elspethcross

A lot can happen in five months.

Back in April, I had a completely different life.  I had just completed my second romance novella (Private Encore) and had sent it out on submission.  On the home-front, things were pretty good too.

Then the politically-correct among us would say I had a "life-changing event."

My friends know what happened.  The rest of you can safely assume that my life changed drastically and I'm not going into details here.  Suffice it to say, when one aspect of your life changes that much, everything changes.

Five months later, I think I've pretty much found my footing again in my personal life.  I've finally started writing again. But my personal life has directly affected my professional life.

When I sent out my submissions into the romance world five months ago, I had done a lot of research on whom I was sending my baby to.  They all had good reputations and histories from what I could discern.  Their authors seemed happy.  All good signs.

I received a couple rejections in the first month. 

And then just last week I got it.  A contract offer.  The Holy Grail of writers.  The ultimate prize.  It!!!!

I rejected the offer.

Crazy, right?  Not so much as you may think.

My first reason is that I have received lots of feedback on "Private Encore".  Instead of various random suggestions, the two most common recommendations matched, indicating that I had a couple serious things to fix that would make it much more salable.  And I agreed with them so all was good.  The other comments were very complimentary which I found to be very encouraging.  I have the opportunity to pitch the new and improved "Private Encore" at a conference I'm attending next month.  Like the Dairy Queen commercials, I don't thing "good" is good enough.  Five months is long enough to get new perspective on an old work.

My second reason is that five months can be a long time for a publishing company too.  If I can have a life-changing event, things can certainly change there as well.  In my case, the changes to the company were not in the direction I wanted to go.  I spoke to several current authors and decided that, for several reasons, it would not be in our mutual best interest to proceed with the offer.

So, amazingly, incredibly, almost unthinkably, I received my first professional offer for a romance novel and turned it down.  As much as I want to be published, it was the right thing to do.

Next time, I hope to say that I was offered a publishing contract and I took it.

I've found a couple remarkable similarities between two hobbies that seem entirely unrelated - fishing and writing for publication .

Both are solitary occupations.

Both require participants to sit still for long periods of time.

Both can have long dry spells before you have any success.

And sometimes...

Both get a nibble.  *G*  (Hopefully, more news to come.)

Patience and persistence are rewarded but the reward is awfully hard earned.

Book 6 of the Thursday Next series
C 2011

If you haven't read the previous 5 books in the series, I'm sorry to say that reading this one would be a complete waste of your time.  You'd have an easier time of watching the second last episode of "Lost" and, not having seen any other episodes, figuring out what was going one.  If you have read them, you ain't read nothin' yet. 

Only a Jasper Fforde fan could understand this next statement.  One Of Our Thursdays Is Missing is a Thursday Next book but is not about the Thursday Next.  Remember The Great Samuel Pepys Fiasco?  Of course not, it's no longer available.  Remember how the Thursday Next from that book tried out as a Jurisfiction agent in First Among Sequels?  Well, she's back.  The original outland Thursday has gone missing and she is on the case.  Sort of.  In her own way. 

Unfortunately, because this is technically about another person, most of the cast of characters we are used to do not make an appearance.  Or if they do it is brief or as their literary alter-egos.  I didn't find it to be as much fun as past books.  On the upside, Fforde has redesigned BookWorld and his new creation is a whole lot of fun to discover (map provided), as are the other changes inside it.

The book is fun, but it is fun in the way that trying a new restaurant can be fun.  Dishes may have the similar names but they taste a little different.  They are good but it's not the same as what you are used to.  That is this book.

(BUT... I highly recommend the entire Thursday Next series. How do you describe it? It's a riot, in a really warped literary way. If you enjoyed "The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy", Jasper Fforde is your man. Set in an alternate reality, his main character, Thursday, has the ability to read herself into books. Between her "real world" and the "book world", the reader is taken on an absolutely delightful ride. Start with "The Eyre Affair". You don't have to have read "Jane Eyre" but it helps. And it is not a "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" type of thing.)

Overall, recommended with the qualifier that you have to know what you are getting into.  Also, I think this is officially the end of the series.

cross-posted to my blog

c 1815

I just hit "Send" and emailed my baby to a publisher.  Private Encore, meet the universe.  Universe, meet Private Encore.

Play nice, you two.

Now breathe.