Moving on, again.

I hate for negative posts to stay at the top, so I'm writing this to bump it down. I have not cancelled my Surrey tickets. I might be slightly less enthused about going than I was before, but at this point (and DH's insistence) I'm still going. The person with whom I was having a difference of opinion and I have reached some form of understanding. The majority of people I'll be seeing at Surrey have no idea what was said and no problem with my story. They are the ones I'm looking forward to hanging out with.

I'm serious about writing this book. It's been a (nearly) lifelong dream and Surrey can only help me accomplish it. When I am old, at least I won't have to say I wish I'd gotten around to trying to write a book.

So, onward and upward.

Rethinking my decision

In just over two weeks, I'm going to be dropping more than $1500 to fly across the continent and leave my infant son for 5 days. I'll have to make provisions for the fact that I'm still breastfeeding, and use 3 days of my precious PTO to take off work. It's a lot of expense and trouble, but I decided it was worth it. I've always wanted to write a book, and I thought getting good advice early in the process could only help. And the other big draw is that I feel kind of isolated in life sometimes, and here was my chance to go and meet these people that I've been forming friendships with online, have a good time, and share a common bond.

Well, now I'm rethinking my decision. After the originality of my work being questioned (this after the hours and hours of research and self-deliberation that long term blog readers know I went through, and am still going through) and excluded from the chapbook on that basis, I wonder if I go to Surrey will I feel like the kid that tries to be involved but everyone really looks down on and talks about behind their back? I don't want to be the width of a continent away from my husband and son only to feel isolated for 5 days. Sure, I'm an introvert and can handle being alone. But if one of the main reasons I'm going was to have the opposite kind of experience, is all the good writing advice still worth it?

If I cancel now, I'll be out about $500 in plane tickets and registration fees. But that still saves me the hotel costs, the refundable part of the registration, travel to and from the airport, and meal expenses not covered by the conference, etc.

It's something to consider.

Moving on...

Surrey countdown: T minus 17 days.

Well, after a welcome reassurance from a fellow Scottish time-travel writer, I feel better about my book and the fact that it is not just "fan fiction." I rewrote the "intro" paragraph for the chapbook so as to highlight unique details, and it is up to the coordinator to include it or not. Here is what I sent along with the excerpt (blog readers have seen most of this before):

ELSPETH (working title) by Rebecca Gabriel

Elizabeth "Elspeth" Clarke is an American physicist seeking to forget the heartache of her fiance's betrayal by a (solitary) summer trip to Scotland. While exploring the ruins of historic Kilchurn castle, she discovers a wormhole connecting two points in space-time...by falling through it. Now she is in 17th century Scotland and being pursued by the politically avaricious "Grey" John Campbell, Earl of Breadalbane and Holland and owner of Kilchurn. Campbell has found the historical notes Elspeth carried back with her, and intends to exploit her apparent "Sight" for his own gain. But she has found temporary refuge with the MacGregors of Glen Strae, an outlawed clan with their own reasons to hate the Campbells. Alasdair "Alec" MacGregor, named for the grandfather the Campbells executed years ago, has become her friend and confidant.

In other fun Surrey news, I got my volunteer assignments. Thursday they have me "monitoring" (keeping time and making sure there aren't any disruptions/interruptions) two of the Master Classes that I wasn't going to be able to afford. So even though I'm not participating, I'll be able to sit in on them and learn for free. Woo for that!

I got very little writing done last night; the stubborn first chapter is at a temporary standstill. Tonight is TV night with DH, so I don't know if I'll get much done tonight, either. There are a few short bits knocking around in my head, mostly later scenes. But I'll probably try to get some of them down, at least. As Diana says, words on the page are always a Good Thing.

Am I deluding myself?

Okay, I'm 15,000+ words (need to update my meter) into my novel, with a stated goal of reaching 25,000 by October 19th. I'm currently reworking the initial chapter, with good reaction so far. I've posted one section on the critique workshop with, again, good reaction and useful comments. I have a very well-developed sense of my MC Elspeth, and a pretty good one of the other MC Alec. I know time, place, and historical setting. I'm using historical characters and events, and researching them thoroughly. I know the main plot, a few twists, and a few other potential story arcs. I was a little disheartened last week, but after taking a break I feel fresh and ready to dive in again.

