I know that many aren't fans, but would Diana Gabaldon's books maybe fall under that sort of category, Susan?
Spike? It's you. It's really you! My therapist thought I was holding on to false hope, but…I knew you'd come back. You're like…you're like Gandalf the White, resurrected from the pit of the Balrog, more beautiful than ever. Oh…he's alive Frodo. He's alive.
Andrew ,'Damage'
The Great Write Way, Chapter Two: Twice upon a time...
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
Lilty Cash - Jun 21, 2005 8:39:13 am PDT #2880 of 10001
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
Susan W. - Jun 21, 2005 8:45:31 am PDT #2881 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
I was thinking of Diana Gabaldon. There's also Sara Donati and probably a few others. And while his books aren't by any stretch of the imagination romancey and woman-oriented, insofar as I want to be compared to anyone, I'd be over the moon if anyone called me a female American Patrick O'Brian.
Lilty Cash - Jun 21, 2005 8:47:09 am PDT #2882 of 10001
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
Well, I feel like you'd definitely have an audience out there.
deborah grabien - Jun 21, 2005 8:54:42 am PDT #2883 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Susan, I have nothing to offer on this one. I don't write genre fiction - I just write fiction. But then, I don't write epics, either - I'm into minimal language that's as powerful and that carries as much as I can make it. Which isn't a knock at the longer, fuller form - see Chabon, Michael, Kavalier and Klay. But even there, in my favourite book on earth, I'd have edited a good twenty pages (that's book pages, so way more inmanuscript terms) out of the Antarctica sequence. Personal taste. And as to the market, I'm clueless.
Jesse - Jun 21, 2005 8:54:51 am PDT #2884 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Susan, I feel like the question is, which is more imporatant to you? To make a living from your writing, or to write exactly the stories in your heart or whatever. If getting published is #1, you should probably focus on writing the kinds of things you know people want to buy.
Topic!Cindy - Jun 21, 2005 9:02:17 am PDT #2885 of 10001
What is even happening?
I've heard it "it grieves me" all my life. What I've never heard before is "I grieve you."Me too deb, that's why I looked it up. I have also said and heard "They are grieving" (in lieu of 'mourning')--just never the way Liese used it.
Susan W. - Jun 21, 2005 11:15:38 am PDT #2886 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
I don't know, Jesse. I do want to sell, and I hope to one day be able to be a full-time author. But I'm starting to realize just how much I've been fighting my natural tendencies as a writer to try to make my books fit the romance industry's current requirements for length and plot. I'm not being a genre snob, mind--if I *could* write the kind of thing Jo Beverley and Loretta Chase are putting out, I would, and I'd be thrilled with my work. Or if the genre shifted a bit and made room for epics again, I'd be happy to sell accordingly. Meanwhile when I look at the market for what I actually want to write, it's smaller and more amorphous, and therefore harder to make that first sale. But if you *can* make that sale and find your market, it's a great place to be--I guarantee you Diana Gabaldon sells more copies of her books than even very successful historical romance writers.
So. Stuff to think about. Meanwhile I think I'm going to keep writing the way I want to write.
Ginger - Jun 21, 2005 1:15:30 pm PDT #2887 of 10001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Run along. Nothing to see here.
deborah grabien - Jun 21, 2005 2:48:49 pm PDT #2888 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
1400 words of the prologue to WMGGW? Done.
Anyone wants it had better ping me. This list is going to be request only. I need to keep it reasonable.
erikaj - Jun 21, 2005 3:13:27 pm PDT #2889 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
I'm a little busy, Deb. I'll read the full draft when it's done, though.