Monday, May 11, 2009

Textus Interruptus

I had a great Mother’s Day present yesterday – another contract for a novella, Wilderness Girl! And - oh, yeah - a cover already!
Not your typical Mother’s Day fare, though. It’s an erotic novella. I wrote it to challenge myself, and I have to say, it was much more difficult than I imagined. Getting those intimate details right requires a certain talent, and I may or may not make that foray again.
It began as an experiment, a much shorter story. Just to see if I could. The initial editor liked it, and suggested I expand it. I did, but the characters were so sweet, I didn’t know if it “fit” into the genre. So I took all that out and resubmitted it elsewhere. The new editor liked the story, but thought that I built up the sexual tension in the story only to let the reader down by not following through. She even blogged about it.
So, I added it all back in. And then some. No textus interruptus in this version. Readers expecting follow-through won’t be disappointed, hopefully. Yes, I could have removed all references and/or buildup, but it fit this story.
I love Wilderness Girl. The story and its characters have a lot of great elements. I’m looking forward to its release with Freya’s Bower sometime this year, perhaps the fall.