I set out to write romance
and yet at the end of the day, I’m struggling with what genre my book actually is. What difference does it make, you might be asking. Well a really big one. It all boils down to dollars my friends. Agents have to know exactly what they are getting so they can sell your book and make money, honey.
Here’s the thing, if you don’t stick to a particular genre, then the editor cannot edit the book for that market. If you submit the manuscript to an agent that only likes Romance novels but avoids Woman’s Fiction and your book is just that, then you are going to be rejected. There are very strict guidelines in publishing and I am learning more and more about this. So basically, I am teetering on the brink of going outside of my genre and I have to choose.
After beating my head against a wall and several cups of coffee later, I looked up and it was after 12:00 noon. I’d been at it for hours and I realized I should walk away and gain some perspective.
Spring has sprung and I was happy to be outside. It’s my favorite time of year. The awakening of life and new hope. YEAH! The things we have been putting on hold because of the winter are now going to slowly get started. I am excited to work on our second faze of rebuilding our destroyed backyard from what the Clayton Fire did. Being outdoors and feeling the sun on your face is healing.
My husband worked whenever possible this winter at removing the most dangerous tree debris and hauling out the large logs. Now he is starting to find our old irrigation that was partially damaged from the dozer going through to create a fire break. He has made great progress and hopes to get our lawn in the backyard replanted soon. It’s only ONE of the many things to do out there.
The pictures aren’t the best because my camera is in the shop and I had to use my phone, but the patio was poured last season and I’m loving it! A pergola will be added and our youngest wants an outdoor bar. As you can see, we still have more tree work to do and fencing to repair. It’s a work in progress but coming along. The resilience of Mother Nature is amazing though, and there is much green coming back and our seasonal creek below is still a blessing. Walking around out there made me breath deeply and I smiled, feeling the sun touch my skin.
It made my writing anxiety drift away being outdoors. The temperatures outside today were in the mid 70’s and my tulips and daffodils are coming up. Everywhere I looked it was green in my little valley.
Something special that our tree guy Kyle, did is in the picture below.
This tree died and had to come down.
It was below my brother-in-law and his wife’s house right down our street, and was huge! The oak tree was magnificent and quite old and we all loved it. Sadly, the fire killed it but when Kyle took it down, he noticed this lightning like split within the tree. He cut a large D for Diener, in the remains and told us it was our new symbol. The Lightning D Ranch. It warms my heart each time I see it.
So back to the grind. I am going to make more notes tonight and tackle the book some more tomorrow with some fresh ideas on how to improve it. My editor Jen, is a wonderfully knowledgeable gal and giving me sound advice but in the end, I have to make some tough decisions and stick to them. This book has been my heart for more than the past two years and I want to make it shine.
Happy Easter friends. May you all enjoy this springtime season.
