Best Use of Neil Diamond In An Opening Chapter

Firstly, thanks all for your fantastic support of my New Voices chapter. The response to it has been unbelievably amazing and I'm so happy that so many people seemed to like it. Truly, I had no idea it would be so popular or that it would stay being so popular throughout the competition. That has been the best thing about this competition - having that wonderful reader feeback.

But, of course, I did not final. And can I tell you now that I am NOT surprised in the slightest. I am not a new voice for them. I've already been a runner-up in one contest and I have been working with an editor for a while now so in many ways, I already have the prize (and the iPad!). So why did they encourage me to enter? Probably so they could see what readers thought of my voice. And the response has been yes, people like my voice so - as the wonderful Dr Jax told me - why would they choose me as a finalist? Better to give that place to someone totally new since they already have me. :-)

All that is supposition though. I am disappointed, yep, no denying it. But I do hope that I get some editorial response to It Girl. Because I do have story behind that first chapter, with actual, honest to God conflict and everything. Will keep you posted anyway. :-)

Big congrats to the finalists, especially Leah whom I met at RWAus. Great going girl! Hope it leads to big things for you.

As for me, I am awarding myself the prize for Best Use of Neil Diamond in an Opening Chapter. Because man, I earned it! :-)

Sexy Octopus

Yes, you heard. I said sexy octopus. Right now Hoo is over on the Sisters' site being Peek of the Week. So go say hello - if you can stop drooling over his knitted blue hotness long enough. ;-)

BTW, re New Voices, can I just send out a huge woohoo to the wonderful Lacey Devlin who has been a fabulous cheerleader for all NV entrants. She's got the Wall of Fame, the badges, the cheese. People, that lady's got everything. So big round of applause for her!
Oh and you can go check out her rocking chapter because I'm not sure that lovely lady is going to put herself on her own wall (though she should 'cause she rocks!).
Misbehaving with the Retail Magnate.

Three cheers for Lacey!

Stuck

Stuck in the mire of self doubt at the moment. Working on polishing up my next sub but am doubting basically everything about it. At least the thing I'm pretty sure I've got right is the emotional connection between my characters - at least, I think I have. Famous last words huh? And if that's not bad enough, I now have to write the suckopsis and that is filling me with gloom. The ed takes my synopses very seriously so it has to be right. Another reason to stress.

I think my process is not helping me sadly. I am a pantser. Yes, I do have a vague idea about plot and characters but often the characters don't settle for me until I'm halfway through the ms. Sometimes I'll write a quick and dirty draft, realise it's utter pants while I'm editing it and then figure out a better way for the plot to go. Sometimes this takes me through several drafts before I get it right. The problem with this of course is that if I am editing a ms I've already subbed the partial of, I can't go back and change those first three chapters, which is often the part of the ms that changes the most. This happened with the last sub. In the process of editing the story, I realised what was missing from those first three chapters and hoped I'd be asked for the rest so I could go back and change it to match the rest of the story. Sadly not.

Clearly, with a process like mine, I need to finish and edit the ms completely before I send a partial. Which makes it difficult because if you're asked to revise, revisions are much more easily incorporated into a draft than a finished, polished ms. Plus there's the whole worry about expending a lot of effort on an idea that won't work at all for the editor.

Of course, the ideal for me - since I find that I can't treat a partial in isolation from the rest of the ms - would be just to sub the full straight off. Cue hollow laughter. Yeah like that will happen. :-)

Anyway, how about the NV competition? So many great entries! Going to press ahead with IT Girl at least. It would be fabulous if she got through to the next round but if not, I'll sub her anyway. But first I have to write the whole thing so I can get to know her better. :-)

Extra Special Treat for Lovers of Modern Heat

Very excited to say that Natalie Anderson, Modern Heat writer extraordinaire and USA Today bestselling author, is guesting on the Sister's site, like, RIGHT NOW!

So if you want to hear about her favourite hero, her upcoming release, plus some hot writing tips, trot along to the Sisters site. And if that isn't enough to get you there, she's also going to be doing a giveaway for one lucky punter.

Go Natalie!

Putting the E Back Into S*x

Okay, so, I've got over my rejection. Actually I'm well over it. Much more so than the previous one. Odd considering how much time and effort I put into this story. And maybe that's part of it. I've learned SO much just in the writing of it that I didn't feel any of that effort was wasted. Certainly if I hadn't put my all into getting that submission right, I would not have been able to write IT Girl.

Bottom line though is that I didn't get it right. And I know why. To be honest, I suspected that I might not have pulled it off about a month after I'd sent it. Such a horrible feeling. But I really hoped I'd be given the opportunity to correct it...Sadly not. Oh well. I still think the story holds up and I do plan to rewrite it at some stage. You will not have seen the last of it!

