further proof that it will NOT move the story.

I just hope that despite the fact that the H/h do not meet within those first 27 pages isn’t going to hurt my chances. At least they’re both introduced to the reader… We’ll see. I’m awaiting feedback from my good buddies. Come on people, pretty please and thank you, I have a deadline.