IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T HIT THE BULL'S-EYE. . .

. . .TRY, TRY AGAIN!

 

Deni Dietz guesting for Robin:

 

Once upon a long time ago I wrote a paranormal history-mystery-romance called STARS OF FIRE. The title comes from a Shakespeare quote:

 

Doubt thou the stars are fire;

Doubt that the sun doth move;

Doubt truth to be a liar;

But never doubt I love.

 

My completed manuscript was dutifully submitted to various editors.

 

Response: "The writing is compelling but I don't think our readers will go for the paranormal elements."

 

Response: "The heroine is ugly!"

 

[Digress: The heroine isn't ugly. She's plain. There's a difference.]

 

Flash forward a few years in the life of mystery/romance author Denise Dietz/Mary Ellen Dennis. In one portion of Stars of Fire, my heroine, Jenny, wants to deliver a letter to President Buchanan before Lincoln takes office. Disguised as a young lad, she rides for the Pony Express. Hooray for the Internet. I found a map of the Pony Express route, rewrote the book from scratch, and retitled it JENNY.

 

Response: "The hero is too old."

 

Response: "Your hero is a perv."

 

[Digress: The hero meets the heroine when she's a child. She's about to cry and he wants to hug her. That's it. That's the "perv part." But you know what? I took it out.]

 

Response: "Do you know that your hero and heroine are separated for nearly half the book?" Well, yeah, I knew that.

 

And finally: "Though well-written, it read more like a literary novel with romantic elements than a romance novel with literary elements." Quote, unquote.

 

Flash forward a few more years. My Mary Ellen Dennis paranormal history-mystery-romance, THE LANDLORD'S BLACK-EYED DAUGHTER, had been published. It received starred reviews and went into three (or was it four?) printings and I made...what's that word again? Oh, yeah, royalties.

 

My publisher bugged me for another Mary Ellen Dennis historical.

 

I pulled JENNY off the shelf, an expression that really means out of my completed manuscripts file, and tightened it and polished it and gave it back its original title, STARS OF FIRE, and submitted it.

 

My editor said, "I LOVE THIS BOOK!" - quote, unquote - and. . .

 

STARS OF FIRE is scheduled for publication in 2010.

 

Does anyone have a similar experience with a book or story?

 

Does it bother anybody that I used a plain heroine rather than a drop-dead gorgeous heroine?

 

Over and Out,

Deni