A Partial Career Update

I had a really good time at the book signing I attended two weeks ago. I didn't sell much, but the people I met were wonderful, and it was good to see so many self-published out there--and not just self-published, but bonafide publishers of their own. It was inspirational, truly. It was one of the best experiences at a book fair I have had. And now there's an article about African-American Romance and how people are finally waking up to the fact that black people/women read and voraciously, and that our stories...aren't as typical as the "mainstream", and that "our romanace" ain't like "theirs", and yet it is.

Pushing at boundaries, baby.

Which is probably why I am struggling through the end of a novel I am writing because it's taking very many twists and turns to get to the ending I see. I am a fly-by-your-seat writer because I let the characters do what they will. The times I've tried to force them in the direction I want them to go...they've never ended well. So I'm just a reporter on the insanity that is my mind and L'Hotel Characters Who Don't Know What the Devil They Want Other Than a HEA. So, I've been writing...other things that aren't so twisting and turning and angst-filled and heavy. I've gotten great response for it, but I still chug away at the novel.

Meh.

So, as I've been "unemployed" since February, I'm shifting more of my focus on manuscript editing. I just finished a project for Aliyah Burke and I have at least three more to work on for her; as well as Shara Azod offering me work on some projects for her, and Jeanie Johnson and Jayha Leigh wanting me on tap for them once their publishing house gets off the ground. I'm truly, truly grateful for this, and I am also a little anxious. Editing someone else's work is nerve-wracking, especially because it's someone else's. I try my hardest to go a good job, but those times you don't...everyone notices. I want to lower the rate of those instances significantly, because the one time I didn't it turned into a fiasco that almost led me to severing relationships with people I truly admire and respect. I know life is like that, but that part of life ain't the business at all!

I also have to think of my own writing career--the above novel aside. I have another novel that, like I said in a previous post, that everyone in the romance industry who judged it tore into smithereens. Now I have to wonder if I should just scrap the entire idea or self-publish it on my own. Like the above novel, this one goes into some very "don't be going there!" territories in the romance genre. And maybe I just need to reread it again or...a fresh pair of eyes should read it. It got great response when I had it up on my Google Group, but, I don't know...yet, I do have a few others I could release. Then again, there are other avenues of publication and I should never forget those. I have to keep trying and not get so comfortable in DIY. And...I need to get more comfortable at DIY too! However, I'm getting dangerously low on my "already written" cache.

Hence the need for me to finish up that novel. And Felix's Story. And too many other stories I've started and haven't looked at in months...maybe years. You'd think with all this "free time" I have I'd know how to be more productive. But if my muse ain't there, he ain't there.

*please come back muse, please!*

I think the solution is to leave my house, not even take my computer, and handwrite. We'll see if I do that. But if I pretend I'm "going to work" (although, I am), I'll be more productive than staring at the same more-than-four walls of my apartment (have I mentioned I love my apartment? Yes!).

Yay, early Saturday-morning purges!

RWA Writing Contests

Well,

I've entered two different RWA-affiliated contests, and both of them basically said I suck as a writer. More importantly, nobody liked Vietnam Story at all, which I understand because it's not a very...traditional romance. Then again, none of my stories follow those "romance novel" rules.

Oh, well. I may have to set that aside even more to see what I ultimately want to do with it. Figure out how to distill the critiques with out destroying the story. Sometimes it's hard to determine which is legitimate critique and just someone not liking your style as a writer. I'm still learning how to make that distinction.

Mentors/Reflection

It is important to have them whatever you do in life, and I've been blessed to almost stumble upon them. My first one in the writing biz was a fellow writer named Mirevas (it's her pen name). She's not published, but she should be. She's one of the people who helped me shape the first draft of Being Plumville. I had a different ending, and she flat-out asked me "this is not the ending you really want, is it?" The fact she knew that blew my mind, and it was because of her I got the courage to write the ending that was truly inside, and I think it does the novel much more justice than the first ending could've.

Then I joined various message boards to learn about the industry. I got to IMRR and RICH, and the ladies there have been exceedingly helpful and encouraging. I "met" Aliyah Burke there, and my fangirling self sent her an e-mail I never thought would be answered because she's this amazing published author and I'm still trying to get my life together. Turns out she's been one of my biggest rocks and actually the first person to buy Being Plumville (she got the e-book). She's been such an invaluable mentor and friend to me, and one day I hope we can meet face to face (sans paper bag :-P).

Then I joined Jayha Leigh's group. I'm not very active because I'm shy; don't really have much to contribute to many of the topics; and they are some of the most outrageous (in a good way) group of people I've ever seen! From there I got hooked up with Jayha (obvs), her daughter Jeannie, Rolonda, and Shara Azod (just to name a few). Apparently, some of my stories have been "claimed"; some heroes have been "bookmarked" lol; and now I'm doing some editing for them. I was surprised because they write Erotica (random: yeah . . . don't think I will. I know I made a blog post saying I would, but at the moment, nothing erotic in nature has floated through mah brainz yet). But, heck, if I don't write erotica and enjoy their work, I'm sure the vice-versa could happen too. And it did.

And then I finally got the courage to go to my local RWA chapter . . . and its conference. Just about everyone is published there at some of the biggest houses in the romance industry. I was concerned because I was the youngest and, based on my attendance so far, the only person of color and the only person writing IR/MC. I thought I wouldn't fit in. The ladies in my chapter have been nothing but helpful and supportive. The conference really sealed it, because they were so eager to help my lost, newbie self, and now I feel like part of the group. I sat and talked to Ashlyn Chase for over and hour and she gave me such great advice; and I actually drummed up the courage to talk to Suzanne Brockmann (and if you know how shy I am, you know how huge of a thing that was for me!). That's how comfortable and supported I felt, and that was so appreciated.