Yes, I'm writing a Scottish time-travel romance. There are quite a few of us on the forum doing so, and I think that Diana's presence there is a draw. But I don't think we're all there just writing these stories because we wish we'd written Outlander. There are a lot of Scottish time-travel books. I've been seeking them out. I read the whole 5-book series by Janet Chapman (eh, they were okay I guess), I'm reading J. Ardian Lee's Son of the Sword series (pretty good, if heavy on the history lessons), I just got Sandy Blair's A Man in a Kilt, I've read a couple of Tess Mallory's books (Highland Dream and Highland Fling) , I read a quite good new book called Return of the Highlander by Sarah MacKenzie, I have Karen Marie Moning's first book of her extensive (7 books? more?) series at home in my TBR pile, etc. And those are just the tip of the iceberg.

So, yes, I am writing in a sub-genre niche, but lots of others have done so before me. And most of the authors listed above have found success in said niche. There are readers out there who enjoy these kinds of books. I was/am one of them. If I'm gonna buy a romance novel, it's most likely to be a Scottish historical (time-travel is a bonus), or a Regency. These were my preferences before even having heard of Outlander. Diana's books just happen to be the best in this niche, so of course they became my favorites.

I said all that to get to this point. This morning I was told that the section I posted on the critique forum to be vetted before submitting it for the Surrey chapbook read "uncomfortably like fan fiction."

Now I am confused, and concerned. Am I deluding myself into thinking I'm writing the novel I always dreamed of writing, when in actuality I'm just writing an extended version of Outlander fan fiction? Even though the setting is 50 years earlier and I'm including non-Outlander-related historical characters/events and when I was first trying to come up with the book idea I deliberately tried to avoid anything that would make it seem like Outlander Redux? And I'm not saying that in sarcasm. I'm really worried about this. I was worried enough last week (while I was still in the slump) about writing in the niche that I e-mailed Kristin Nelson about it, but her reply to me assured me and I resolved to just make my writing good enough to sell.

Here's the excerpt in question: "Takedowns"

Seriously, is anyone who reads my book just going to think "fan fiction"? Do the people on the forum think that but they are too nice and supportive to tell me so? I was cautioned about it early on when I was still describing my plot in kinda vague terms, but when I elaborated and added in all the specific details (see this previous post) I was told that sounded okay and possibly interesting, if done well.

Am I deluding myself?

Not quite what I expected...

Bleh. 92nd out of 299 entries. And to think I was hoping for the top 25...

'Course, I did struggle with the "promo" part, which is how you get people to read it. And I got some really low rankings with no explanation that I didn't think were warranted (I should have gotten 2's and 3's on the strength of my writing alone, and that's just being objective). Also, the entry I thought would win it all was only ranked 69th.

OTOH, the winning entry is really good. Not much of a bombshell at the end, but the chapter itself is great. I may or may not try for round 3, depending on the prompt they post this afternoon. After a week-long hiatus, my inspiration for Elspeth is picking back up again. That's my primary focus now. But I'll have a weekend of leisure, so hopefully I can get quite a bit of writing in.

In other news, I heard back (personally!) from Kristin Nelson today. I had e-mailed her a question to her blog address. Basically, since time-travel romances to Scotland seem to be thought kind of cliche in a lot of circles anymore, I asked if agents/editors would even look at another one, or if I would be seen as "just another one of those." Her answer was quick:

If the writing is good enough, anything can sell. It's really that
simple. Good luck to you on this project.

So, woo for that. I'll keep plugging away, then, and just try to make my writing good enough to sell (which was the goal all along). I would have e-mailed her back to thank her, but if there's one thing I've learned from reading agents' blogs, it's that they get a crap ton of e-mail. I don't want to bog her down, since she's probably got a million other e-mails to get through today. My first message included the fact that I read her blog regularly and I thanked her for all her good advice. So that should suffice, right? Or would a quick "Thanks for the reply!" not go amiss?

Anyway, day job is jerking my chain today. I'll be lucky to get home by dinner time. Ugh. So back to that.

I hope she's happy now

There, I've written the first new words on my current WIP in over a week. Elspeth was getting a little antsy for attention, so I decided to give her some before round 3 for Avon starts up tomorrow.

I spent the first bit further refining the "takedowns" scene that I'm going to submit for the Surrey chapbook. Then I hopped way forward and started writing the scene where Alec finds her just after she's fought off three drunk Campbells who followed her from the tavern and attacked her. I got about 500 words of that; not much, but at least it's progress.

