Superstitious or What?
Writing|Some of you may notice I’ve removed the ‘currently working on’ section of my sidebar. The reason is simple. Well..two reasons, actually. I have to remember to update it, always a problem, but more importantly although I would say I am not a superstitious person — I will walk under just about any ladder you care to put in my path unless I think a brick may fall on my head — there is one feeling I cannot shake: that to talk about a work in progress will jinx it. I really admire writers who can talk about their current works, their word counts, when they’ve sent them out, when they get a rejection etc. I just can’t do that. I’m sure it’s coincidence but I talk about a work and it receives a rejection or I run in to some other difficulty.
Take my third Swithin Spin, which has recently been accepted by Loose-Id. I thought it was ready ages ago and then decided it wasn’t. I worked on it again. I thought it was fine and then changed my mind. After many such ditherings I finally subbed the idea to LI and got some feedback. I worked on that and after much discussion produced a book we were both pleased with; it’s finally gone to edits. The way a book is accepted can vary. Sometimes a writer will write an entire manuscript, sub it to a publisher and either have it rejected too many times to count, or have it snapped up. Once you have a publisher who knows you they may listen to an idea before you even get around to the actual writing. A book or idea may be contracted or it may require writing or for the author to tweak it before an official acceptance. There may be certain clauses in an author’s contract where they may need to sub to a certain publisher, or it may be the publisher or the author wants to rework certain aspects of a story ‘prior’ to signing on the dotted line. Just like in life different things happen and every book has to meet different requirements. The trouble is almost none of the books I’ve talked about have gone as smoothly as those I kept under wraps. So is it coincidence, or do I have cause to be superstitious?
I have a major problem with a WIP and that’s the book I hope will be my next m/m contemporary. The problem is the market for such books is limited, and the market that will readily take it requires a much earlier sex scene. But what’s an author to do when you just ‘cannot’ get two characters together early on? This leaves me with the overdone use of a fantasy, (tacky) masturbation or (shudder) dream sequence. Head:Desk:VERY LARGE GROAN.
There are a few other aspects to the story I need to tweak but this is the major one for me, so my book may be far later than I anticipated in seeing the light of day, but all I can ask is for everyone to bear with me. I’d rather not put it out at all than write in a scene for the sake of it. I have to get this right and I also need to find the time. Right now I’ve other things ongoing so will have to set this work aside no matter how much it’s playing on my mind. Sometimes being a writer means knowing when to take a break from a particular project. Sigh.
