Too Late To Apologize

Not only is this a kickin' song, it's a type of mantra for writers. Once your lovely book is released unto the masses, watch out. Some will love it. Some will hate it. Some won't bother to give a shit and will post your literary baby on eBay as quickly as possible.
I read "If There Be Dragons" by Kay Hooper this last weekend. It sucked. Verily.
I've read some of Kay Hooper's other work. Her psychic/detective works. And I liked them for the most part though some are bland. But this book? A waste of my time and the pages it was printed on.
There was no conflict. I would have more conflict if I opened the medicine cabinet, eyeballed my nail polish, and couldn't decide between red and blue. (By the way, RED always wins)
But I digress.
Writers will not always make readers happy. Period. And readers will not always stroke the writer's ego and exclaim at what a beautiful piece of work was written.
Just doesn't happen.
But when you come across something truly atrocious, should the writer bow his/her head and mea culpa you to death?
Hell no.
A work by any author stands when it's published. Whether it remains standing or falls all to hell is, unfortunately, up to general populace.
I have auto buys, though admittedly very few. And when I get a book that makes me throw up a bit in my mouth, I put it down and move on. Or I post a snarky blog such as this. Then I'm good.
If, however, heaven forbid, I stumble across a rant by a reader about one of my books, will I stop and apologize?
*snort*
You're kidding, right?
If a book is horrifically put together, I wouldn't let it be published. Not going to happen. The only reason I could even fathom someone having an issue with it would be content. And isn't that too damn bad for those who don't have the honor of debating with me what will or will not reside in my work of fiction?
Take a number. Form a line. Get comfortable.
So even though I have come across some truly horrid pieces of fiction and non-fiction, that's okay by me.
Writing is subjective. Reading is subjective.
Thank God.
Grins*

Writer's Market

O
M
G
I LOVE the Writer's Market. And guess what??? The 2009 edition is out!!! *dancing*
Oh, yeah.
This large book is one of my favorite toys and resources. And it highly appeals to my office supply/stationary fetish. *grins*
If you don't have this book, and you're a writer...GET IT!!!
So...um...I have everything color-coordinated with post-it notes. Each page I'm interested in is post-ited on the top of the page and then right over then entry I wish to peruse again.

I've already decided that when I finish Earth Goddess (Book Four of the Elemental Guardian Series) that I will seek out an agent and/or publisher. And the book I wish to peddle is about halfway done.
Go me!!!

Other than my Writer's Market fixation, I'm pondering my vacation.
Oh yes. It's true. I will be gone the end of next week and through the weekend. How long has it been, you ask?
Too
Damn
Long
Oldest Chicken is in Missouri right now with Upward Bound. She's exploring caverns and going to Silver Dollar City. When she gets home, I'm having her backhoe her room.
Enough said.
Grins*

Writing

Hello my lovelies!

It's all about the writing today.

What shall I endeavor to impart today? Words of wisdom? Precious pearls of pithiness? Annoying alliteration?
Obviously.
*grins*

I simply want to talk about the writing.

When I talked at Red Dirt, I tried to stress the importance of writers listening to their literary souls. Because when that voice is heard and validated, the writing is as it should be. I'm not talking Hemingway here. But I'm speaking to the deep sense of satisfaction writers feel when the words convey what we selected them to convey.
Ah, bliss.

I find my writing pattern changes with the wind nowadays. I let my schizophrenic tendencies take over. Whether that means writing out of order (a major occurence as of late) or simply working on four different works at the same time (my desktop is NOT loverly), I embrace that. Because that's in my literary comfort zone.

Gone are the days when I had all the free time in the world to sit down and conjure up a fictional world. Long gone, my friends. Now I snatch time as I can from the steely jaws of Father Time (I wonder...does he REALLY have steely jaws?) and work with what I am able to work with.
So each word is precious.

I HATE the delete button. I really, really do. Say I'm bipping along, weaving my story, and I hit a speed bump. When I, myself, am taken out of the story. THIS is the Kiss of Death. If I can't even follow it, who the hell else is going to? But I never continue in the same vein. Deleting a sentence or two is fine. Deleting half a page makes me look extremely hard at my cocktail selection.

I also know, when starting any one novel, whether it is more traditional romance fare or the naughty stuff.
(You know I love both.)
But with a title like Programmed for Pleasure...methinks that an explanation of content would be unnecessary. *grins*

I find that the more accepting of my style, the easier the writing. When I looked back on this past year and realized Programmed for Pleasure released in November 2007 and Water Goddess released in December 2007, I was amazed. Just a month apart.
And the fascination with this?
Programmed for Pleasure is a Controversial Romance. There is sex aplenty. There are toys, voyeurism, and other such things.
Water Goddess has one integral love scene.
A complete dichotomy of my books.
But yet, undeniable extensions of me.
And I'm well with that.

So I'm simply saying...be who you are. Write what you know or what fascinates you.
Don't shut down those voices in your head (Wait...is that just me???).
Embrace who you are. The life you can bring to your story.
And don't be afraid to foray into paths less travelled.
THAT'S when the real story begins.
Grins*

Writerly thoughts

I'm addicted to writing. I've already shared the fact that I'll be finishing one book by the end of this month, editing it, and then editing another one.
BUT...I also have an idea for another book-due by the end of October, and an Amazon Short I want to put out there. And did I mention Wind Goddess and Earth Goddess? I didn't???
*sigh*

I've also been thinking about what I'll be discussing at the Red Dirt Festival in Oklahoma in November. It just keeps going 'round and 'round in my wee little head. What am I going to say to these lovely people when they come to the panel with Me, Merline, and Christine?
Should I tell them that writing on a good day is orgasmic and on a bad day is the fifth level of hell? Should I mention that sanity is no good indicator of anything? Should I just scare the hell right out of them? lmao
Nah.
Let them find that out for themselves. *grins*

I've never known anyone else but a writer who gets another writer. Period. Spouses and children will sympathize and emphathize...but they just don't get it. God bless them.

Writers are odd creatures. I make no apology for it, myself. Hell, I revel in it. I'm the square peg. And don't you wish you were the square peg, too? rofl
Uh huh.
We have great fun. *wink*

So I suppose I'll do my best to encourage them and tell them to hold onto their dreams.
But leave the sanity at the door. You don't really need it.
Grins*