And then RSJ. Man, what a conference. All these people whose books I bought now have a face to a name. People I thought had never heard of me came up to me and said I was a great writer. People gave me contact info, check in on me . . . are there when I have questions/concerns/fears/good news. I need that. I don't really have that. A lot of times I think I'm talking to the ethers, that no one is really reading this blog or reading what's on my group, and then I get an e-mail from someone encouraging me. I think for so long I've been used to me, myself, and I, that I'm still shocked and amazed that there are others, others who just solely based on what I've written, are behind me and rooting for me. It's overwhelming and humbling and I'm so grateful. Beverly Jenkins, Lisa G. Riley, Marcia Colette, Monique Lamont, Kimberly Kaye Terry, Celeste O. Norfleet, Alice Wootson, Kayla Perrin, Leslie Thompson, Sean Young, Simone Harlow, Farrah Rochon . . . just yo, man. I was in the presence of greatness for real. And then people would sit and talk to me for lengths of time because they were interested in what I had to say? Blew me away. Isis, a member of IMRR/RICH who was in our groups said "people just need to ask you the right questions, and you open up." I guess she was right, because I talked more about my writing then than I ever had. I didn't feel . . . ashamed about it, that I'd care much more than the listener would. I didn't have to be uncomfortable about my love for my craft, and it felt good. There was one moment I found myself as the mentor to someone else . . . a little Twilight Zone moment for me, but I also felt extremely honored she wanted my advice and was taking it to heart.

And speaking of IMRR, Crystal Hubbard wrote me one of the most jaw-droppingly fantastic e-mails ever. She is published many times over, and when I first saw her on the board, I was intimidated by her (but I'm intimidated by published authors in general . . . I'm working on getting over that; RSJ definitely helped me on that front!). I had no idea she'd read my book, but she wrote me back about it. Yeah. Yeah. I tell you when I first started writing that book, I had no idea about the reception I would get--let alone it would be this positive. But for this published author, an author very beloved given her reception on the IMRR board, to take time out to write me back about it . . . just wow.

She wrote me a birthday ode too!

And then other mentors are not even writers at all, nor are they older. They are the people who have the faith and confidence in me . . . sometimes FOR me . . . and I'm glad they're there. Too many to name, but they know who they are.

I'm home for Memorial Day weekend. Last year this time I had my very first book signing. A lot of wonderful things have happened over the course of the year. I'm very grateful.

ETA: I keep adding onto this post! I also want to shout out Karyn Langhorne and Wendy Coakley-Thompson, too, and their on-hiatus show The Book Squad. It was a fantastic show and an honor to be on there! They've also been very encouraging and I appreciate it.

RWA, Reviews, and Accolades

1.) I totally had a RWA Chapter conference 2 weeks before my RSJ experience. I TOTALLY had a worthwhile time there too. I met Suzanne Brockmann, and she's amazing. In fact, my chapter is pretty darn amazin (holla, New England). I had a great pitch with an agent there, and the other authors there were more than willing to chat with me and give me advice. I felt a little fish out of water because, unlike RSJ, I was practically integrating the place racially, and I was among the youngest as well. Not only that, outside of Ms. Brockmann, I was pretty much the only person there writing multicultural romance, emphasis on interracial. I'm glad I had that conference before RSJ, though. It forced me to say and claim what I wrote; to not be ashamed or timid about it. It also helped me not be intimidated, because my chapter is fully of Harlequin/Kensington/Dorchester/Avon/St. Martin's Press/Ellora's Cave, etc writers. And here I am--iUniverse and Lulu Press. But you know what? For many of them it took YEARS to get to those houses and they started later in life. I'm not in bad shape at all.

2.) So here's the thing. What I'm about to blog about are weeks old--some even months old. However, if you know (of) me, I have a tendency to hoard good news. I'm working on it. But I think if I put it in the universe, it'll be stripped away from me somehow. Don't ask me why, I think it's a self-defense mechanism. But the RSJ has helped me realize it's okay to share good news. Good people will genuinely be happy for you. It's not conceit, or selfishness, or bravado. If you're good, don't dim your light for anyone else.

3.) Ergo, without further ado . . .

Romance Junkies gives Being Plumville 4.5/5 stars:

The characters and plotline are fully developed and feel like the real world with real people. I made an emotional connection to Ben and Coralee and felt their love and pain in equal measure. The obstacles these two admirable individuals must overcome are realistically presented, making me feel like I was right there beside them all the way. Author Savannah Frierson captures the essence of Southern rules and bigotry with flair; she made me recall what it was like as a child growing up in the South. Full of tension and tenderness, racial tension and romance, author Savannah J. Frierson captures the essence of a turbulent time in our nation’s history. BEING PLUMVILLE is a novel I plan to purchase for several friends.

By Romance Junkies Reviewer: Scarlet

And thank you to everyone who voted in the 2007 SORMAG READERS' CHOICE AWARDS.

The Best Multi-Cultural Self Published Book Of The Year

Being Plumville

The Best Multi-Cultural Self Published Author Of The Year

TIE

Sylvia Hubbard

Ann Clay

Savannah Frierson


The Best Multi-Cultural New Self Published Author Of The Year

Savannah Frierson

I think that's it for now. Oh, and keep your fingers crossed. I'm sending off manuscripts to folks this week. Also, thanks for your patience with Vietnam Story. It's not languishing, I promise.