Much Overdue Update!

My poor, poor neglected blog. I know, I know. I kept promising to set up a regular schedule for this and then time just slipped through my fingertips and before I knew it, months had passed. Shameful, I know. I debated giving up, but I'm a horrible quitter and I've been blogging for so long I hated to throw in the towel even though so much of the media world is now focused on the quick hits like Facebook statuses and Twitter quips.

I have both, but I still like my blog. Call me old school.

For a quick update - I'm toiling away at the second book in the BRIDES OF FATAL BLUFF series. THE OUTLAW BRIDE is out in the big, bad world and appears to have been welcomed warmly. A big thanks to all of you who have left such lovely feedback for my debut effort. Next up will be THE WIDOW BRIDE. This will focus on one of the other brides that took the train ride to Fatal Bluff with Kate in THE OUTLAW BRIDE. Faith meets up with Nate Thompson, who was also introduced in Book 1. This meet up throws Faith's world into a bit of a tailspin, but I won't say why just yet. Wouldn't want to ruin the fun!

After THE WIDOW BRIDE, we'll find out what happens to the last mail order bride on the train, Elizabeth. She has a backstory that was loads of fun to write and was rivaled only by her intended groom's, Tanner. I'm really looking forward to sinking my teeth into this one!

And for those of you who have asked me about Ed Devers and Garrett Bentley, not to worry! I have a book planned for each of them as well. As for those of you who have inquired upon the fate of the real Hannah Stockdale from THE OUTLAW BRIDE? I have something up my sleeve...

Meanwhile, I'm have another western historical I'm waiting to hear from a publisher on, so fingers crossed on that one. There is also a regency historical series that I am debating whether to shop around, or jump into the self-publishing pool. Decisions, decisions...and never enough hours in the day!

And in case anyone is interested, you can find me on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/kellyboyce1/  where I have a board for each of the series I'm working on filled with character pictures, settings, etc.

Enjoy!

The Great Re-evaluation of 2009

Well, I managed a second place finish in the Toronto Golden Opportunity contest, breaking my past winning streak with this contest. And sadly, no request from Leis Pederson despite the 8/10 rating. Unfortunately there were no comments on the scoresheet from her so I have no idea why she chose not to pick it up for further inspection. I’ll tell myself it was due to timing and economy.

To be honest, while disappointed, I wasn’t crushed. You see, for the past little while I just haven’t been feeling things writing-wise. It’s almost like I’ve just been going through the motions. Yesterday, before the contest results came in, I started giving it some thought. Did I want to give up on writing? That was a resounding no. For one, I really have no back-up plan. There is nothing else I want to do. This is it for me. But when I asked myself did I want to keep writing historical romance, well that answer wasn’t quite so clear.

The problem I’m having right now is the trends in the market. You keep hearing how editors want that ‘sexy historical’. They want you to try something different. But by different, they don’t really mean a new setting, a new time period, a new anything really other than a new way to fit more sex into the book. At least that has been my take on it based on the information and feedback I keep getting. It is beginning to feel like more sex, less story. And I prefer the opposite – more story, and sex only when it is appropriate to the story and the characters.

It seems to me the parameters of what is acceptable are getting narrower, not broader. The timeframes continue to be mostly restricted to Regency (getting the lion’s share), Victorian, and those Scottish highlanders, with maybe a little medieval thrown in from time to time.

When I originally started writing historical it was because of the variety. I was excited that I could pick and choose from a vast array of times and settings. Along with the usual – Regency, Victorian and the Scots, there were also Cowboys and the Civil War, the American and French Revolutions. Crusading knights and medieval lords. Pirates even! Where have they gone?

Anyway, my point is, this has all led me to re-evaluate what I want to be doing. Lately, I have had the urge to write something deeper. Something more from my gut. Grittier, more emotional maybe. I'm not entirely sure what.

So I have decided to put my regular writing on hold for the month of October. I am going to play around with some new ideas and see what I come up with for NaNo. I’ll resume the edits on Invitation to Scandal in December. I still like that story – I still like all the historicals I’ve written. I’m just not sure they are what the market is looking for. But I’ll do the editor/agent search in December either way and see what happens.

As for next year, that depends on what happens with the manuscripts I have out for submission right now, but my current plan is to not worry so much about pumping out the manuscripts to add to my inventory, but instead to take the year and work on a book I love, maybe take the time to do some thorough research and write historical mainstream, or develop the YA novel I’ve been toying with for the past few years. Or maybe I’ll work on a contemporary story with romantic elements. Who knows? Whatever it is, it’ll be a story I want to tell the way I want to tell it.

