Hello Fellow Writers!
So recently I wrote a 5K word erotic story to try and submit to an anthology. They only need 20 entries though, so the chances that mine will be among them is slim, I admit. Still, it was fun to write! I sent it off to one of my beta-readers for critique, and I also took on one novella and one story from two of my beta-readers to read for them, so I will be a busy bee for a while.
Today I asked one of my fellow Ellora's Cave authors, Darah Lace, to chat. She wrote Saddle Broke for EC, and Unmasking Zorro and Bachelor Auction for The Wild Rose Press.
Shoshanna: When did you first get published, and did you get rejections before that?
Darah: Rejections? OMG, yes. I have a file cabinet full of rejection letters from editors and agents. I think that goes with the business we're in. My first novella, Wrong Number, Right Man, was published in 2006 at The Wild Rose Press, but I sort of dropped off the face of the earth for a while. I didn't try again until 2009 and in 2010 I sold to EC (Saddle Broke) and TWRP (Unmasking Zorro and Bachelor Auction). It's been a great year so far.
Shoshanna: If you could go back in time and tell your pre-published self something that you know now about writing, what would it be?
Darah: I'd tell myself, "Self, stop short changing yourself. Don't stop trying. Stick with it!" After a particularly disheartening rejection I lost my self-confidence and it took me way too long to get it back.
Shoshanna: I did the same thing years ago, I got a form rejection and just completely stopped submitting stuff! Fortunately I kept writing, even though I was just sticking my manuscripts in a a drawer, lol.
Without further ado (has anyone ever said "we need more ado?"), here's the blurb for Bachelor Auction:
Marcus Preston wants a relationship built on love and trust, but the woman he wants made it clear long ago she's only interested in fun and games. Yet, moving on proves difficult when no one else can erase the memory of the night they shared last summer.This week is a holiday week (Have a sweet New Year, L'Shana Tova!) so who knows how much I'll get accomplished. I'll probably get all my reading done if possible. And I still need to outline Protecting Emily. Or maybe I'll just go to temple and not get a thing done...Today I'll write my advice column for The Mahopac News early so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow. Wish me luck, and good luck to you to!
Charlotte Reese doesn't believe in love, marriage, or happily ever afters. An occasional one-night stand is all she needs to take the edge off her loneliness and enhance the bad-girl image she uses to discourage commitment-seeking men—especially Marcus, the only man to melt both her body and her heart melt.
When Charlotte wins Marcus hot off the block of Houston’s Most Eligible Bachelor Auction and they’re forced to spend the weekend together, she seizes the opportunity to seduce him and extinguish the attraction sizzling between them once and for all. But for Marcus, it’s all or nothing. He won’t be seduced. Instead, he’ll show Charlotte she has more to offer a man than sex.
And thanks Darah Lace for joining us! Oh, and by the way, I adore her tagline: The Seduction of Lace.
It's always nice to hear that others get rejected then go on to be multi-published authors! It's nice to know us pre-published writer's aren't the only ones who had to go through the ups and downs of this business. Congrats to Darah Lace on all her success so far. And happy holiday week to you, Shoshanna!
ReplyDeleteThanks Heather!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Shoshanna for letting me chat with you today! Can't wait to read Punishing the Art Thief!
ReplyDeleteHi Heather, we've all been pre-published authors at one time or another and I'm a firm believer that you have to keep at it. You never know when one story might stick somewhere. Thanks for dropping in!
ReplyDeleteI recently received a really great rejection and I realized that it wasn't my writing (agent said so) it was my synopsis that needed more work. You never really know what it is that's keeping you from getting that yes, so until someone tells you, keep pushing through. That's my motto anyways!
ReplyDeleteRachel Firasek
Good advice, Rachel. And really, is there anyone out there who likes to write those darn things?
ReplyDeleteUgh, so true! Squeezing a whole book into a page or two and still keeping the feel of it is really hard stuff.
ReplyDeleteNice interview. Rejections are part of a writer's life. Writers have even papered rooms with them. One of the tricks with a synopsis is not to put too much in that some editor wants to change.
ReplyDeletelol Janet
ReplyDeleteI agree JL. You have to find the right balance. Give them enough to show the GMC but not enough to make them ask questions about how such and such could actually work.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, D!! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks L! And congrats on your new release, Possessing Hayley!
ReplyDeleteYes, L, congrats! I'll post your link here in case anyone wants to check it out: http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-8605-50-possessing-hayley.aspx
ReplyDeleteLOL - I have to tell you that the rejections don't stop when you're published. They still arrive just as much as the good news. :)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, Shelley, you must get a *lot* of good news - I checked out your website and you are one *very* prolific author! http://www.shelleymunro.com/books/
ReplyDeleteI hear you Shelley! I'm trying to finish my latest wip to submit and half the hold up is fretting over every word I type. "Is this going to be the one that gets me a rejection?" "Is the heroine's reaction stupid?" "Does my hero have enough motivation?" The worries don't stop after publication, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteYeah if anything it's almost like there's more pressure, knowing that what you write will actually have an audience! That thought alone puts me into a different mindset than I was in when I would write and then throw the manuscript into a drawer without submitting it anywhere!
ReplyDeleteThat is so true. I didn't feel half this much pressure before. Not that I'd want to go back. LOL
ReplyDeleteDarah: Wow! The chest on that guy. Smokin'!
ReplyDelete(My erotic Wild Rose Press paranormal is coming out soon. Next month, I'm still hoping. Scarlet Rose line. See you around the Garden!)
Shoshanna: I'm so happy you finished that 5k'er! I'll keep my fingers X'd. That's a fabulous oppty.
thanks Taryn! Let me know when TWRP has the buy link up for Sleepy Hollow Dreams!
ReplyDeleteThanks Taryn! Awesome news on your release coming out. Congrats!
ReplyDelete