Samhain Publishing

I’m giggling at the moment because as I sat down to write this blog I received an e-mail about an online time management class for writers. This, after I spent a 45-minute bike ride thinking about things like how the press is now saying, yes, John McCain’s a maverick, but the problem with mavericks is they’re all over the place. They can’t focus on any one thing for very long. Thus, the muddled messages that plagued his effort to gain the American people’s attention long enough to garner a majority vote.

In thinking about my own history as it relates to writing, I’ve decided I’d much rather be referred to as a maverick as opposed to someone who’s all over the place all the time and is easily distracted by shiny objects. Or in my case, new ideas.

I’m still a little shocked that I found a publisher for A MONTH FOR MIAMI. I tried a couple of years ago, to focus and do a hard target search for an editor or agent because, more than anything else I’d written to that point, I thought A MONTH FROM MIAMI had a shot. I’d pulled it together. The story worked. The characters were charming. It had all the ingredients for a publishable romance. And yet, I struggled to find a home for it before I literally stumbled across Samhain and the editor who saw its potential.

Okay, great. But I’m still easily distracted by my own brilliance. Earlier this year, I started a sequel to A MONTH FROM MIAMI. Rick has a twin brother with his own story. Who knew? But before I finished it, I had another flash of genius, and I switched genres to write urban fantasy. Urban fantasy being a genre I don’t read. I didn’t even know what it was until I saw the category on Samhain’s web site. I had to ask my editor, “What’s that?” The field looked wide open unlike the crowded field of romance.

Once again, I’ve put myself in a position of being the salmon swimming upstream. I’m a barely known writer with a few writing credits in romantic comedy, and I’m embarking on a genre new to me. As if that isn’t enough, I’m adding a whimsical sort of twist to my urban fantasy that I haven’t seen done before. Oh, yes, Barbara, that’s what agents and editors love. To take a chance on something that hasn’t been done before by someone who’s never done it. Good luck selling that. Editors and agents say they want a new twist on an old idea (because there are no new ideas) but when you present them with it, they often balk.

I wonder sometimes if I don’t purposely sabotage myself, and yet I can’t seem to help it. I get carried away. I’m hopelessly drawn to what interests me, and I single-mindedly pursue it until I get bored. Then I move onto something else. I must be in touch with my masculine side…

But give me some credit. I did finish Book One in my urban fantasy series and I am pursuing agents and editors. Book Two is halfway written in my head.
I can’t write a blog without mentioning Starbucks, can I? I got the idea for this series from working there. Did you know that Starbucks baristas become virtually invisible as soon as they don that green apron? You’d be surprised what you find out when people don’t notice you’re there. Why, it’s like being a fly on a wall.
And speaking of Starbucks, being able to multi-task is considered an asset in that job. Why can’t I apply my multi-tasking abilities to my writing? Why does it seem to translate as a sort of hybrid attention deficit disorder? I must be too creative for my own good. My brain can only focus on so many ideas at any one time and therefore I flit from one project to another.

But from now on I’m going to focus. Follow through. Stick with it.
Now, let’s see. Where’s that murder mystery I’m working on?