So … The Clock Just Ran Out

First, I guess I’ll note that my agent does not love C. She’s read the first 190 pages of it, and notes that it’s “smart — and what I call a confrontational novel. It forces the reader to think.”

This makes it decidedly not commercial, which I pretty much knew while I was working on it.

Second, if I want to present something to Claire (and I do) I have to have it in her hands so that she can approve it by Labor Day. She’ll need about a hundred pages, plus a full outline.

So C goes on the back burner, and Onyx Proposal #11-ish moves center stage.

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By Holly

Novelist, writing teacher, on a mission to reprint my out-of-print books and indie-publish my new ones.

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joela
17 years ago

Sorry to hear about C. On to the next project, eh…?

Gabriele
17 years ago

I see you’re playing around with the layout of your new blog. Just wanted to tell yout that I like the current one (with the mint coloured sidebars) best. 🙂

Vernieda
17 years ago

That’s too bad about C. Good luck with the Onyx proposal.

And welcome to the wonderful world of WordPress.

shay
17 years ago

sorry to hear about C, it looked to be going so well, my only advice is to never give up on a book that has your heart and soul in it. if you believe in it then nothing can stop you from making others believe in it. and it will only fail if you give up trying.
as for weblogs, i find livejournal.com to be the best and easiest to use.

silverfire
17 years ago

Sorry to hear that, Holly. I enjoy your fantasy novels, and I have to wonder why people think that thinking is bad … Good luck with Onyx Proposal. Hope Claire likes it.

Also, in your last post on the Geeklog blog, you gave the link to here as “writindiary2,” when it should be “writingdiary2.” And the 404 Error page has a link to an email form to report the error, but then the email form page says you’ve turned off emails and has no form. You might want to change that 404 page, perhaps, so it doesn’t lie to people, telling them they can email when they really can’t. 😉

Oh, and welcome to WordPress. 😀

MarFisk
17 years ago

Hi Holly, I wondered what happened when I got that nasty PHP error on your writing blog. Glad to see it is a move to the positive. Not having an archaic, difficult to update engine is a very good thing.

Hugs for C, but don’t give up on it. It can be your break day project, the one you work on when everything else just grinds to a halt. As you can probably guess from my review of Gods Old and Dark, I think your fantasy novels do make people think, but I also understand why they are a harder sell. Honestly, it’s a smaller market for things that make people think, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Good luck with getting Claire something she is happy with. From what I’ve heard, Last Girl Dancing is being well received. I messed up my Amazon order and so have to wait for Talyn’s release date, but I’ve seen it in Borders and it looks really good. Good luck with Hawkspur too. There’s a bunch of us waiting for that one :).

Cheers,
Margaret

Deathbyabsurdity
17 years ago

Good luck with C, Holly!

You will find the niche for C. It will come when you least expect it. Of course, us fans will run out to order it as soon as it does.

{{Hugs}}
Heather

arrvee
17 years ago

Good looking blog, Holly.

I’m sorry about C, too. I think it’s important to work onthings that come from your heart. I know you have to think about the commercial side of things, but I really hope C doesn’t die. Maybe one day you’ll find a home for it. Just let us know so we can pre-order.

JimShan
17 years ago

Hi Holly:
I love the new look for your blog. I tried Word Press in April but couldn’t get into the Cpanel to really do anything. I’ve got a local web support service even though my site is “under construction” at the moment. I haven’t read any of your books yet but once I can get some reading glasses (since I had a bi optical cataract operation last August)I haven’t been able to read much printed material like books or newspapers, even though I can read newsprint if I sqiunt really hard LOL!! I can read a computer screen just fine and my eyesite since the operation is excellent. I’m just having trouble reading small printed type. Once I get some new glasses though that will change. What books of yours would you recomend to start with? Sorry if this sounds rough toread, I just got up.

e.Jim

Linda
17 years ago

{{{HUGS}}}

I’m sorry C wasn’t well-received. Finish it anyway, even if you have to do it in small spurts around everything else, because every writer needs to do the projects they’re really passionate about. It sounds like your agent’s problem is not that it isn’t good, but that she dosen’t know who to sell it to. Maybe when it’s finished, it’s eventual home will be clearer.

Meanwhile, good luck with a new proposal for Claire. And good luck with the Hawkspar revisions. And anything else you’re working on right now.

I’m glad you decided to take weekends off. I think it will do a lot to keep you from getting burned out.

Thanks for letting us know why you changed weblogh software. I know I’m always trying to keep up so when I finally do my own web site, I have some idea which companies do a good job.

arohen
17 years ago

I’m sorry to hear that your agent doesn’t love C. If it’s any consolation, my wife is reading my copy of Midnight Rain and has had nothing but good things to say about it.

Kayla LH
17 years ago

I’ve been wondering about Hawkspar, too. The revision WIP bar has been stuck at 16k for awhile.

I’m sorry to hear about C. If there were more “confrontational novel”s out there, we would all be better off.

FrankA
17 years ago

“a confrontational novel. It forces the reader to think”

Sounds like my kind of read. Sign me up for a copy whenever it finds a home.

Ahdie
Ahdie
17 years ago

Holly – lots of hugs. Keep working on what you love: C. Question – what about the editing of Hawkspar? Is that on the back burner too? Is this Onyx a new one?

Ahdie/Mary

Gabriele
17 years ago

And forcing the reader to think is wrong why? *shakes head*

Good luck with Onyx and placing C somewhere.

bonniew
17 years ago

Holly, I’m sorry to hear that. I like the sound of “C,” though–I certainly like stories that make you think. I hope you’ll keep working on it, no matter what you end up presenting to Claire.

Like the new layout. What made you decide to switch to WordPress?

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