Category Archives: blog

A moment of weakness regarding publishing

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This week, I slipped into a moment of fear and doubt. Fear and doubt is common in my Adventures in Romance, but I’ve tried to keep myself from using the market as an excuse. I’ve pretty much heard from Day 1 how hard it is to try to go outside of the tried and tested boundaries of romance, but this week agent Nathan Bransford reiterated that fact in his post about the current recession and difficulties in the publishing market:

Nathan Bransford – Stepping up your game

I enjoy NB’s blog immensely and have developed a bit of an agent crush on him. (Which is nothing against my lovely agent! It’s just an internet thing.) His tone is thoughtful, even-keeled and optimistic — while also being realistic. He’s super knowledgeable and open with advice. So when NB expounded on my deepest publishing fear, my heart sank a little.

According to NB: “Publishers right now want the surest of sure things that are so sure it beats surety over its sure head. And agents have to adjust what they take on accordingly.

I don’t know if you’ve heard this news either, but there are very few sure bets in this business. So editors have to be really really really really really really convinced that they want to invest in a project in order to take it on, particularly for debuts, and particularly particularly for previously published authors with a mixed track record.”

It’s nothing I haven’t heard. Nothing that everyone isn’t saying, but — *sigh*. If I was writing something tried and true, I could just as easily bemoan that everyone says they want something fresh. It’s a losing game.  The only way to win,  is not to play.

Nathan did go on to say as writers, all that should tell us is that we need to step up our game. I like that part. I’m going to stick to that, put my pollyanna attitude back on, and ignore how hard it’s supposed to be.

Stolen from Dumb and Dumber:

Jeannie: Just give it to me straight! The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
NY: Not good.
Jeannie: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
NY: I’d say more like one out of a million.
[pause]
Jeannie: So you’re telling me there’s a chance!

Hungry Girl: How low fat recipes are like craft books

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I am infatuated with Hungry Girl. It’s a collection of low fat recipes and dieting tips for women. The website looks fun and perky, like the cover of a chick-lit novel, and HG has low fat recipes for “fun foods” like onion rings and ice cream shakes and eggs benedict. She compares them side by side with the “real” version to give you some perspective. 🙂 I found the site while searching for recipes using Shirataki “Miracle” noodles, another current infatuation of mine.

Fine, I confess. I gained some newlywed bliss weight because I have a high metabolism hubby who HAS to eat ice cream every night or wither away. (I hate him. Love him, but hate him.) And I have to be a bridesmaid this year plus fit into a nice dress for RWA conference. And I was tired of feeling down every time I tried on a pair of pants that didn’t fit anymore. Excuses, excuses…So I’m dieting. Dieting is a bad word in the weight loss world. I know it’s supposed to be a lifestyle change, but hey, I’m dieting. No two ways about it.

I made this great recipe for low fat onion rings yesterday. (Crushed high fiber cereal, seasonsings, egg white, dip the rings and bake them.  It’s awesome!) And I realized I was feeling good not only because I got to have onion rings for a snack without all the fat, but I liked following a recipe and cooking. Part of me enjoys the actual process of dieting. I like the extra thought and effort it takes to plan out meals and hunt out recipes and the success of finding little tricks.

Because it makes me feel like I can cheat the system. MWHAHAHAHA!!!

Which is exactly why I like to study writing craft. I’m searching for Donald Maas’ Writing the Breakout Novel right now to add to my bookshelf. Reading books like that makes me look at my writing and evaluate what I’m doing. It’s the same high of finding low calorie noodles or cooking “no-guilt” recipes. It’s extra work, but somehow, I hope that therein lies some secret and that I’ll find the trick I need to make my writing phenomenal. I don’t mind working overtime for it, but I just want to believe there is a way. That anyone can do this.

I want to fit into my skinny suit and write a bestselling novel while eating onion rings. I want it all.