The HEA Cafe

I admit I have a weakness for werewolves, vampires and anything else that goes bump in the night. But I picked up a book recently that is completely different from what I normally read and - wow - I love it. It’s called The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory and, yes, I’m probably the last person on the planet to have read this book.

Instead of dark hunters, vampire brotherhoods and immortal highlanders, I’m reading about sisterly rivalry, court intrigue and a few beheadings. It’s so good - and different - that now I’m wondering how many other great books I’ve missed because they’re not in my usual genre.

Of course I can’t read everything. As it is, I burn through 2-3 books a week and my TBR (to be read) stack is probably about as tall as I am. But still, it’s hard to think about the one that got away.

So in an effort to topple my already wobbling TBR stack, I ask you this: Have you read anything recently that’s made you stop and take notice? If so, tell us about it. And if I slip your recommendation up on top of the TBR pile, I’ll even send you a cover flat of The Accidental Demon Slayer.

I don’t know if any of you are guilty of this or not, but when I start tinkering with something, it’s hard to stop. Even when I dress my four-year-old daughter, I’m always adding a little headband or maybe a ribbon or adding a sweater. And yesterday, before sending galleys back to my publisher, I had to call Chessie, my critique partner, and quiz her about a single word. Do I scratch it out? Do I leave it in?

The kicker is, I don’t think our books will ever be as perfect as we want them to be. There will always be something to adjust, tweak, change or think about way too hard. To the point where I almost drove right past the UPS store last night and kept my galleys for one more day. After all, they’re not due until tomorrow. I could have overnighted them today. Taken one more look, thought more about that one word.

So how do you tame your “perfectionist” streak when it comes to your writing? Or do you? Does the same drive that makes us crazy also improve our work? Or do we just need to stop overthinking, stop the car and let our books go?

The first author who resonated with you, made you want to rush out and read the rest of a series, the author who made you care?

For me, it was Anne Rice, during the fall of ‘92 at the University of Missouri. My roommates and I were talking one night and it turned out they’d all read this amazing vampire series.

Vampires were cutting edge at the time. My friend Shay handed me a copy of Interview with the Vampire and an obsession was born. I missed every one of my classes that week as I read Interview, and then The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned and The Tale of the Body Thief. I couldn’t put those books down. And my friends, like the enablers they were, ate it up.

Now, sixteen years later, I don’t remember much about Economics 51 or Calculus (thank goodness), but I can still call up that giddy feeling I had when I discovered a new series, heck a new genre, that I knew I’d read again and again.

Do you remember the first time you discovered a new genre? Or a series that made you the reader or the writer you are today?

Or: Everything I needed to know, I learned from George Costanza

I’ve always loved to read, so it was no surprise to anyone when I eventually decided to write a book of my own. When I did, I attacked it head on. I planned, I worked, I outlined more than any woman should. The end result? I wrote three mysteries that didn’t sell.

I don’t know how many of you watch Seinfeld, but there is a time in George’s life where he decides what he’s been doing hasn’t been working, so he decides to do the opposite. That’s what I did with my books. I’d been writing serious mysteries, with lots of science and research involved. They’d generated some interest, enough to almost, almost sell. But nothing quite happened.

To take my mind off the latest mystery making the rounds with agents, I decided to write something completely different, a funny paranormal romance where I could build my own world and make up my own rules. I fell in love with the idea of a preschool teacher who is forced to run off with a gang of geriatric biker witches and THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER was born.

Instead of a 20-page plot outline, I had a 5-page list of ideas, one of which included “but little did they know, all the Shoney’s are run by werewolves.” Instead of following the rules, I broke a few. Instead of painstakingly writing over the course of a year, I giggled my way through the book and had a complete manuscript in five months.

The opening chapters did well in contests and caught the eye of an editor, who asked to see the whole thing. That same editor bought the book less than a week after I finished it.

I still can’t believe THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER will be an August 2008 release. And just this afternoon, I was working on the sequel, laughing with the characters and having more fun than I should.

While I’m not sure Seinfeld is the best place to go for life lessons, I really do think there’s something to be said for following your instincts – in writing and in everything else. Can you think of a time you’ve taken a different path? Broken out of a pattern and started something new?