Writing Out of My Preferred Genre

So, I finished writing the detective story last Friday morning. I re-read it (countless times) edited, revised, re-wrote, and finally put The End on it. Actually, I wrote the end on it Wednesday, but I didn't like and tore it all apart on Thursday. Put it all back together on Friday. Called it done.

Don't get me wrong, I still have another round of edits (and probably ten more), but it's readable and I believe the story's tight. I also have to take a look at the structure. Some places it drags and don't you just hate that. But I have to say, after writing this book, I want to immediately start writing another one.

You know why, I'm having so much fun building these characters I don't want to stop. And I came to a major realization the other day.

I have absolutely no expectations of this story. 

I feel the same as I do when I finished THE LADY'S MASQUERADE. I had no idea what to expect, but I finished what I started. I wrote a detective story of 34K words. And I think it's pretty good.

I don't have a clue who my target audience is. I'm also having trouble with my keywords and BISAC category. Is it a thriller? Suspense? Murder? Police Procedural? Detective? Mystery?

I've been giving a lot of thought to options about this story, Should I query it? Should I submit it in a contest? Should I self-publish? Should I promote? Under which name should I publish? Should I get a new pen name? How much time do I want to invest in a "big" project? Is it worth it to continue writing in this genre, with these characters? (As well as the new Regency series = 2 big projects.)

Or do I not publish at all, put it in my drawer and hide it away.

I've given that some very serious consideration. Would you like to know why?

Because everything I write has been judged. People have expectations. Readers become fans if you do it right. Those fans have expectations of my writing.

If I publish under another pen name, who's going to know it's me? You won't if I don't tell you.

I can hear Anne R. Allen screaming at me from across the states. I don't need another pen name. I already have two. However, Anne, you said it yourself, unless you're writing in disparate genres, you don't need a pen name. And well, I am writing in three disparate genres now.

I'm too stupid to know I don't know what I'm doing. 

But here's the thing...I've been writing and publishing (formatting, marketing, editing, proofreading, revising, and watching the industry change and evolve) over the last six or seven years. I know EXACTLY what I'm doing. Kind of.

Whatever ideas I may have about publishing these stories, I won't know if they'll work, unless I try. Right?

If I do decide to publish any of the detective stories, it won't be for a long while yet. I'm enjoying the high from knowing I started and finished something. (I also painted my office in between the time I began and finished the story -- pics coming soon. June 1 - June 25. I think total writing days equaled 17.)


The only thing I do know for certain, is that I like the story. And I want to write more of them.

Stay tuned!

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And yes, I changed the blog back to a more beachy feel. And also the name of it. SEO is what it is.

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I hope you all have a safe and non-explosive 4th of July.

Anne Gallagher (c) 2015

Writing From The Inside

Good Morning. I'm almost finished with the final book in my Reluctant Grooms series. WHEN ALL HOPE IS LOST. I've been working steadily on this story since Thanksgiving. In it, I examine Lady Olivia's life and why she does the things she does. It has been an intricate journey filled with twists and turns and and angst and depression, grief, heartache, love, loss, and agonizing pain.

One of my best friends, (a mom at school) whom I speak with nearly every day on the phone, wondered where I'd been. She never calls me because she knows I'm writing, so she waits for me to call her. It was three weeks before I picked up the phone.

"What the hell have you been doing? I thought I had done something to piss you off," she said, when I finally called her last Monday.

"No, I've just been writing." We chatted about the book. She's actually my sounding board for plot twists. When I described certain elements of it to her she thought I was a genius. "Brilliant." is what she said. But then she said, "I saw you in car line yesterday. You look awful. Are you okay?"

For the last five weeks, I have been working 14 hours days at the computer. I have sorely neglected my "real life" because Lady Olivia has pretty much dragged me through the ringer. I've cried during every chapter, sometimes nearly every scene. It wasn't something I planned to do, believe me. Making my readers cry with my words is one thing. Making me sob like a little baby is another.

Lady Olivia has always been in the background of all my stories. As other characters say, "She likes to have her hand in all the pies of the aristocracy." From matchmaking and charity work to Parliament and political intrigue, Lady Olivia is a diverse character.

However, she never had her own Point of View in any of the stories. She was always there, giving advice, and scheming to make everything turn out in her favor, but always through the eyes of another person. Until LADY OLIVIA'S UNDOING.

I set her up in UNDOING to take a fall. I don't know why. I thought it was good reading. In THE SEDUCTION OF MR. SUMMERVILLE, I allow her to fall even further. Yet, once I finished that book, I realized I hadn't done enough. She needed to hit rock bottom.