Anyway, at least I now know the problem with one night stand stories. How to get that balance between sex and emotion. The partial was rejected because there was no emotional connection between the two characters, which made their romance unbelievable. This approach is okay for something like Blaze, but not so for MH (or any of the M&B lines probably). There HAS to be an emotional connection between the characters first. My thought was 'but if these two felt an emotional connection, they'd run a mile. And they weren't looking for one anyway'.
That is true. But here's the thing - only the reader needs to get a hint of it. The characters themselves don't need to know. Subconsciously they might feel 'something' is different about this person they've met, something that is totally unlike anything they've ever experienced but do you think they will admit it to themselves? No way. They'll explain away the feeling by saying to themselves 'it's just physical' or 'it's just that he's unbelievably arrogant' or that 'I don't like people who don't do what I want' or some other excuse to explain this weird intensity.
But the reader - who likes to know things the characters don't - will be going 'aha!'
And there you have that vital emotion. And that's what was missing from my partial.

Interestingly, none of the other mss I've got suffer from that so at least I don't have to go back and rewrite all of them!

Actually, now I think about it, that's why this R doesn't suck too badly. Because I know what the problem was and I can see it what I wrote. Which means I can fix it for next time.

And speaking of next time, yes, I have my next sub ready to go. Will get the eds thoughts on the premise first and if she's interested, it's gone!

Onwards and upwards, my friends. Gotta keep climbing that mountain. :-)

From High to Low

Lucky me, I got an R for the Never Ending Story this morning. And I'm really annoyed about it. I've worked for 11 months on that story with the editor. Got the synopsis reworked, the character bios, the partial rewritten twice, and to not even get a request for a full is just so disheartening. Makes me question whether I know what I'm doing at all. Whether what they want from me is impossible to do.

The response was lovely, don't get me wrong. Very encouraging. But the reason for the R was because it was too much about the sex. At least the partial was. Now, I can see what the ed means and while I was editing the story, I thought I would have to go back and layer in some more emotional stuff. But lowering the emphasis on the sex is easy, it's the conflict that matters. At least I thought that was the most important part. And it wasn't the conflict it was rejected for.

Problem is, in this story my characters don't want an emotional connection and will fight it. So for them, sex IS all it's about initially. In fact, they're determined to think it's just physical for as long as possible. Perhaps it's that approach that makes it not suitable. Then again, I've read lots of other one night stand stories in MH where it's all about the physical initially, and it seems to work for others.

Sigh. Anyway, the ed told me to put it aside for a while and come back to it later so I guess it's not a complete waste of time. But I am going to email her and ask her for clarification on the issue.

Right at the moment though, I feel as if I have to write an absolutely perfect, no revisions necessary kind of partial to even warrant being asked for more. Which is beyond irritating when the last requested full had no conflict, lots of stereotypes, pacing issues and all sorts of other problems that this one didn't have.

Okay, so thanks for letting me vent. Funnily enough I'm not as gutted as I thought I'd be. I'm just frustrated as to what it is they want from me. Oh well, good thing I have sub number eight waiting to go. :-)

Thank You Lovely Blog Friends

Today I am sending out HUGE thank yous to all of you who read my chapter in the New Voices comp. I know, there's still two weeks to go till we hear about the finalists but honestly, I'm so grateful that I almost don't care if I place or not (almost!). ;-)

To say I'm thrilled with how many people like it would be a massive understatement. Really, it doesn't get any better than having a whole bunch of people say 'yeah, we like what you've written'. Having had polarising comments in other competitions, I truly didn't expect so many people to enjoy it. I feel a bit like like Sally Field - 'You like me! You really like me!' :-)

I also wanted to say big kudos to all my fellow entrants. It's harsh out there and putting your work on the public stage for everyone to comment on is never easy. But if you've hit that submit button, shout it out with pride. Or if you're not the shouty kind of person, be quietly pleased with yourself. It takes guts to put yourself out there.

This year has been horribly frustrating for my writing. I've felt like I've been standing still and not going anywhere for a large proportion of it. And I have to say, if not for my lovely CPs and blog friends, I would have given this whole thing away. Truly, without your support, I probably wouldn't have written that chapter. So I've instructed Hoo to whip up a bunch of chocolate martinis to show my appreciation (there are a couple of virgin ones in there for those of you who prefer your chocolate unadulterated. Please help yourselves, you deserve it. :-)

Feeling Sick

You know that person who handles stress well? Who is always calm in a crisis? The one who everyone turns to when the pressure is on? I am not that person. I am the person running around like a decapitated chicken trying to squawk through its neck. Or the one quietly throwing up in the corner.
As you may have guessed, I have accidentally pushed the 'submit' button on my chapter. I swear I didn't mean to, it just kind of happened. So now IT girl is out there all by herself. Luckily she has her hero to keep her company though, hehe.

