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| no one is as cool as SJR |
We were in Wal-greens and she was telling me that those sunglasses were cool. It was a day she had to take a her little sister to the store. For me that was the first time in my pre-teen life that my big sister, easily the coolest person I knew (she wore Exclamation! perfume after all) was trying to bring me to her level. I texted her about it the other night and we both had a laugh remembering those silly sunglasses that we quite a hit at camp.
What does this have to do with writing? I'm glad you asked even though you totally didn't ask. Something interesting happened the other day. I got paid. YAY! Let's hear it for money. This isn't about money though. Not really.
I think every author has their favorite stories and their favorite characters -- of their own. If a reader asks my what book of mine they should read, I automatically say Better Off Red. If they had little time I'd tell them to read Better Off Red, or The Fling if they ABSOLUTELY hate paranormal, but I always start with Better Off Red. I don't even know that it's my favorite of my books, but it is the first thing that comes out of my mouth. Funny thing is The Fling has been my best-seller since it's release around this time last year.
I've blogged about The Fling and the trouble it caused me.(Check out this post for my account of writing and editing while suicidal.) When I finished The Fling I hated it. Not, the work or the characters, I love both, but I hated my relationship to the book itself. Its creation reminded me of a very, very bad time in my life. But I sucked it up and went on with things, wrote some more, what have you.
At one point I told my live-in-lifemate that I had a feeling that readers would like The Fling the most. A few months later I saw my publisher and she confirmed that The Fling was doing very well indeed. Not that my other books were doing poorly, The Fling was just doing better. A year later, that's still the case.
So what does this all mean? Hell if I know. Does writing while suicidal work? I guess though I don't recommend it and I'm sure I don't want to go down that path again. But I do know that as an author what I think about my work on a personal level will most likely not match up with what the readers think. In the fall my new short, Forever Yours, Eileen which I think is the best thing I've written so far, will be out. We'll see what readers have to say or if they even give it a chance. Here's my favorite review of The Fling to date.
By the way, The Fling is still for sale.
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Misc. Update : Here's what I'm working on now/what's coming up from me.
Edits for At Her Feet which will be released in September
then I'll be writing a hetero novella
then I'll be writing a lesbian novella
AND THEN I'll be writing a hetero novel
Two lesbian shorts of my lesbian shorts will be released in September
Another lesbian short of mine will be released in October.
then I'll get around to writing the next book in the Vampire Sorority Series.
Sorry I'm taking my sweet ass time. Also take all the writing portions with a grain of salt. Sometimes I say things I don't mean.
Cher, that's the way shit works.
ReplyDeleteIf I thought I failed a test I aced it, if I hate a painting people think it is my best shit evah (proving they have no taste at all).
What I do know is that as women we are programmed to be polite, deferential and not to brag. Plus with you being a Yankee and all -- from New England no less -- that shit is multiplied by a factor of a boob-zillion. So automatically we write our disacceptance speech - I don't deserve this praise,....
OR Not - u r from a 1/2 generation than I am -- ur folks were no doubt cooler and didn't raise you to be totally neurotic. Perhaps, like most artists, you are just more critical of yourself than others are.
The point of art is that u try and produce something sincere. Sometimes stuff writes and paints itself and doesn't give us the beta feeling long enuf. The NEXT experience does not repeat the prior experience, and we miss the beta waves.
Look at artists across time and see that many have had similar experiences. Not all rushes or orgasms are as good as the last. The point is to carry on.
So babe - CARRY ON!
no no you're right on. my best friend and i were talking about this the other day. its been 2 years and i still havent really let myself celebrate being published period. some times you can take humble a little too far. :) thanks for the cheer up.
DeleteI think the stories we write with passion (and yes, much angst) tend to carry more of an emotional punch than the pretty, nice, well-crafted writing.
ReplyDeleteI don't (yet) have the luxury of comparing books sales, but I do know that my crit group and beta readers seem to resonate more with the work that I had a hard time getting out. Which is good because it would be sad to think we went through all the agony and sweat dragging out every word and the reader response was, "meh." At least there's SOME payoff. :-)
Thanks B. its been really interesting to see how draining a story process is in relationship to how readers react to the story. one day you will know the confusion and the pain!
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