It hasn't been easy, let me tell you. I cried nearly every day. I've had more than a few sleepless nights pondering over chapters. I suppose I can honestly say I am "suffering" for my art. And here's the kicker. Just as I was almost finished, on the last chapter I might add, I came down with a nasty sinus infection and bronchitis. I tried to write through it, but I had to take a few days off. Lying in bed forced me to examine what I had written and why.

You see, Olivia and I are almost the same age. (I'll be 53, she just turned 56.) She's led a charmed life. So did I for a very long time. And then mine fell apart. I lost everything, (IRA's, my savings, my home, my job, my fiance) all within a couple of months. I hit rock bottom and had to climb out of the mess circumstances had thrown me into. I don't know why, but I wanted Olivia to go through exactly the same thing. I'm thinking that I had never dealt with the nightmare that was my life back then and this was my own personal catharsis.

It wasn't easy putting myself through the emotional roller coaster again. But I dug in and remembered how I felt during that time -- angry, unbelieving, sad, depressed, gob-smacked, furious it had happened, wondering when it would end, how I would ever get out of it.

As a writer, we have to dig deep into our own emotional highs and lows so our characters will be able to SHOW that to our readers. As writers we need to get it from the INSIDE. Granted, it takes courage to be able to look at our past selves and examine where we were, how we felt, and then go through it all over again. And I can tell you, that's why I got sick. Within those six months when I lost my "life" I was also really sick (the beginning of my current health situation I deal with now). Hence, my illness for the last week. History is repeating itself.

Truthfully though, I think this is the best book I've ever written. WHEN ALL HOPE IS LOST is the perfect title (thank you Jane Austen) because Olivia has nothing. She's hit bottom and at the end of chapter ten she has lost EVERYTHING, much the same way I did. What else is the poor woman to do? I make her suffer endlessly, because I did. It took me a long time to get from that point in my life to where I am today.

However, in the book, Olivia has a champion -- ME-- who makes it all better by the end of the book. Why? Because I'm a sucker for a happily ever after. I can't tell you what happens, but let's just say she gets what she needs. As have I.

Tell me -- How far do you go for your characters? Do you "suffer" for your art? Do you write from the inside?

Anne Gallagher (c) 2015

Am I Old Fashioned?

Before we get to today's post, I've posted an interview I did with Lady Olivia, one of the *stars* of my Regency series. If you're a fan, please go on over to my Anne Gallagher blog. I know the duchess will be taking questions, so if there's anything you'd like to ask a member of the British aristocracy circa 1810, by all means, feel free.

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Good morning.
I sent my book, THE LADY'S FATE, to an old friend a few weeks ago. She wrote me to tell me she loved it, but she also asked why I write such old-fasioned stuff. I thought she meant the genre, which is Regency. She didn't. She was talking about my prose style.

I write in tight third person, with one POV for the hero, and one POV for the heroine. That's what I used to read when I was a kid on the beach. That's what I'm used to. That's what I'm comfortable with.

Mr. Bailey (six words for a hat) recently had a post about his current WIP, and how he's writing in limited third POV for one character and omniscient for another, alternating chapters. Which I find very exciting.

When I wrote my first book, I used omniscient POV. I loved the way it turned out, using all the characters' thoughts. However, after a couple of crit partners came back and told me it would be better to stick with one or two, I decided it was the wise choice.

I do like the ease with which I can get into one particular character's head with third. I do like the manageablity of the manuscript when I'm only alternating between two characters POV instead of a whole boatload.

But I miss the fun of omniscient. I feel there's a lot missing from my books in not being able to really share what the other characters are thinking, Lady Olivia especially. (And for those of you who've read my work, I bet you would like to know what Lady Olivia is thinking as well.)

Tell me -- What POV do you like to write? Which do you like to read?

*image courtesy of cynfulfashion*

On Re-Visioning Part II

Good Morning. Lots of stuff going on in my little world lately. But the most important thing -- the re-vision of THE LADY'S MASQUERADE.

As you know, I said I had a totally new vision for that book. I was going to rip it apart and put it back together. Well, in the least possible painless way that I could. Guess what. I can't.

Well, not the way I thought I would be able to. Seems I miscalculated my ego. Yeah, my ego. I thought I would just go in, fix the POV's, make a few changes here and there, and it would be fine.

Not so much. It seems I have to completely change the main characters to whom I never would have imagined them to be. I've been taking the printed manuscript with me as I wait for Monster Child to get out of school. I nitpicked through the first 15 pages, sratching out, rewriting, moving things around, and then it finally dawned on me.

THIS IS GARBAGE. Pure and utter shite. Crappy, crap crap crap.

