Back online! WooHoo!

You've probably noticed I haven't added any new blogs since Wednesday. That's because I coudn't. My computer did an automatic update, and guess what? It killed it! Yes, that's right, Windows updated with 66 new changes, and my computer decided it had had enough.

Sigh.

We just got this machine a year ago. I'm lucky. I have a neighbor who does computer work for a living. We sat down at the machine and got it up and running (but not online) and turned off lots of stuff I never knew were on. Did you know that there are like twenty programs that do nothing but keep track of what you are doing so the computer can get there first? So if you go online each day at 4pm, the computer gets your online program ready at 1 minute till 4. It doesn't even ask if you want it to.

So, we turned off all the monitoring stuff, and we turned off lots of manufacturers stuff, and we found the lighted eye floating over the pyramid... Oops, wrong story. Sorry.

Long story long (It really cant be made short anymore). I had to totally dump some programs and reinstall them. I didn't lose any data (Thank God!) but it has taken me since Wednesday to get back here.

So, now I get back online just in time to report another rejection. Yep, it's only my 6th official rejection. Oddly enough it feels no better than my first. Stephen King supposedly had over 700 rejections before he made it big. Gads, no wonder the man writes horror!

When you write your first book and submit it, you can't understand why no one wants it. When you've written several books, and you submit one, you know the chances of it selling are slim to none, but you still hope it will sell. That hope is what keep you together. Each rejection is a bruise on your hope, and each one takes a while to heal.

It's a good thing I have an ego the size of the Hindenburg. Of course the size thing didn't help the Hindenburg that much either... Could that old saying actually apply in romance novels? "It's not the size, it's the technique..."

ARRRGGGHHH!

Okay, I'm nervous! Not just a little nervous, but dog-gone-it nervous. (Yeah, I'm a bit of a country hick at heart, deal with it.)

I just sent off my two erotic stories to Harlequinn for their "Spice Briefs" line. Now I have 2 partials and 3 full manuscripts out there being read. Not just being read. I have things being read all the time. No, the difference is, these are being read by editors and agents. As in people who can actually get my stuff published.

I have to go back to what Christina Dodd said at the RWA luncheon last year. "Having your first book read is like steping up on stage, pulling down your pants, and waiting for a response."

Well, it's getting a bit drafty up here on stage, and now that so many people are looking at what I've got, it's downright embarrassing too!

So yeah, I'm a bit high strung right about now... Pity any telemarketers who call me right about now...

what's your bag?

I was at the grocery store today, and I realized how odd life must look from a grocer’s view. I was behind a couple buying soy milk, fresh fruit and Cheetos. Alright, they weren’t really buying the Cheetos, but it’s good artistic license. I really did see a twenty-something woman buying a bottle of Harbor Mist (wine) and a large tub of chicken livers.

I thought about the odd combinations of food and supplies people buy and had to laugh. Yeah, there were people there buying beer and chips, but there were just as many buying Jello and toilet paper. (Another combination I’m not really sure about!)

In the grocery store the poor grocer has to keep a straight face when the big burly men pick up a package of tampons, or the prim proper lady grabs a box of Magnum size condoms.

I watched people for a few minutes and realized the items weren’t the only odd things they were doing. I realized people in a grocery store will dress in way they would never dress anywhere else. There was the lady with the immaculate hair and makeup in line with me. She wore a tailored white shirt with a silver necklace and matching earings to enhance her image. But all of it was lost when you got down to her miniskirt that had a hole worn in the backside and flip flops on her feet.

Believe me when I say that there were much worse dressed people there. Some of the people seemed to think they were home and it was okay to wear stretchy or translucent clothes with no undergarments. Eek! Can we say appetite suppressant!

So yeah, I think life from the view of a grocery clerk has got to be hilarious… Hmm, maybe there’s a couple of romance novels in there somewhere… What do you think?

Like pulling teeth...

Well, here we are, a Sunday afternoon, with lots to do, and here I am writing in my blog. The worst part is, I have nothing to say.

Right now I could be outside cleaning the cages for the refuge, or I could be at my church's afternoon get togather. I could even be working on building new cages. But I'm not. I'm sitting inside at the computer typing words into my blog when I have nothing really to say.

Sometimes I just have to be lazy like that. In all honesty, I work 7 days a week most weeks, and I just have to stop and do nothing occasionally. Even then, I still have about 2-3 hours worth of things I absolutely have to do each day. Oddly enough, the animals I care for insist on eating every day. Imagine that! The ones in my hospital get upset if I don't keep up with their medicines or special care. Such attitudes! So, even when I say "I'm not doin' nothin' today," I'm still doin' some.

I went out on 2 rescues yesterday and had to work those around a wedding. Typical day this time of year. Baby season has finally started to wind down, so I'm only getting 3-5 rescue calls each day now. The vet is tired of seeing me. I've probably seen them more than I have any of my friends in the past few months. Now that the season is changing, I might get a little break.

Nah. If it's not one thing it's another...

But I'm still here in front of the computer writing a blog. Why?

It's pretty simple really. When I decided to start my blog, I made myself a promise. I promised to write something in it every day unless there is a specific reason not to. Not feeling like working isn't a good reason. A hospital visit , the power being down, or other things like that are reasons for not writing.

So, here I am. Nothing to say, but writing in my blog anyway, because I always do what I promise. Even if actually writing down anything is like pulling teeth...

To Edit or not to Edit, That is the question...

When I finish a book, I look at it and smile. I usually jump up and do the victory fist in the air (sort of) at a job well done. But is it done?

