Sorry, I wasn't thinking. Font fixed.

I'd still say that not having the dragon element is a big differentiator for you. I really love your description and the pains you are taking in determining what effects the changes you postulate would make to the timeline are appealing to me as a reader. I don't think you've lost all chance of reaching a receptive publisher.

Thanks, -t! Right now, I'm just feeling flummoxed and unsure of myself, and I was already in the writing doldrums before--standard "Why is this draft sucking so much, and am I writer enough to fix it on rewrite?" stuff. So now there's this added layer of anxiety. I love this story, and I love to write, but this is one of those days where it seems like the only thing worse than writing is not writing.

ETA that sounds more grumpy than I meant it to. I tried, for a few minutes, to imagine myself not writing, or even taking more than a few weeks off writing. I couldn't do it. I'd be lost and adrift. It's just that right now, the thing that drives me is driving me crazy.

Another point to remember, Susan, is that an AU is not necessarily a fantasy. Well, it is in a way, but it's not always classed that way, shelved that way, or published by the same houses. There may be more gap than you think right now.

One of my CPs, the one who happens to love Novik and also totally gets what I'm trying to do, is taking me out to dinner tomorrow. I'm going to drown my sorrows in curry and naan...

Thanks for talking me down from the ledge, y'all. I'm feeling better. Not wonderful, but better, and looking forward to meeting my friend tomorrow for curry and venting.

Anyway, I just got my PNWA registration confirmation...including editor and agent appointments which I didn't actually request. I don't know if this was an accident and I got someone else's appointments, if the helpful woman who registered me just decided as a finalist I must want them and picked them for me...or if these people actually want to meet me. (Editors and agents have access to the finalists' entries.) Anyway, I hadn't planned to take appointments, because the book isn't finished yet, and in any case I already have an agent. But if this editor actually wants to meet me specifically, I'm not about to turn down the chance.

With that prelude, does anyone know anything about Fleetwood Robbins and/or Wizards of the Coast? (Which I didn't realize took original as well shared world fiction, but his bio at the conference site says they do...)

Oh, and do y'all think I need to delete and/or edit any of my stuff from today?

Why would you need to?

Well, my first post was pretty heavy on the f-bombs, which sort of works against the whole "pretend I never get upset about anything" thing I'm trying to develop. And I've been trying to keep this story idea a secret for so long that it feels weird to have it out here in front of God and lurkers.

Well, edit your f-bombs if you want. But the likelihood of lurkers hanging around to steal story ideas is pretty slim. Plus, like everyone said above, an idea is an idea. How you execute it is what makes it yours.

Well, it's not that I think lurkers are going to steal my story. It just feels weird to have it not be a secret anymore. But I guess I'll leave it up as a reminder to myself that it's not the idea, it's the execution. And maybe leave the f-bombs, too, as a reminder that it's fine to control emotions, but I'm never going to be perfect at it.