I'm reporting back to say that I made it through all of my readings over the weekend without passing out or puking all over myself.
Seriously though, the 6th Annual Bold Strokes Books LGBT Book Festival was wonderful. I read selections from Better Off Red and The Fling and I think I did all right. And I think I made my mom proud by wearing a dress.
courtesy of Angie Williams.
I look hot mid-sentence. I received excellent feedback on Better Off Red and The Fling. I signed some books. It was all very exciting.
In other news, Blacker Than Blue is off to my editor and I must say I am VERY happy with it. Moving forward, I have two books and two shorts in the pipeline and I plan on cleaning up a screenplay. We'll see how all of that gooes.
In more other news, if you don't follow me on twitter, you haven't seen this little beauty. Fangdangler finished reading Better Off Red and found himself inspired to draw Ginger and Camila. To say I love it would be an understatement. He also has some great adventure time fanart on his deviant art page.
I have a short story and a book creeping up on me here and I haven't been talking about them at all. WHY??? Because I'm behind the eight ball like a motherfucker on Blacker Than Blue: VSS Book 2 and it's due in three weeks. The day the manuscript is due I have to appear in Palm Springs for a four day event where I will be reading three times. I hate reading out loud in public. I hate reading out loud when it's just me and my cats, but I'll have to do it three times in front of friends and other people I respect. Throw in the huge shitshow with the RWI/RWA contest (I'm not going to rehash it, but here are the details.) and the subsequent interview I was asked to give and you'll get one strained Bekah. My stress levels are at an eleven right now. Any time I spend on the internet I use to take away the pain of being on level eleven. I don't want to talk shop. But that's only half of the problem.
See here's the thing, I've had a really traumatic relationship with The Fling, which will be out April 16th. click this preorder it. Now that it's done and my editor helped me give it the tweeks it needed, I am very happy with the finished product. I LOVE the characters. Love them. I want to marry at least four of them and spend forever in their loving embrace, but getting to this point was trying and that's putting it lightly.
I started writing this book at a really bad point in my life. I was leaving a job, suffering from a really intense back pain, a good friend of mine died in a car accident and I won't lie, I was suicidal. I didn't try anything, but I made plans. And guess what, that shit showed up in my writing. Oksana, who is a character I'm very happy with, got all of my sads. Luckily my mental state improved. I left the horrid job and the horrid boss. I got to spend time with my family. I sulked to my mom. I reconnected with an amazing friend. WE GOT KITTENS! I brought more positive into my life and my moods started to stabilize. Thank god for my boyfriend who held my hand for that time.
But let's back up. So this is all going on and then I hit that horrid sophomore slump. Better Off Red walked out of my brain with its bags packed and was just waiting for a cab to the airport. I had to drag The Fling out kicking and screaming even though I was trying to send it on a nice vacation. I had the whole story outlined to death, but my stupid, crazy, depressed brain and my busted back were making it so very difficult to get the thing down on paper and then I would get bummed that it was taking me so long and then I had to do final edits on Better Off Red and then I was bummed again. It was a mess.
Oksana looks like Amber Rose in my imagination.
Anyway when I got The Fling back from my editor her notes basically said "WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!" Emotionally, I was trying to kill Oksana and every thing I did to her was in complete contrast with how awesome she is. Seriously bro, she's a sexy biracial Russian chick who lives with her grandma. Those of you who've read Better Off Red know I try to incorporate a nice bit of humor into my writing. It's there in The Fling. I've given myself a few chuckles rereading the final product (not out loud of course), but with as much humor as there was I loaded Oksana down with emo. It wasn't working. Editor and I talked. We fixed it. Oksana is not crazy anymore and I am very happy with the final story, but see I don't want to talk about it because every time I look at that book, I think about how depressed I was while I was trying to write it. I think about how painful the process was and I just don't want to go back there. But I have to suck it up.I have to tell you people all about it.