No, Like I said in an earlier post, I edit my completed books at least 3 times before I even think about submitting them. On top of those three, I send the books out to critique partners.
Leslie Nuccio caught some things in my book Green Haired Beauty that made major changes in the novel. Tricia Bell has consistantly called me on stupid errors and subtle nuances that I just plain miss. After they critique, I have to redit the book again.

But the question comes after I've edited the book 3 times, had it critiqued, and redited. Am I done? I thought so, but I've found that's not always the case. I read through the book just before I submit it to be sure the editor will see it at it's best, and lo and behold, there are huge glaring errors jumping out at me. What the heck happened to my wonderful perfect novel?

I re-edit it once more then send it out. Now I'm done...Right? (Heavy sigh...) Nope. Two months later, when i've bitten my fingernails to the quick and pulled out clumps of hair waiting for some response from the publisher, I glance over my submission. And there is it... On the first page... In the middle of the page... Another stupid glaring error!

I sent in this garbage? How could I have possibly missed the difference between "from" and "form?" How could I have forgotten that critical comma? How could I have put that long paragraph in the beginning of the book when it clearly should be two separate paragraphs.

So, now I have a flawed manuscript in with a submission editor, no fingernails, decorative bald spots on my head, and I still hope I'll get published.

I've only written the book and checked over it 6 times already! How many times do I need to rewrite the thing? It's enough to make me tear out my hair... Oops, can't do that anymore... Maybe I can bite my... No? Darn. Where's that blasted chocolate when you need it?

Sometime I feel like a voice in the wilderness...

Each day people like me write our hearts out. In the writing clubs I'm a member of, there are at least 4-500 people that di justlikeI do. They work on their novels each day, they write blogs and websites, and they put out part of themself for everyone to see.

I'm unique, just like the rest of them.

It's funny, I read my own work, and I love it. I laugh at the humor and I get misty at the sad parts, but all in all, I like to think I have a unique voice. My writing is me, but it's also something I'll never be. It's something from inside me that is more than I am and more than I understand.

Okay I'm a writer, I should be able to describe this better... Lets see... When I work on a book, it becomes a thing unto itself. The characters become as real to me as the people I meet at my other job. They refuse to let me do things they simply wouldn't do. They go into the story kicking and screaming to be treated with respect.

The story itself won't let me know too much either. I can start with an idea, or I can start with an outline. Either way, the story will develop the way it wants to. What's the old saying, "Man makes plans, God laughs." My writing is like that. I'll start out with a full outline, and while I'm writing something will shift the entire focus of the book. Sometimes it's the world I've built, other times it's a character that's just plain not going to allow me to do something.

That's right, my books bully me. But in the end, the new storyline is always better than the old idea. Is it my own creative voice arguing with me, or is it just that I hate to follow the rules? Look at my books, you'll see what I mean. Everyone wants the basic alpha hero, I write and Alpha Prime Hero and the Alpha heroine.

Alpha Prime heroes are powerful, but secure in their strength. They let people do what they think they want, and don't play the 'overpower and control' games. They just do things behind the scenes and fix what needs to be fixed without the "in your face" garbage. In a way they are a more devious character, but they never force a woman to do something she doesn't want to.

My heroines are more the alpha characters. They follow the basic 'tough girl' mentality. Yeah, it's romance, so they had something bad happen to them, but you will NEVER see a heroine in my book get raped and suddenly fall in love with her rapist. That kind of cr*p is just that.

But, back to my voice. (clears throat) I've read a lot of romance books. I would say that I probably have over a thousand of my own, and I've read all but ten of them. I average 2 books a day over the last 3 years (which includes days of just reading where I have gone through as many as 6 books, and other days where I haven't finished one full book) Do the math 2 x 3 x 365 = 2190 books. I read to learn. I can tell you who the bad guy is before I get to the ad in the center of each book. I can usually tell you what compromise the hero and heroine are going to have to make to be happy. I can also tell you if I'll ever buy another of that author's books again.

Some authors always have a twist that gets me though. Lori Foster always has something highly emotional in her books that makes you need to see her characters get together. Candy Halliday always has something highly visual in her books that makes you just want to fall out of your seat laughing. Carly Phillips always has a feel good about yourself angle in her books. These are the author's voice coming out.

That's voice. It's just as important as a "brand" A brand is something like Vicky Lewis Thompson's use of "Nerds" in all her books.

Publishers love brands. I just love good books. I've read enough to know how many truly talented people there are out there.

When I look around at all the great authors, I have to realize how hard it is to be heard... Out here in the wilderness of unpublished writers.

Is anyone out there?

Frustrating delays

I'd like to think I'm a patient person. I honestly don't rush too many things in life, and I can usually wait as long as I need to for most anything. But I've gotten pretty nervous about how long publishers take to let you know whether they want to publish my books.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the delays. I know that for every winner they get, they have to read through hundreds of books that are just not what they want. On top of the problems of reading through the new submissions, they also have to work on the books they have agreed to publish. They don't call them readers, they call them submission editors because they have to go over the books and edit them before printing.

I was told by a published author that it can take up to 2 years from when they get the submission to when the book actually goes to print.

I think I'll be insane by then! Most publishers say their submission response is at least 8 bweeks. Of the three publishers I have submissions in to, one says 1-12 months response time, one says 4 weeks, but if you don't hear within 8 weeks you can email, but don't call. The third has a 3 month backlog (at least) according to their web page.

On top of the normal delays, the RWA national Conference is coming up. Most of the publisers send editors to the conference to hear pitches. They get literally thousands of submissions between July 15th and August 15th.

One agent sent me an apology because she hadn't even gotten to read my submission for 6 months! It just shows the number of submissions they each get every day.

But I will be published. I know I will. One of my novels will be on the desk in front of the right person at the right time, and I will get that call...