Instead of wrapping my brain around the concept of actually getting some writing done today, I've been playing. Or is it procrastinating? Maybe both. I have a mental "to do" list for the day and I think I need to scrap it in favor of fun pursuits. I feel like I've had my fingers to the keyboard without ceasing for far too long.
Or maybe I've allowed a conversation with my man to discourage me. Which would be my fault, not his. He's a pretty good cheerleader (as long as he doesn't wave his pom-poms and make a mess on the floor).
Being published is hard on a person's psyche. Those big pieces of yourself that you carved off and planted in a story are out there for the world to see. Most of the time all that comes back to us are the words of "reviewers," and recently the trend seems to be for really
While the willingness to bleed out all over the page is a prerequisite to writing, it doesn't guarantee any given book will be well received. Some very well-written books become "sleepers" in the author's backlist, and it was this topic my partner and I discussed over shared a glass of wine.
Up until this point, my backlist contained one true sleeper - Passion's Victory. I believe this is due to the fact it garnered a 2008 CAPA nomination. Those sort of things can be like the kiss of death to a book. But from the emails I've received from readers over the years, Passion's Victory has been loved by everyone who didn't let the CAPA nod scare them off.
But now I think I have another sleeper on my hands - Double Deuce. Rather after the fact, the head guru at Amber Allure came along and said anything with a mystery tag didn't sell. Sure wish I'd known that when the concept was discussed. Of course, the problem is that Double Deuce is first and foremost a KC Kendricks romance and the "mystery" is the crime solving elements of the plot. I'm sure big name mystery writers would laugh like hyenas at the mystery tag being applied to Double Deuce. Live and learn.
What's discouraging is I've planned a neat little story arc for the two main characters in Double Deuce to carry through what I'd hoped to be a trilogy and if the sales don't back it up, I can't spend six months writing it any time soon. And that's a shame if I do say so myself, because I think readers who love romance would love, love, love what would have happened at the end of book three.
So thinking out loud here, so to blog, what do I do? Do I write stories the majority of my readers want and will make my publisher keep on accepting my stories, or do I take my own advice and write the story I want to write and to hell with worrying about it?
I guess the answer will come some morning when I put my fingers on the keyboard and the words start to flow. Stay tuned.
KC Kendricks
website at: http://www.kckendricks.com/
blog: ttp://www.kckendricks.blogspot.com
Twitter: ttp://www.twitter.com/kckendricks
DOUBLE DEUCE
Contemporary gay romance mystery
available now Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.
No comments:
Post a Comment