I guess this means I have grown as a writer. When I can look at something and realize -- this is just not going to work anymore. (Michelle, now I know exactly how you felt about Monarch. Which I didn't understand before, but now I do. Oh, I so do.)

And you know what, as much as I am potentially thrilled I have these great new ideas, I am just so damned depressed. Not for the work. Basically I know I have to write a whole new book (although I may be able to cadge some of the latter scenes to use.)

Depressed because the book I wrote and loved won't exist anymore. The people who I fell in love with won't be the same. And you know, as a Taurus, I hate change. With every fiber of my being.

However, I also know, as a writer, I have to do this. Otherwise, that book will sit under the bed with the bunnies for the rest of my life. And it can't. I won't do it to me or to them, Penny & William. (My main characters -- yeah, I think of them as real people. Hey, I'm a writer, can't help it.)

Question -- How depressed do you get when you realize your manuscript just won't work anymore? Do you put it away and work on something else, or do you bite the bullet and go with the flow?

Friday's at the Piedmont Grille

On Today's Menu -- Grilled Pastrami on rye with mustard and just a smidge of horseradish. And soup. I don't care what kind, as long as it's hot so I can wrap my hands around the bowl.

First I'd like to give a big shout out Welcome and Thank You to my new friends. (Not followers, I am not a cult.) Leigh, Carolyn, Melissa, PK, Tracy, Jennifer, Amie, Debra Ann, Hanny, Theresa, Bryan, Amy, Brenda, The Happy Whisk, Kimber, Melissa, Emy, Len, Perri and Ann. I have coffee and something to gnosh on in the dining room so feel free to grab a cup and hang out. We get a little crazy from time to time but it's all good.

Monster Baby's birthday party went well. Her favorite gift -- the fly swatter. Who knew? She said, "Oh Mommy this is what I've wanted for so long." Even the Silly Bands were pushed aside for the swatter. Crazy kid, but what did I expect with me being a crazy mother.

Any-hoo, I've been working on the premise of the second book in my Regency series. (Now that REMEMBERING YOU is out to query I decided I needed to work on something new.) Not that this story is new, but I've totally revamped the plot and think it's stronger.

I even wrote an outline. Something I do not usually do. And I didn't write it in my pants either, this is a true story outline, with chapter headings and scenes and chapter breaks and everything. (Hey Sarah, I even broke out my index cards.)

This is what the first index card looks like (Now don't steal my ideas lol)

Chapter One
Scene one Violet's POV

Violet saves Jane. Violet meets Ellis. Lady Rose > up to the carriage. On the way home in the carriage.

Pgs. 1 - 8

So what does this outline mean? What does the four days I spent working on this bring to the table?

Well, it means I won't be head-hopping anymore. Now that I know which scenes belong to who(m) [I can never get that right] I won't have to go on such a long search and destroy mission later. It also means I can write whatever scenes I want, whenever I want, and then insert them later. It means I won't get lost when the characters start screaming at me pulling me in 15 different directions. Now I can tell them, "We can't go there, we have to follow the outline." (Something I really wish I had done with Genna and Pete.)

Now the question is (for me) do I really think having an outline will help me write this book any faster? (Not fast in the sense I can bang it out in a NaNo month but fast in the sense that the words will flow.) The answer is -- I don't know.

The question for you is -- do you think having an outline (instead of being a panster) allows the work to progress at a faster pace? Does having an outline REALLY help you stay on track? (Or are your characters like mine and balk at having things so laid out for them?)

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Excerpt

Now that I have a blog schedule, yes, yes I do, today, Thursday is excerpt day. On Thursday's I will post a little piece of something-something to let you see I am actually working on my writing. However today, I'm going to post two excerpts from the same book. The first one is the original scene from Masquerade. The second is the final draft that is in the book. It's just to let you know I know how to revise. And spoon foam.

Original

So what do you think?


***Sorry this post has been removed by the author.

Auspicious Beginnings

I started my own version of NaNoWriMo yesterday and found on my word count I had 3510.
Pretty good I think considering I have no idea what I'm doing.

I'm writing in first person POV which I have never done. I am also writing from a 15-year-olds POV something else I have never done. I am also writing about the dark arts, which I know a little about, but have never put on paper. Scary stuff.

I think I am excited about this new WIP but I'm not sure. The whole rejection thing on Saturday caused a major meltdown in my creative process but I think I survived. I ate a bunch of white chocolate chip/macadamia nut cookies which appeased my depression somewhat and I feel better for it. Chocolate always helps.

Now, if I can stay focused long enough to finish this before December 15 (Yes, I know I'm cheating with 2 extra weeks, but please don't hold that against me) I might be able to work on the query. Then revisions by Christmas.

If all goes according to plan.