I've learned a lot writing and editing The Fling. I learned what I need to do complete a project with my sanity intact and as a result working on Blacker Than Blue has been a much smoother process. Even though I'm a little behind, I know I'll finish on time. I've even LOST weight while writing it. I know, I'm shocked too.
So my point is, I have another book coming out in April. I'm really happy with it. You should by it. I can't wait for you to meet Annie and Oksana. :) If you'd like to have a look at them go here. Warning: some of the Annie pics show boobies. If you've read Better Off Red you should DEFINITELY pick up Women of the Dark Streets. I'm calling Study Break VSS 1.5. It gives you a look into Benny and Cleo and leads perfectly into Blacker than Blue. It's also busting with great shorts from some great authors. I've sneaked a peek.
P.S. I know talking about depression and suicide makes some people really uncomfortable, but some times talking about it saves lives.
So I'm switching it up today. Author Emily Cale is swinging by to share her writing journey with us. Pull up a chair or a piece of couch and give it read. I think you'll find Emily fits in just fine around here.
--
Wow! When Rebekah asked me to calculate
the number of days since I sent my first query letter, I never
imagined it would add up to that many. In some ways, it still feels
like I wrote that first manuscript a few weeks ago. I sent that first
query letter for my novella, Tamed, in June of 2010. Then I waited.
And waited. And waited. I'd love to tell you I was patient, but I
wasn't. Fortunately, I was out of the country at the time and unable
to stalk my email. The normal response time passed and I followed up
one night before going to sleep. When I woke up the next morning I
had two responses from the acquisition editor in my inbox. The first
said she was sorry for getting behind and that she'd read my
manuscript right that minute. The second was an acceptance letter
with contract.
I wish I could tell you that it's been
all uphill. I've learned a lot of things in those roughly 600 days.
1. You can do everything right and
still get a rejection letter.
2. You can royally screw stuff up and
still get a contract.
3. Don't submit partial manuscripts if
you haven't finished the book. No, seriously. Even if you think
you'll finish it in the three months it takes them to make a
decision.
4. If you screw up #3, it is in fact
possible to write 50,000 words in a week. You will hate yourself and
everyone who comes near you.
5. Rejection letters are harder to get
after you've gotten acceptances. I thought it would work the other
way, but it turns out that knowing how good a contract feels makes
the sting all that much worse.
6. Writing books doesn't get easier. I
actually think it gets harder. Now I know so much more and start
hearing my editors telling me what's wrong with a scene. I also worry
about how I'm going to sell stuff. I know I shouldn't, but I do. I
have some weird ideas and I have no idea if they would ever be
publishable.
7. Reviews are awesome and terrible all
at the same time. I've had some really fantastic reviews and some
that make me wonder if the reviewer read the blurb, let alone the
book. I'll tell you that my best rated book sells only half as well
as my worst rated. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but clearly
there is no correlation.
8. Waiting does not get easier. I panic
after every submission I send out. I've waited as little as 3 hours
for a response and as long as 5 months. I rarely know how long it
will take and the email always comes through when I'm least expecting
them and never when I'm stalking my inbox.
9. I have not started writing better. I
have started editing better. With each book, I get better at finding
the little things that need fixed and doing them before I submit.
10. I don't know a damn thing. People
ask me for advice and I know exactly how they feel. I still scour
blogs and forums for that one gold nugget of wisdom that will make it
all make sense. I'm starting to think it might not exist. If you find
it, be sure to let me know.
Since that first query letter, I've had
1 rejection letter, 2 revise and resubmits, 11 books contracted, 8
published, and I have one thing out on submission. Public Display of
Affection was my 10th contract and my 8th
published piece. I'm just as happy each time one comes out and this
piece has been especially exciting for me. I love both Lucy and
Samantha and find that a lot of readers seem to relate will to them.
Public Display of Affection Blurb:
After a heartbreaking end to her
relationship with her girlfriend, Lucy Stark is looking to try
something more adventurous. She turns to Madame Eve’s 1Night Stand
service to help her find the perfect woman to push her boundaries and
introduce her to the more daring side of a sexual encounter.