A Break with Romance

I am taking a break from romance. Reading, not writing. Although I am also branching out into other areas of writing as well with a shift to more mainstream historical fiction and, of all things, children’s books. Then there’s that crime/legal thriller that’s been kicking around in my cranium for a little over a year now…

But I digress.

You see, here’s the thing. Firstly, I love historical romance. It combines all the elements that interest me – history, adventure, relationships. But lately, that’s all I’ve been reading, and I’m discovering that sometimes too much of a good thing is not such a good thing. Even my favourite authors who never fail to keep me glued to the page are not doing the trick. I don’t feel the same joy I normally feel when I delve into a new story. And it isn’t because the book is not a good book, it’s simply because I am craving something different. Like I overfed on Caesar salad and now I’d sell my own mother down the river just to have a taste of Greek.

Okay, I wouldn’t actually sell my mother down the river. I like my mother. She’s highly entertaining, survived having me as a daughter, and makes the most amazing apple crisp. But you get my drift. I want something different. In reading material, not mothers, that is.

And it isn’t as if I don’t have a bevy of books to choose from. My TBR pile has a plethora of selection. Granted about 65% of that selection is historical romance, but I also have plenty of historical fiction, fantasy, literary and a few contemporary. I have authors like Ken Follett, Anne Bishop, Emma Donoghue, and Marisa De los Santos sitting on my shelf. I have classics like Middlemarch and North and South waiting to be picked up. I have a few borrowed books I’m sure my critique partner would like to get back that are completely outside the norm of what I would normally read but still look interesting.

So here is what I’m doing – for the rest of the summer I am going on a self-imposed hiatus from historical romance. I will start working my way through the other 35% of my TBR pile. I will rediscover my joy of a good story well told in genres outside my usual comfort zone. My imagination is feeling the need to expand and reach beyond its boundaries. It’s growing stagnant and that’s never a good thing for a writer.

So off I go. Should be an interesting summer.

It’s That Time of the Year Again!

That’s right…it's resolution time…ahhh yes. Another reason to make a list. And we all know how I do love a list.

I really had to sit down and think over what I wanted to accomplish this year. I’ve been feeling a little burned out on the historical romance genre of late. Not the historical end of things, but more on the parameters of the romance genre part. I keep hearing how the editors / agents are looking for books that break the mould, how they want the books to be sexier, etc, etc. And while that’s all well and good if it fits the story you are telling, a part of me is beginning to feel as if the story is coming in second to the sexy. And I don’t want to tell a sexy…I want to tell a story. And I don’t want to be told to sex it up for the sake of sales at the expense of the story.

Now, maybe I was just having an off day when I was doing my goals, and I’m not saying that I will no longer write historical romance. I have every intention of keeping my toes in that pond. But my ultimate goal has always been to write historical fiction with a romantic element – think Elizabeth Chadwick, along those lines. Where the story and the history and the characters have top billing and the romance feeds into all of these elements but at the same time you are not constricted in what you do. There is a freedom in historical fiction to really branch out into the grittier side of things, to explore different eras that might not sell as well in the romance genre, and to bring to life characters both real and fictional who come from all walks of life rather than just the upper crust.

For the past several months I’ve had a story percolating in the back of my head that wants to be told. It is straight historical fiction and bit by bit the heroine is revealing herself to me, to the point where I had begun to make notes of who she was and what her story is. Then the title popped into my head, and once that was done, there was no turning back.

When it came time to write down my goals, I had to decide what the best use of my time would be this year, given that my writing time is limited to 1.5 hours per day in the morning. As Brimstone has yet to sell, jumping in and doing Book 2 didn’t seem to be a good idea until I knew what was going on with Book 1. So I decided to look at my inventory. I have first drafts of a western historical I did for Nano in 2007 (Salvation Falls) and the first draft of a new series I did for Nano this past November (Invitation to Scandal).

So here are my writing goals for 2009:

1) Do revisions to Salvation Falls (Jan – Apr).
2) Do revisions to Invitation to Scandal (May – Aug)
3) Research historical content for The Tangled Garden and develop outline (Jan – Aug)
4) Write first draft of The Tangled Garden (Sep – Dec)

Next up…figure out my personal goals for the year, one of which will likely be to work off the gelatinous spare tire developing where my waistline used to be…