A First Sale/Conference w/Suzy McKee Charnas

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

The big news is that Marjorie sold a novel yesterday! It’s a paranormal romance novel that she sent out in December. We are all very happy for her and proud of her. I think she was a little overwhelmed, first at her success itself and second at our joy of her success. It could not have happened to a nicer person. She is a wonderful person and an outstanding writer.

I turned in “Where the Vultures Feed” last night. It will probably be critiqued tomorrow. I feel good about the story, which bothers me; I’m thinking that if I feel that good about it, I may not be very objective. It is a deeply personal story, maybe too much so. But I think you have to put those things on paper, partly as therapy.

We’ve been getting some very good stories, especially the one today from Charles about Donizetti’s ghost.

I have my conference with Suzy in about 15 minutes. I think most of the conference will be about “Train to God,” which Nina had a hard time with because it is so emotionally painful to read.

I feel I’m growing as a writer, maybe not by leaps and bounds, but by inches. But I am learning. We’re all at different places in our writing. I think I'm somewhere in the middle of this group, but that’s okay. My motivational quotes on the door/wall are helping me and I hope they are helping others too. You’ve got to try.

Had a great conference with Suzy. She said that while “You Can Say” and “Who’s Your Mama” are basically beginner stories, “Train to God” is probably salable. Plus I’ve got “Where the Vultures Feed” to be critiqued tomorrow. A few people have already read it and told me they like the story and that several lines and details are good. That tells me that the story is probably not a complete whole yet. But I can’t allow myself to get down if the critiques are rough. I’m here to learn. And I refuse to doubt myself, my abilities, or my desire.