It's not an either/or choice, per se, it's more a question of learning how to negotiate the waters. How to do it without alienating one's agent, taking the risk of a book being e-pubbed and that turning off a potential traditional editor (although now that St. Martin's has bought Hocking's Tryelle trilogy that she e-pubbed, perhaps that stigma is lifting a bit), is there an audience for the type of book I write within the e-format... there are just a lot of questions to which the answers are still evolving.

ahh gotcha!

ETA - if there are writing-equivalent demons to the prevalent BIDs, I believe I have them in spades today. Feh.

Ah, I call it "Billy Walsh Syndrome" after the screenwriter on Entourage that's either convinced he wrote something brilliant or it's total shit. Anne Lamott calls it K-Fucked(KFKD)

Excellent examples. I have met the Billy Walsh Syndrome. And the Doldrums. And the Slush Pile Disco Hangover. KFKD is great.

So I wrote 500 words to spite the demons. They might not be great words, but I wrote them anyway. And I'll do it again tomorrow.

Part of this is related to the time I have to write getting chunked up into smaller and smaller bits by various system failures around here. It is frustrating.

I am so glad for Stephenie Meyer. I know I write better than she does so beyond that I just try to be a better writer than I was the day before. Also I'm glad for David Foster Wallace because I know I'll never be able to craft a story like that. So I don't beat myself up trying. I just strive to be the best writer I can be. Of porn. email lagarat at gmail if you want to check out my new blog.

I didn't mean to sound harsh, Barb, and I absolutely think everyone should write the stories they want to tell.

For what it's worth, I think one of the biggest issues for a writer with an agent is negotiating what self-pub (or e-pub or whatever you call it) will mean. And I don't think traditional editors are going to be put off by someone who has published digitally -- Amanda Hocking is a good example, but there are others who e-pubbed first and got contracts later, too.

The good thing is, everyone is looking at the digital marketplace now, including publishers.

S'okay, Amy-- it wasn't harsh, just honest, as you said. I can see how on the surface, it might appear as if I put more of a premium on writing for the adult market and that I somehow devalue writing the YA which isn't the case at all. I was surprised by how much I enjoy writing YA and God knows, it's been the more open genre lately, with the adult market taking a lot of its cues from what's happening in YA, but truth is, I've never felt completely at home there. Or maybe it's just been that I feel somewhat incomplete or unfulfilled because it's only part of what I can do and my frustration grew when it seemed like all editors wanted to see from me was my YA. I was to a point last summer where I regretted ever having sold a YA because it seemed as if it colored editors' opinions of my abilities.

Which is ridiculous, I know, but tell that to the emotional crazy brain.

My brain, it has been SUCH a fun place lately.

On to a different subject, when are you going to be at BEA?

I'll be there on the 25th, Barb, just for the day.

Sox, I meant to say thank you for the kind words, too. I'm glad it's not Twilight, yeah, but that doesn't mean the readership will be.

I'll be there on the 25th, Barb, just for the day.

Crap-- my mother's going to be in town and I have to dance attendance but you're going to be at RWA, too, right?

Yeah, I'll be there, too.