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darkemeraldsA few days ago I got fan mail from a (not-incidentally gay, male) friend:
I finished Restraint last night near two in the morning then fell asleep awash with emotions. Principal among them was a sense of satisfaction a reader feels when a story has not just worked but has transported them. Upon the conclusion of your wonderful novel, I arrived at a place quite distinct from where I departed. Please know that it wasn’t simply a pleasurable excursion but a transformative one.
The ride concluded, I also felt a palpable sense of longing yearning for more of John and Tristan’s story and hunger for more of your writing. When you have the pre-orders available for [your work in progress], I would like to be the first in line. Your prose is rich, exact, elegant and seemingly effortless though by now I know well that effortless is more often an effect than an accurate description of how it arrives so miraculously on the page. In fact, as the story took its final turn in Book Four, I purposely slowed my pace, savoring the experience washing over me, not unlike the sensation that John and Tristan each had in cherishing the limited time they had left together. Quite an achievement considering this reader had never partaken in the genre of romance queer, historical or otherwise.
I just wanted to share that. It's only a small portion of a long and thoughtful actual letter on paper.
I don't write for a broad, general audience (whatever that is). I'm aware that M/M stories are largely by and for women, and I'm fine with that. But I'm also aware of certain appropriation or fetishization problems with the genre, so it meant quite a lot to me to hear from a gay male friend that a) he'd trusted me enough to give my novel his time and attention, and b) he found it satisfying enough to write me a fan letter.
Maybe I'll keep writing.
I finished Restraint last night near two in the morning then fell asleep awash with emotions. Principal among them was a sense of satisfaction a reader feels when a story has not just worked but has transported them. Upon the conclusion of your wonderful novel, I arrived at a place quite distinct from where I departed. Please know that it wasn’t simply a pleasurable excursion but a transformative one.
The ride concluded, I also felt a palpable sense of longing yearning for more of John and Tristan’s story and hunger for more of your writing. When you have the pre-orders available for [your work in progress], I would like to be the first in line. Your prose is rich, exact, elegant and seemingly effortless though by now I know well that effortless is more often an effect than an accurate description of how it arrives so miraculously on the page. In fact, as the story took its final turn in Book Four, I purposely slowed my pace, savoring the experience washing over me, not unlike the sensation that John and Tristan each had in cherishing the limited time they had left together. Quite an achievement considering this reader had never partaken in the genre of romance queer, historical or otherwise.
I just wanted to share that. It's only a small portion of a long and thoughtful actual letter on paper.
I don't write for a broad, general audience (whatever that is). I'm aware that M/M stories are largely by and for women, and I'm fine with that. But I'm also aware of certain appropriation or fetishization problems with the genre, so it meant quite a lot to me to hear from a gay male friend that a) he'd trusted me enough to give my novel his time and attention, and b) he found it satisfying enough to write me a fan letter.
Maybe I'll keep writing.
(no subject)
8/4/20 23:52 (UTC)I looked at your book mentioned in the post online, and maybe i'm just way too out of the loop, but - are you self-published or are you publishing with someone? Do you have an agent or did you just plunge in?
My BFF and i are seriously thinking of writing something publishing-friendly, and I just...dunno anything about it. At all, heh. Thank you!
(no subject)
8/4/20 23:59 (UTC)I've become a professional editor, and I hang out with professional editors, so I was able to get my manuscript structurally edited on a trade basis. My family are artists and photographers, so I was able to get my cover just the way I wanted it.
One of my editing group is also a marketing coach, so to the extent to which I've done what she tells me, I've built my platform a little. But I'm not ambitious enough to play the game.
If I had decided to stick to the dream of being published by one of the big five, I'd still be waiting.
All that said, I'd be happy to talk to you any time about how to make a story "publishing-friendly," because that's my side hustle these days--developmental editing, helping authors tell a story that works.
Have a gander over here to see more about what I do. This is not a sales pitch, by the way. I'll talk about this stuff for free any time with my old pals!
(no subject)
9/4/20 00:28 (UTC)And wow - very lucky and awesome to have people like in your corner, *and* to have those skills yourself!
Oh, i like the diagnostic service, that is very cool. I will definitely keep your link.
We write in google.doc, which i love for the little editing/chat thing that you can leave notes and such with, pointing out specific things. So much easier than the 'old school' way I first got beta'd, via email!
We have no timeline as of now, as this whole lockdown/virus is playing merry hell with my bff's finances and anxiety levels. Grrr.
But thank you! *makes sticky note* :D
(no subject)
9/4/20 02:05 (UTC)(no subject)
9/4/20 02:24 (UTC)Adobe sucks so hard sometimes.
Except for Photosheep. I do luff that. :D