…if that doesn’t prove there’s magic left in the world, I don’t know what would.

P.S. If that’s not enough awesome for you, here’s the gayest thing in the world… and I mean that in the most loving, awestruck, admiring way possible.

Question: What color is your parachute and do you mind if I poke some holes in it?

There is an attitude online that is growing in popularity. It’s the “You suck as a writer, and yes I’m talking to you even though you think I’m talking to everyone but you, you smug bastard so QUIT NOW.”

On the one hand, the kind of writer that would quit over someone out in cyberspace on a crusade against unpublished writers, probably doesn’t have the fortitude to make it in this business in the first place. It almost requires a “Screw you, I’m doing it anyway” mentality. And maybe that’s a good thing. Probably the slush pile doesn’t need to grow higher with people who submit their rough drafts as if what flows from their pen is so perfect it can’t stand going through even a cursory edit.

Too many people submit crap. This isn’t news. But in my opinion, dealing with this reality by unilaterally encouraging all unpublished writers to quit, is a bit like saying: “The world is awful, everything sucks, you’ll never reach your dreams, better slit your wrists now.” It’s the same mentality.

In fact, the history of publishing doesn’t tell us that if you get X number of rejection letters you automatically should stop trying, but quite the opposite. It’s those who gave up after X number of rejection letters that failed. Because they quit. If you quit you automatically fail. If you keep going, you stand some chance, no matter how small those odds may seem.

I think the cynical anti-motivation advice should be restated in the following way: “Don’t write, if the only reason you do it is because you want to be published.” Do I want to be published? Most definitely. Do I plan to have an audience of some sort no matter how few or how many whether I’m published or not? Another yes. Would I write if I was the only person who ever saw it? Yes.

Because the act of writing for me, of building fictional worlds, of improving on them, of developing characters and story is personally enriching to my life. Many people paint and never plan to exhibit their work in a museum. If you love something it’s not important how “good” you are, only that you enjoy it. If you want to take the next step and share it with the world, you have to reach for a higher level of quality and marketability.

That’s where I am. Where are you?

Zoe Winters is a yet to be published paranormal romance writer. Her long list of impressive credits include not quite having an erotic short story published, and almost having an agent like her novel. She can be found in a dank little corner on the internet at http://zoewinters.wordpress.com.

… and The Stuff They Don’t Tell You When You Learn the Secret Handshake

Hi everyone! Dionne, thanks for having me back here at your blog. It’s one of my fav places (though I’m a shameless lurker) and I always like coming back to play.

Of course, this time around I’m quite useless. You see, right now I’m in the midst of Crazy Author Syndrome. Oh, you’ve never heard of this syndrome? Well, that’s because it’s one of the things they don’t tell you before you publish. And even when you do get “The Call” and they teach you the secret handshake and give you your little “Published Author” card, “they” still leave you in the dark about some things.

And this is one of them. Now, this will probably get me kicked out of the secret society, but I’m going to take the chance. Right around book release time (which for me was June 24, when LESSONS FROM A COURTESAN finally hit stores near me), most authors are attacked by Crazy Author Syndrome. What does this mean? Okay, this means that I from about June 17 – July 29 (when the August books from Avon are released) I completely lose my mind.

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Jackie Kessler is a good writer. All the time I was reading The Road to Hell, I was thinking I hope she writes something else soon. However, this particular book wasn’t for me.

It’s not hugely surprising that it didn’t appeal to me. I’m not much of an urban fantasy fan and I’m really not keen on the sort of dry, arch first person POV employed by the heroine, so it was always going to be an uphill struggle for Kessler to win me over. Having said that, I have no doubt that there are lots of urban fantasy fans out there who will love Jesse’s voice. (Bam, for one, liked the first book in this series.

Before I get onto the reasons why I didn’t like The Road to Hell, let me indulge myself with a couple of examples of Kessler’s rather gorgeous prose, like this bit of the prologue:

As I die now, feeling strong arms holding me tight, hearing a voice whisper it’s okay, my mind plays back the events that set me on the road to Hell, good intentions and all. Faces flash behind my closed eyes, almost too fast to follow - the incubus’s fang-filled grin, the Erinyes hissing with reptilian fury, the angel crying fat, salty tears. My love, my White Knight, a name on his lips that isn’t mine…

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