Howling at the Moon

Fiorella started writing romances with the idea of making money, but she's expanded her horizons. Now she wants to save the world, or at least the world of women. She wants women to read her books and tell themselves that if Fio's heroines can stay true to themselves and persevere through their adversities, they can too.

All of which means that Fio is doing some deep thinking about how she presents her stories to agents. In the past, she's tried to disguise herself as a sheep, when actually she's more lupine. Her stories are gritty, as realistic as she can make them. RWA chapter members Janece Hudson, April Kihlstrom, Julie Kenner, and Emily McKay have prompted her to find out what she's really writing so she can present herself honestly to prospective agents.

And Fio thinks it's working. She spent four hours yesterday filling out a long, soul-searching on-line agent submission form, and she thinks she aced it. Fiorella's new tag line: life isn't always pretty, and my storylines go the limit.

Of course, Fio's grittiness is terribly out of style now. The nostalgia wave has followed hard on the heels of the erotica wave and the YA wave, but the pendulum will swing. Grittiness will have its day.

Eyes, Neighborhood, Writing

Fio's recovery is progressing. The skin around her eyes has gone from red and black to yellow and purple.
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Cedar Hollow Road looks like a drunken Arab wrote all over it with black tar, which means either a dribble truck drove down its length or the county is repairing cracks left by the winter freeze. Guess elections are right around the corner.
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Fio got turned down by all three agents who expressed interest in her, which is discouraging. On the other hand, failure is the route to success