Will I reach my end-of-September goal of 20,000 words? At this point, not likely. That'd mean getting about 2,000 words a night for the next 3 nights. Even if you count the 3,000-4,500 I've written for Avon I wouldn't make it. Well, then I might be getting close. But really the goal was for 20K on this WIP, so I guess not. *sigh* My new goal is at least 25,000 before Surrey.

Now it's very nearly midnight, and as I'm already pretty brain dead (loooong week) I'm going to stop now and go to bed.

Better luck next time...

As I suspected, I did not end up as one of the 10 finalists for this round. I write as well as they do, but I need to work on squeezing more plot into fewer words. On to Round 3! The prompt will be posted tomorrow, and I'll have the weekend to work on it.

Oh, there's still a chance I'm in the top 25. I'll find out tomorrow, I guess.

Now I think Elspeth is demanding some attention...

Cramping my Style

With 3 hours left to go in the prelim voting for Avon FanLit round 2, I doubt that I'll make it to the finals. I seem to be getting average ratings around the 2-3 range, which is pretty good. (And many thanks to those who have gone and voted for me!) But there are several entries out there getting 3's and 4's and they deserve it. So I'm already setting my sights on round 3 (of 6).

I know what my problem is. It's not my writing, per se. I read a lot of Regencies, and even if I'm working on a Scottish historical at the moment (or not working on - this week has been crazy), I didn't find it hard to slip back into the Regency style. This comment left on my entry pretty much sums it up:

Your Regency voice is excellent, and your dialogue charming -- but this didn't move the plot forward a great deal. It feels like you were just hitting your stride and needed more space.

It goes to prove what I already know about myself: I'm a novel writer. Sticking to the novella word limits is really cramping my style. Even DH told me that my entry read more like a scene from a novel than a chapter from a novella. Which I kind of knew as I submitted it. And it does advance the plot, if you look closely. It indicates their interest in each other and willingness to move forward in the relationship, but it doesn't have the trite "Oh, wow, I'm suddenly in love with you despite our history" moment that some (too many, and it annoys me) romance novels have. And it opens the way for a fast-paced chapter to follow in dealing with the woman in the foyer, etc. But yeah - it really belongs in a novel, not a novella.

So, lesson learned: for this contest, I need to pare down my scenes and include a lot more plot progression. Most of the entries that I've seen that look like they could be finalists have plots I can work with. I'll wait for the next chapter prompt on Friday and make a point of including more in my next entry. And if this entry even makes it into the Top 25, I'll be more than pleased.

My guess for Round 2 winner: The Contrary Countess.

Stay tuned...

Round Two...ding!

Wow, I've been behind in my blogging. Much is going on! Not the least of which is my entry for the second round of the Avon FanLit contest. The prompt for Chapter 2 seemed workable, so this time I made sure to get my entry in in plenty of time.

I had hoped to link to my entry and ask readers of this blog to rate it, but the most I can do is send e-mail invites. Any URLs to the submission are specific to the invitee, and there's no way to browse directly to my chapter.

So, if you want to help me out, drop me a line (e-mail or comments) with your e-mail address and I'll send you an invitation. Be honest, but if you want to give it 5 stars, I won't complain. *grin*

The other route is to go to the contest website (linked above) and register to vote. Browse through the entries until you get to mine - I haven't the foggiest idea where it is; my IP address is logged so the website won't show it to me - and vote that way. That may actually count for more, but it's not guaranteed.

How will you know it's mine? Here's my "promo":

Title: What’s in a Name? (many thanks to DH)

Headline: A meeting in the park ends with suspense.

Summary: Damien can’t get Penelope out of his head. Patience. Whatever her name, he needs answers to his many questions. And so he finds himself on Rotten Row during the “fashionable” hour—will his wayward wife provide the answers?

Excerpt:

“Then tell me this: you wish to resume your place in Society, for whatever reasons you have. I can help you do that. But are you willing to endure all that entails? Will you become my wife in truth? Use my name, share my home…my bed?”

She looked back at him, blue eyes wide. “I-” she began.

A disturbance in the crowd caused Damien to look up. Horses, carriages, and pedestrians parted like the Red Sea to reveal one of his grooms, riding hell-bent for leather directly at them…

(And yes, it's true that I've written over 3,000 words in the past week that are not for my WIP, but I'm stuck on that at the moment. I'll get back to it this week. I promise.)

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