Thursday, June 9, 2016

No No, NaNo! (or... Yes Yes?)

by Giselle Renarde


Like Lisabet, I've been doing far too much of nothing lately.

Not NOTHING, exactly. Try spending an entire day staring at a wall. I can manage that if I'm severely depressed, but that's not where I'm at right now. Still, I haven't been writing much of anything. Even typing this blog post right now feels a little strange. My fingers aren't accustomed to the work-out.

I used to be a prolific author. I've lost track of how many short stories I've written over the years. Hundreds, definitely. Possibly a thousand or more.

I've never been a big novel writer, but I think I've written at least a dozen. Lots of novellas and novelettes.

Recently, my rights have been returned to me on a number of works from a number of publishers. Sometimes it was the case of a publisher folding. Sometimes I asked for my rights back because sales were low. Sometimes rights were offered back to me because sales were low.

So in this anniversary year (10 years writing professionally!), what have I written?

Umm.... not much, actually. I've been editing, repackaging and republishing older works.

The last book I wrote was a NaNoWriMo novel, November 2015, working title: In My Stepbrother's Shadow. That will probably change to simply In Shadow. I was trying to write a simple Stepbrother Romance, because they were so popular waaaaaay back in November. But of course my unconscious took over and it somehow turned into an allegory about Canada's spectacular colonialist ability to both ignore and malign our Indigenous population. 

Not exactly what I was aiming for, but much more to my taste. Kind of sucks that I set out to write a book that could make me money and I ended up writing a book that'll only be purchased by five Jungians (and one of them will be me).

But that's how I operate. I'm constantly shooting myself in the foot financially. It's what I do. My sister says it's my Adult Children of Alcoholics inability to live an easy life. I always give myself problems to deal with. The second things start going well, I rip the carpet out from under myself.

I am my own best friend and my own worst enemy.

However... I got an email reminder that "Camp NaNoWriMo" is coming up in July. I've done the November one a few times, but never the summer session. I think it'll be a good idea for me.

I've spent far too long rehashing the past. It's time for something new.

(Although I will take this opportunity to let you know my erotic novel Anonymous is FREE right now at Amazon. You've got until Sunday to grab a copy for no money. Please do! Links are on my blog.)

10 comments:

  1. "But that's how I operate. I'm constantly shooting myself in the foot financially. It's what I do."

    Oh, I don't know. It could be interpreted as being true to your art instead of driven by the fickle market.

    That's what I'd like to believe, anyway.

    (I've been thinking about trying to reclaim some of my rights. I have seven novels that are simply languishing... But the contracts are tough and then, if I did pull the books, I'd have to spend my time re-editing and republishing instead of writing something new. NAH!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's how I feel, Lisabet. I don't want to have to get involved with buying a new cover, figuring out how/where to self-pub, etc. All I wanna do is write!

      Delete
    2. Re-editing and republishing is a great excuse not to write! Setting up the self-publishing accounts and learning graphic design was a massive headache at first, but totally worth it.

      Delete
  2. "But of course my unconscious took over and it somehow turned into an allegory about Canada's spectacular colonialist ability to both ignore and malign our Indigenous population."

    I think this is a one-sentence description of why I love you, Giselle. So there's that. <3 <3 <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. By the way I also recently had an experience that went in a similarly unexpected direction.

      Publisher: We'd love a super hot story about X fetish, based on this fairy tale.

      Me: Great! I'll go work on that!

      Me at my computer: How did X fetish turn into a way of talking about the illegal annexation of Hawaii??? ::Shrugs:: Keeps typing.

      Delete
    2. I hope this book is as good as it is in my head. I haven't looked at it since November. I'm a little nervous. heh

      Delete
    3. I burst out laughing at your comment, Annabeth. But yeah, I definitely agree with your comment about Giselle. You have such a deliciously fertile mind! (And I am not even talking about pregnancy erotica...)

      Delete
  3. For me, one of the greatest joys of writing is beginning with a simple (and even shallow) concept and then discovering more and more layers of meaning and connectivity as they percolate up from depths of your mind that you didn't even know were there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Control thy characters or give them their lead--that is the question.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Giselle, I'm not sure I would go out of my way to read a simple stepbrother romance, but a book that includes sex AND Canada's colonial relationship with the indigenous population (still here, not dying out, and understandably unhappy) -- now that sounds like a worthwhile read. We're cheering for you. BTW, there is a local debate about whether and how soon to rename Davin elementary School, named for a fairly typical piece of work from the 19th century, Nicholas Flood Davin, racist Irish drunk who advocated the residential school system to another (Scottish) drunk, first Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald. I've written some sarcastic words about Davin here on the Grip. More sarcasm could be poured on every white man in power at that time.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.