Dear Diary,
This is such an old fashioned way to begin what I think will be a dialogue with myself, which is what a diary is all about, right? No one will read this but me, probably. That's okay. Blogging makes the world a smaller place, but I'm not unhappy with being anonymous in this very big world.
First, let me begin by admitting it's been over six years since my last paying writing gig. OOPS...We're Married has been a dream come true. I've done a lot of writing since then, been rejected (I really hate that word) more than a few times, and after all that, I'm finally working on a story that has turned my writing inside out. Thank god.
Three months ago, after writing a proposal in which I had the hero all wrong...it was the best friend, not the returning prodigal son...I threw up my hands in disgust, and posed a question - there was a lot of cursing involved!
Why is it so hard to figure out, first, what your voice sounds like, and second, where it fits?
I've been writing contemporary romance and women's fiction since I seriously came back to writing in 1997. Why has it been so hard to write a story that an editor will want to buy? I had no answer except, maybe I was writing in the wrong genre.
To find out if this was true, I decided to test a theory. I picked my favorite heroine, my favorite hero, and my favorite scenario. I would write the same scene in four or five different genres. I wanted to see if it would be easier to write in one genre more than another, and if it was, would that be where my voice fit best? To keep it simple, I threw out the rules, and processes, I'd collected along the way.
So, Clare Higgins is a thief; Logan Pen (yes, I changed his name, so sue me) a mercenary. They would meet in a bar. And, I started with paranormal. Mostly because I've never tried to write one of THOSE, didn't think I could, and would be able to check that one off my list very quickly.
Two hours, and five pages later, I was in love with these characters, and this story. I'm half way through the book, and don't think I'm ever going to look back.
This diary is going to be my attempt to chronicle my journey. I don't expect anyone to read it but me. I won't make any promises that I won't keep about coming back regularly. This book has a tendency to grab me and not let go for awhile. I'll add some pics. The first one to the left is a hint about which sub-genre of paranormal this story falls under.
And Diary? For the first time in a long time, I'm having the time of my life.
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