Conundrums

I lay in bed last night thinking about many things, one of which was my blog this morning. (Yeah, it was one of "those" nights). Should I blog about my progress on my current WIP? Or about the rejections I got this week? Or about the frustrating length of time it takes agents and editors to respond? Or...

So many issues. So what did I finally decide on? Pretty much all of the above.

My current WIP - I'm up to 108 pages and going strong. It's a science fiction with a touch of romance. The problem with it is that it's part of a series for my publisher. Each book will be individual by separate authors, but will take place in the same universe and have some characters in common. Sound simple? Hah. Try getting two dozen authors to agree on anything. Especially when the genres range from short erotica to long science fiction with just a touch of romance. When we started, there were just eight of us and we had everything tied up in a neat little bundle. Our worlds had been created and we were going strong - then the powers that be opened the series up to all their authors and we got flooded. Now everything is confused and becoming unwieldy. We have good stories, but the details are bogging us all down. Very frustrating.

Also frustrating is the wait for yea/nay on manuscript submissions. Some places take up to a year to accept or reject you and demand that you give them exclusives while they take their good old time. I'm sorry, but that is unconscionable. Yes, I know they get thousands of submissions and that it takes time to read all this stuff, but they cannot expect us to sit around waiting for a year or more for a reply and not send the manuscript out to others. We should be able to send to as many as we want without fear of repercussions in the publishing arena. And yes, I know I may have just slit my own throat - but that is my opinion and guess what? It's also the opinion of thousands of other writers too intimidated to speak up.

Rejections this past week? Three altogether. One for my short story, one for my fantasy novel, one for my non-fiction work. Time to send them all out again.

And that's it for today. :)

Birthdays: Gloria Steinem, Flannery O’Connor

Tips and Teasers: Re-read one of your old stories. Circle adjectives that merely label or explain and replace them with descriptive nouns or adjectives that evoke concrete, sensory qualities

Thought for the day: "No rejection is fatal until the writer walks away from the battle leaving dreams and goals behind." – Jeff Herman (literary agent)