Here's the story. A little over a year ago, starry-eyed newbie romance author, Lenora Bell, went to her first writer's conference. Three weeks later, she landed a fancy, albeit junior, New York agent. Excited beyond belief, our heroine called all her friends and family to tell them the fantastic news. She drank bubbly out of ruby-colored goblets, danced around in frilly underwear, and signed a contract. Then she got down to the serious task of revising her book according to her agent's suggestions. She sent it in, and waited for a reply.
And waited. And waited.
Fearing something was amiss, she emailed and telephoned the Big Apple, hoping and praying that her agent was still alive.
A month went by. She was losing hope. And then a tiny announcement appeared on the agency's website, "Agent X is no longer working for us."
And what's more, Agent X vanished from the face of the earth, or at least the blogosphere.
Our heroine sobbed into her microbrew, moped around wearing black veiled hats, and then moved to China, to get as far from her troubles as possible. But her sorrow followed her to the land where the sun is red. She lost confidence in her writing, and put away her pen.
Then, during a little contest called FanLit, she met a group of supremely talented and supportive people who shared her passion for romance. With their help, and the aid of her other CPs, her spirits and confidence were restored, giving her the impetus to write.
Was my journey to China a success? You can measure success in many ways. There are the small victories. Rejection letters mean you actually sent something out, so that is a kind of success if you have writer's block. There are larger triumphs, like finaling in contests, or being asked to submit a rewrite. I know many talented writers who are celebrating those successes right now. There is the success of seeing your book in print for the first time, the moment you hit a bestseller list, the RITA nomination.
And then there is the thrill every time you write a passage you know is better than anything you've written before. That's the success I'm celebrating right now.
I have a phobia about posting excerpts on my blog. I think it stems from the fear that I will read them next week and feel horribly ashamed. But I want to post a few excerpts now, to show you how far I've come, and what I have to celebrate.
My first attempt at writing romance (this is NOT the book that landed me the agent), featured a squeaky-clean missionary's daughter who was dragged into 1890 Shanghai's seamy underworld by a bad-boy opium trader. Unfortunately, the hero and heroine did not meet until page 50, and when they did, much head-hopping, leaden dialogue, and cliche-ridden situations ensued. I vomited out 400 pages, and then realized it was truly awful.
Here, for your amusement, is an excerpt from The Devil of Shanghai--completely unedited, in all its unbridled glory, rendered in purple, because purple it is:
So many layers of cloth between them, yet Mabel felt naked with longing. She had seen the beauty of this man’s naked chest, had lain beneath him in dreams and in reality. He was the inevitability of the pleasure and delight she could no longer deny herself. He was the reason she breathed. She was swept up in the dazzling passion of a boundless love. She could hear the Queen of the Night's aria ringing in her ears as his hands freed her heaving breasts and his lips teased the aching peaks of her nipples. Even if he lost all respect for her, even if he only wanted her as a mistress, regardless of the consequences, she was his. Even though they were members of two different worlds. Wasn’t it ironic that her mother had found solace and love in the arms of a penniless American doctor and now she, a penniless American herself, was finding passion with an Earl?
Mmhm. I said "heaving breasts." Good lord, I should be taken behind the woodshed and spanked.
I know you're saying to yourself, "But what does this have to do with me winning something?" You're right, I've been awfully slow getting to the contest part of the post.
Here are your choices:
1. You can submit an excerpt that make you terribly ashamed, or one that makes you darn right proud. It can be the thrilling tale you wrote about My Little Pony in the fifth grade, or something from your latest WIP. I don't care. Just make me laugh, or sigh with envy, or both.
OR
2. Tell me how you define success at this point in your writing career.
The winner will be randomly selected by a process that involves my cat and slips of paper soaked in a catnip solution, and announced on Friday, July 6th.
The prize is a silk scarf I bought in Suzhou, China from one of the most famous Chinese silk brands, Xiu Niang.
The scarf is HUGE, you could use it as a table cloth, or wear it to RWA National (if it arrives in time). It's high-quality 100% pure silk that shimmers in the moonlight. The photos don't do the vibrant colors justice.
And so begins my first contest. Thank you for reading, thank you for getting me through the dark times, and thank you for helping me celebrate the small successes in life.
p.s. Guest blogger Carrie Ryan is talking about a similar subject today over at the Manuscript Mavens blog.
