Midst the Madding Crowd!

Fio's world is full to the brim right now.  (1) Kensington turned down Kinkaid House because the story is too gritty for them, but the editor liked Fio's voice and wants to see more of what she's written.  (Sorry, guy, Fio writes gritty.)  (2) Fiorella's critique partner called and invited Fio to join her in Atlanta at the national RWA conference in July, and Fio said yes.  (3) The business deal seems to be coming to a head--again--and there's a concomitant lawsuit which Fio, Husband, and Nephew are filing. (4) Fiorella is almost nine chapters into the next book of her linked trilogy that starts with Kinkaid House.  And she's making notes for the third one.

Ain't it grand!!! Fio feels so alive!!!

The Future?

Fio's imagined herself standing up in front of her RWA chapter and announcing that a major publisher has bought HONEYSUCKLE DREAMS.  She's also imagined that Mira, Avon, Gallery, Kensington, Berkley, Grand Central, and every other publisher in the world turn her down and she's reduced to running off  copies of the manuscript at Kinko's, putting them in loose-leaf notebooks, and hawking them at farmers' markets and garage sales.

To Get Published or Not to Get Published

Got a note from Liza Dawson yesterday.  Ballantine said Honeysuckle Dreams didn't work for them, NAL said it was too dark, St. Martin's said they didn't know how they'd sell it, and SourceBooks said it was too similar to a series they were already promoting. Avon and Mira like it so far, but haven't finished reading the whole manuscript.  Kensington, Gallery (Pocket), Berkley, and Grand Central haven't started reading it yet.

Fiorella prefers not to think about the situation.  If HD sells, it sells.  If it doesn't, it doesn't.