I'm not much of a 'everyone go and read my wonderful chapter, and vote, rah, rah!' type of person and I didn't want to even do an announcement that I'd entered but I suppose I kind of have to now since silence on it is pointless, not to mention telling. So by all means, if you like a contemporary, Modern Heat type of story then go and read, you may like it (though it's not up on the site yet as of 12pm NZ time). In a vague attempt at anonymity (and because I don't want to jinx my prospective pen name) I haven't subbed under Jackie Ashenden. Yeah, I'm probably the only person to sub their entry under their own name because they want to protect their pen name. Duh!

Right, so I'm now feeling sick as to what people will think, just like everyone else who entered. It required a bit of fiddling and I hope I pulled it off. It won't be to everyone's tastes but that's something I can do nothing about. I also had some formatting issues that would have made it easier to read but the site wouldn't let me use another font. Hope the stop-gap I used works! Anyway, I know it's not perfect and I'm not going to read it EVER again because if I do, I'll spot a million things wrong with it. But that's the way of writing huh?

Wow, Jackie, excuses much?? I will say that I really enjoyed writing it and as a writer, that's the best you can get (apart from a sale of course!).

This morning I told my daughter what I was doing and then, in my overly dramatic way, I said, "Everyone will probably leave comments telling me how much it stank!"
"No mummy," says my daughter, "everyone will probably leave comments telling you how much it stinks."

Moral of the story? Never fish for compliments from a nine year old no matter how desperate you are. :-)

So c'mon, anyone else enter?

PS: The chapter is called Talking Dirty with the CEO. I am a title dunce so don't hold that against it. :-)

New Voices!

I have a short post over on the Sister's blog about the New Voices competition. Think I actually may have talked myself out of it! Anyway, there's cyber drinks for all those entering and hand holding if required. Hoo is buying the drinks and offering tentacles if you need something to squeeze while you hit that send button.

Meanwhile, I'll just sit here and contemplate my chapter a while longer....sure is looking shiny....

I Swear....

Was really hoping I'd at least get some sort of verdict before the NV competition starts but, well, whaddya know, still no verdict. I have to say I've kind of given up on this story. It's dragged on so long that I've already said goodbye to it in my mind. Oh, I'll be gutted if I get another rejection on a partial (though personally, if I do, I'll be really annoyed because I think the synopsis is the best I've ever done and there is a story worth looking at there) but maybe it will be for the best. I worked really hard on this, perhaps too hard. After so many rewrites and rejigs, perhaps the freshness is gone and it's better to let it go.

On the up side, I have decided to give myself some goals with all the unfinished stories, with the aim of finishing them so I can try my hand at something a bit different. So, lovely blog friends, I hereby solemnly swear, upon my honour, to God and the Queen, that I will finish my soldier story by the end of September. I will also endeavour to have a polished partial and synopsis of IT Girl, just in case I get a request from the NV competition. Because yes, I am throwing caution to the winds and will be entering. If nothing else, it'll at least feel like I'm doing something positive instead of just waiting around.

Okay, so those are my goals for this month and by putting them on the blog, I must achieve them or - sob - lose face. ;-)

What goals do other people have for the new month? Other than world domination and/or selling your first book for millions?

Bad Habits

September already and, hey, whaddya know, I STILL have had no word on my sub. First subbed the synopsis of this story in October last year so if I don't hear this month, it will mean a year's wait for a verdict on a partial. So all those of you who guessed dates for the Very Soon Sweepstake are all out except Susan - who guessed September the 12th. I suppose my update nearly two weeks ago was kind of a response but I think I'll hold out for a final answer. Whenever that will be.

So what else am I doing? Falling into bad habits actually. I'm a serial starter - fall in love with a new story, write like crazy, get to chapter 4/5 and then, when the going gets tough, I stop. It's weird. I know what the conflict is, I know how it should be resolved, I know what the characters need to learn and I know how they're going to change, so what's stopping me? It's the how all of the above happens, I think. They have that lovely first meeting, that first attraction, the acting (or not) on the attraction and the consequences of that, and then I sigh and stop and think 'so what do they do now?'. Either one of the characters has to do something in order to drive the story along. Something that is based on their conflict, that isn't external, and it's always this action that stumps me. Or at least, I have to go for a long walk or have a long shower to think about where to go from there. I tend to get overwhelmed by craft at this point, worrying about how I'm going to make it worse for him, and then how that will make him change, or what that teaches him about the heroine, etc, etc.

Which is why at this point the lure of the new story calls. I have five books all in various stages of 'done-ness' and I have not finished any of them. Definitely falling into bad habits again. Need to find some discipline from somewhere and finish at least one of them. There is probably the element of the VoD in here, telling me that they're all crap and none of them are worth working on. Stupid VoD.

Alright, so what do you guys reckon? Here are your choices: the soldier's story, the eco-warrior story (conflict STILL not sorted), my computer developer (actually she might be on hold), my geologist/reunion story, and lastly my new story which I'll call IT girl. My soldier is closest to being done with 27k on the clock. Any suggestions?

Extra special PS:
Maisey's second book, A Mistake, A Prince and a Pregnancy is out today! Big woots! Go read it, it's fab!