How f'ing annoying, Barb. It's gotta bug that you can't write the book you want and get it published in that form because no one knows what they're looking at.

It's frustrating, that's for sure, especially since the people-- the actual readers-- who've read the manuscripts all love them and say, "Why aren't there stories like this on the shelves?"

To which I have no answer, really.

Stylistically, I really do lean more towards a mainstream/commercial lit style, but I am a die hard sucker for a good love story/romance. One that's well-rounded and real part of the story and doesn't shy away from sensuality and deeper emotion. And unfortunately, the thing I see in a lot of mainstream novels is a real tendency to treat the love story, if there is one, in a very secondary, diminished fashion, as if actually exploring that aspect of a relationship would somehow devalue the book.

(Unless of course, you're a man writing those stories-- then you have great insight into the human heart and a depth of emotion that readers cry out for.)

< /bitter>

At any rate, the story I'm working on right now is much more solidly mainstream than anything else I've ever done before, but where my biggest challenge is going to be disciplining the romance writer who wants to go haywire. (As Amy well knows...)

Part of the problem is that there's no midlist* anymore. Mainstream fiction needs to be quirky as hell or (the dreaded) "literary" to get noticed. Unless it's for a program, and those have rules, much like genre. Even women's fictions programs (meaning a specific list or imprint put out by a specific publisher) look for a pretty narrow range of subject matter. For a while it was "chick lit." Then "hen lit" -- which was mostly older women facing divorce or widowhood, in a group of friends. "Mommy lit" didn't last very long, although you still see the occasional book.

What Barb said is, sadly, very true right now. For whatever reason, books about adults in relationships which aren't specifically "romance" are much better received (by publishers, anyway) when they're written by men.

• I should add that the reason for this is the bottom line, as ever. Book buyers for the chains have less money to spend, and they want sure things. So they're looking for the next big thing, the next word-of-mouth bestseller, or the authors with big readerships (which wouldn't be midlist anyway), or genre.

So they're looking for the next big thing, the next word-of-mouth bestseller, or the authors with big readerships (which wouldn't be midlist anyway), or genre.

All of which I try not to think about very much, because if I do I start freaking out. I mean, I'm cynical and self-aware enough to know that the publishing marketing machine is just waiting to promote me as Zany and Wacky Goth Lady!, and I'm determined to take advantage of as much as the silly marketing they're willing to give me. But it's still kind of freaky.

Barb, I honestly don't get why the stories you're telling aren't being snapped up by publishers. I'm one of those non-romance genre* reading people, and I've loved what I've seen of your work.

• Mostly because I want my love stories to be an accessory to the main plot of supernatural distruction, violence, and wacky hijinks. I know that I am not a Normal Reader.

All of which I try not to think about very much, because if I do I start freaking out.

But I'm talking very specifically about fiction there! No worries! Non-fiction is different!

Oh, definitely, non-fiction is very different. For non-fiction, what's important is the platform, the voice of authority, and that you have in spades, m'dear.

I should clarify, too, that when I say I can't sell/write romance, I say it in terms of what publishers consider to be romance, which comes with a myriad of rules. If you're in paranormal or erotic romance, you can explore the themes of multiple partners or perhaps not meeting your One Twue Wuv until well into the story and perhaps having had other relationships along the way.

You try doing that within the scope of a contemporary romance and the majority of readers flip out like mammals, screaming, "Oh My GOD, nooooooooo, she can't kiss another man, he can't sleep with another woman, and heavens above, neither of them should start out married."

(Unless of course, the woman is on the run from an abusive, horrible, snake of a husband.)

And of course, there are always exceptions to those rules, but as in all else, it's a matter of finding the editor who's willing to take a chance, which is akin to a needle in a haystack.

Annnnd... which brings us back to what Amy said, which is editors and publishers are looking for the sure thing, word-of-mouth, or large readership.

It's cyclical, though.

Right now, for instance, YA is HUGE. They're taking lots of stuff they never would have touched a couple of years ago, because a really large percentage of it is selling (which is, of course, the bottom line). But a couple years down the road, that's going to change, just like everything does.

Just like all the Harry Potter imitators (or at least the acquisition of them) have already slowed down a little bit.

Barb, how about writing satirical hard core romance - take all the rules, obey them and make fun of them? Call it "Glittery Hoo-Ha". More outrageous than your usual stuff, but definitely not beyond your talents.

Because with my luck, it would sell and then I'd be STUCK FOREVER writing about the Glittery Hoo-Ha.

Can't take the risk.

I'm having trouble with a current piece where I'm in the middle of crucial introduction of people and establishing initial reactions between characters. I'm finding it horribly boring to write because I know where it all ends, but I have to keep reminding myself that the reader will need this information. It's like pointing out the emergency exits and flotation devices that may be needed later in the flight when you really want to get to the takeoff.

Connie, I'm sorry, I sort of hijacked things with my grumblings about The State of Publishing, but I wanted to come back to what you were saying here-- one thing I'd suggest is that if you're bored, it's likely your reader will be too-- the suggestion always tossed my way is to start where the action starts-- where these characters meet, and seed in the necessary information.

I mean, without knowing more about the story, that's just something to toss out there for you to consider as a technique.