On writing, rejection, and Pitch Wars (warning: maudlin)

[lisefrac]

Originally published at Lise Fracalossi. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been writing a lot more lately. You probably noticed.

A funny thing has happened - I’ve turned into one of those people whose happiness seems to be dependent on how well their writing is going. To be fair, I’ve always had a bit of this; it’s just that in the past, there

Comments

[lisefrac]

Sure! Gods and Fathers is my novel about a god-touched prince and his silver-tongued adopted daughter, and what happens when the daughter is "liberated" by birth parents she didn't realize she had. She tries to run away, he tries to find her, gods conspire to get between them, etc. It takes place in a vaguely Indian-inspired fantasy setting, and it has divine word magic, prostitutes who double as priestesses, and sentient apes.

The primary critiques I got on (the first chapters of) this at VP were "there's nothing wrong with this story, but it didn't grab me" (from Steve Brust and Elizabeth Bear, no less), which was... frustrating. I made edits after that, and then... the friendly agent I sent it to (a good friend's agent) pretty much said the same thing--"looks good on paper, but I just don't want to keep reading."

(I also worry about cultural sensitivity, even in fantasy India... I like to think I did my homework, but my awareness of such stuff has evolved since I started writing this in... 2007?)

It's about 93,000 words, so if I wanted you to review it, I'd really have to decide if I want to invest $1500 for something which I may decide not to salvage. It might just be better to Write the Next Thing (tm).

[sovay]

It's about 93,000 words, so if I wanted you to review it, I'd really have to decide if I want to invest $1500 for something which I may decide not to salvage. It might just be better to Write the Next Thing (tm).

That's fair enough. If you really just want to write Lioness, you might as well write Lioness. If you think there's something salvageable in Gods & Fathers, it's your call. I am here on LJ no matter what.

[lisefrac]

I'll have to think about that. In any case, I really appreciate you taking the time to reply :) It helps me to feel less like I'm yelling into the void!