Publishing Waits for No Writer

My name is Lise. And I'm a Procrastinator. Would that there was a 12 step program for types such as myself. Because no matter the urging, nudging, pushing, shoving, or outright bellowing that I am subjected to from well-meaning friends and relatives to get off my sorry tush and finish a writing project (and we mean finished - edited, polished, spic and span FINISHED) and send it out, I have not.

And for the 2nd time I am suffering a bout of gnashing, wailing, grimacing and grousing over being beaten to the literary punch.

In 2006 I completed a (very, very rough) first draft of a time-travel romantic thriller of a novel about Jack the Ripper. Never polished it or completed it in such a form as could be submitted (why? I get sidetracked by "new" and "exciting" projects, for one thing). But regardless, about a week or two after the 2006 NaNoWriMo challenge ended, I was in a bookstore and lo and behold, there was a TIME TRAVEL NOVEL ABOUT JACK THE RIPPER.

Granted, the premise was utterly different (and no, you cannot "steal" an idea since they are not protected by copyright) and it wasn't a romantic sort of novel (It was called, BTW, "Jack Knife"). It was a sci-fi time travelers setting history right rather than an "accidental" traveler trying to change history but failing - though she changes the outcome of something in the future. And it wasn't a romance like mine (lots of spice, and a quirky set of secondary characters leaving room for a sequel).

But there it was. A book on the shelf while mine was collected in a Barnes & Noble shopping bag. Color me disgusted. Could that have been why I put it aside? Maybe a part of the reason (if I'm not the first, why bother? Everyone will say I ripped off the idea!).

Meanwhile, I started another novel. It was planned to be an urban fantasy series with an accidental psychic who talks to ghosts. Snarky, some romantic entanglements and a whole slew of paranormal and supernatural characters. My planned first book was called "Dead Man Talking". I entered it in a couple of contests and actually got a third place in the RWA New York City Chapter's Love & Laughter contest. Did I finish it? Oh, silly girl!

I loved the plot. The characters were fun, and I had lots of research, ideas and chunks of writing from throughout the book. In fact I probably had a good 40,000 words. But done? Complete? Fini? Noooooo.

I did talk about it a lot, though (I'm looking at you - you know who you are). I shared the plot, the title, and my ideas and got wonderful feedback. Everyone thought it was going to be a great book!

Today, I'm in the bookstore (deja vu all over again?) and there on the shelf - a new paranormal by an established author ..... can you guess the title? Yep. "Dead Man Talking".

(And my MS? That's right, you guessed it: a Barnes & Noble shopping bag.)

Now, granted, this play on words is not particularly brilliant - it would come pretty easy if you thought about a ghost hunter novel title when there is a humorous bent.

But nevertheless, someone else now got there ahead of me.

And why? Because I PROCRASTINATED.

I failed to act when I had great stuff and energy and motivation. I got lazy, and despite the enthusiasm from others, let it slide. I sat around dreaming big dreams of publishing contracts, movie options and sequels and NEVER FINISHED THE FREAKING BOOK!

I've heard that some writers refuse to discuss current projects for fear they'll "jinx" it, or lose their enthusiasm if they talk about it too much. Others are obsessively worried that their ideas, titles, plots will be "stolen" by others and so stay mum about the details of projects.

Me? I just wait around until the great idea slips away and maybe takes root in someone else's mind. Or until someone else - as invariably happens, right? - comes up with the same or similar idea, plot, character or title.

So I have no one to blame but myself. Will this work as a kick in the butt to get me working? I sure hope so. We're approaching National Novel Writing Month 2009 - NaNoWriMo to the insiders - and it's the perfect time to put the cerebral pedal to the metal and get a project done.

Will I do it? There are some pretty intense folk rolling up their sleeves and getting ready to administer that kick in the butt if I don't.





Really, I'm serious, is there a Procrastinators Anonymous out there?

The Lusty Month of May!

There's a great song in the most romantic of classic musicals, CAMELOT, that extols the virtues of Spring as it impacts the romantic nature of men and women. "The Lusty Month of May" was great fun to sing when, as a Junior at Carle Place High School, I portrayed Guinevere in our Spring musical production.

I'll never forget how my overly romantic and melodramatic self became a walking, talking romantic fool. I was performing with a boy who had become my very first "ex" the Christmas immediately before. My Lancelot was a friend, with whom I "rehearsed" by practicing our kissing. But most romantic of all was the budding relationship that began during that show, with the fella who still reigns supreme in my heart as "the one that got away".

Umpteen years later, jaded with adulthood and cynical about the state of love in this cold, cruel REAL world, I find myself frequently reliving those youthful years because that is the sensation I strive for in writing my romance stories. The one that I think nearly every human has felt. That first heart-pounding, stammering, overwhelming experience of meeting someone's eyes across a room and feeling your entire soul swell with possibility.

I think that many (if not most) romance authors would agree - love in real life is NOT like it is in books - all those heart-warming acknowledgements to husbands and lovers notwithstanding. We're not the romantic heroes and heroines of our books - the larger than life people who always get a HEA, that happily ever after that everyone trodding the everyday path in this weary world would love to be guaranteeed.

But that is what makes a great romance so wonderful. Because it is something that takes us back, reminds us, of that swell of love, that indescribable sensation that is both physical and mental that utterly absorbs our every waking thought and emotion (and some sleeping ones, too). The giddy joy that is almost painful, the unbearable anticipation, the thrilling expectation, the sing-out-loud-at-the-top-of-your-lungs feeling that is unmatched by any other in the world.

Writing romance means that you have to be able to capture, and package, that emotion (and find the words to describe the indescribable) no matter what your life is like. Whether you are in a wonderful, nurturing relationship, or living a solitary existence with only your BFF - Fluffy the Cat. Despite work travails, personal responsibility, health problems, the onset of age and the day-to-day unpleasantness that no one is immune from, we must write great love stories where true love triumphs against all odds. Be they heroic adventures, supernatural couplings, or the madcap whirl of a contemporary category romance. They must have heroes that remind us of the love of our life. And heroines in whose shoes - and negliges - we can imagine ourselves. (Don't tell me readers don't imagine themselves to be the heroines of their favorite novels, just don't!).

Romance novelists, like any other author of fiction, face the usual problems of craft, writer's block, coming up with ideas, finding the time to write, business issues and fear of success.

But unlike other writers, we romance writers have our very own, singular problem. Bringing that sense of romance and love to all of our readers. Sweeping them into a world where love will conquer all. No matter what a reader's life is like, convincing them of the power of love. Whether they are a septugenarian in Saskatchewan or a twenty-something in Tulsa. A widow in Wasilla, a happily married Mom in Mackinaw or a spinster in San Francisco. That beating of the heart that pounds in your ears. That sigh of yearning and the secret smile. The touch, the tingle, the dreams and the desires. That is what our writing must generate. We want to leave our readers leaning back wearing that mysterious expression that says yes, they, too, have felt the pangs and the power of a love as great as any that has ever been.

And believe me. That AIN'T easy!