Samantha Taylor’s helped more than
one woman explore her sexuality, but Lucy’s the first to really get
to her. Keeping her walls up and the women she dates from getting
inside is a skill she’s managed to master. After one night of
unbridled passion, she has to decide whether to give up her hard
exterior or let the woman of her dreams slip away.
Emily Cale spent the majority of her
childhood as a visitor to the worlds of her favorite authors. With
encouragement from her English teachers, she put pen to paper and
began imagining her own stories. Preferring the fascinating lives of
her characters, she majored in creative writing. When not lost in a
manuscript or a good book, she enjoys crocheting, rock climbing, and
playing board games. She currently lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
with her husband and a very spoiled cat. You can find her online on
her blog (http://www.emilycale.blogspot.com)
or Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/EmilyCale).
I know some people come to my blog through avenues other than twitter so here's the skinny on the up-down (I know that made no sense). I'm guest blogging today over at Babbling About Books and More on why I write lesbian romance and more importantly, why I write ethnically diverse lesbian romance. Do check it out.
the awkward teenager i reference in this guest post
And in response to the recent rash of writer on reviewer crimes, here's my personal stance. I read reviews, but I know they aren't for me. They are for other readers. As a writer it is not my place to attack reviewers for their opinions. I am psyched that people have read my work and that's that. To the authors attacking reviewers for posting reviews OF YOUR BOOK, not your looks, or your mom, or your kids, please chill out. You're making the rest of us look crazy. Smoochies!
Check out the Lesbian Fiction Appreciation Event starting today (Jan
7) through Jan 21 over at Babbling About Books and More. Posts from
lesbian authors, publishers, reviewers and bloggers.
My post will appear on Jan 9, but today,
author and (my) publisher Radclyffe is blogging about the facts of queer
fiction AND she's giving away books. Click the link. Leave a comment!
“When I turned 18, I felt I was grown up. Then when I
was 21, I reflected, ‘Boy, I was just a kid then; now I’m grown up.’
The same thing happened when I was 27. It wasn’t until I was in my early
30s that I realized it was a futile goal to have. You’re never grown
up. We’re all still dealing with the same hopes, same fears, same dreams
that we had as children.”
—
Shelley Duvall
That's how I feel about 2011. It's 2012 and here's what I got. This year I'd like to:
- lose 90 pounds. I promise you, there is 90 pounds to lose
- get along better with my dude. Two people and two cats in a small space and drive anyone crazy
- write more
What a list! I need to be more organized, save money and a bunch of other things I should be doing no matter what. we'll see how those things work out.
Now here's what's happening whether I slack off or not.
I'll be adding my two cents in a guest entry about why I write lesbian romance. Multi-cultural lesbian romance more specifically. I've already submitted the post so that wont add to my mountain of procrastination. I really appreciate KT's efforts with this event. In 2011 I saw just how hard it is to find exposure for lesbian romance. Readers are into it, I know this for a fact, but a lot of review blogs and websites refuse to review it. I'm not sure why this is. Some site will go as far to say they are LGBT friendly, they'll review m/m, m/f/m, m/goat/dog/f/m, but no f/f. Boggles the mind, but hopefully KT's event will bring more authors and readers together. My awesome publisher Radclyffe will also be contributing so please drop in, leave a comment, click some links, BUY SOME BOOKS!
February 1: It's my birthday and I have tickets to The Price Is Right. I'm pumped.
March 1- 4: 6th Annual Bold Strokes Books Palm Springs LGBTQ Book Festival. I'll be there, trying my best not to barf on myself before, during and after each reading. More info HERE!
In the meantime I have to proof the final run of The Fling, out in April, and I have to write Blacker Than Blue: Vampire Sorority Sisters 2. I'm a good chunk in, but I'd like to be further. I'll stop blogging and get to it then. :) Happy New Year.
