Tempting Tuesdays a read along of Some Girls Bite has come to an end. To celebrate, Chloe Neill has stopped by the hosts blog to finish up this month of fun. Today I would like to thank Chloe for her enthusiasm as we all discussed her book, to my co-hosts Jenny, Missie and Rummanah and to all you gals who participated with us. At the end of the Chloe's letter you can see who won the prizes!
Dear Reader:
Is it surprising to learn that I used to get panicky about writing assignments? That my only English class in college was "African Novel"? that I promised myself I would never, ever get a job that required me to write?
And yet, here we are. :)
In high school and my first year of college, I thought I was headed for a career in the visual arts. A "starving artist" of the New York variety, or maybe an illustrator. (I didn't know much about commercial graphic design back then, or surely it would have topped the list, too.) I did not like to write; hated it, in fact. I wasn't good at constructing sentences, and the act of doing it made me nervous and fretful to the point of distraction.
It was probably a fateful decision, then, that I attended a liberal arts college that prized writing over multiple choice exams . . . and that led me away from studio art in my second year. I wrote a paper as a sophomore, a short essay intended to examine the women's rights movement. Instead of jumping into a discussion of the history, I started by writing the story of a fictitious woman named Hillary.
In other words, instead of simply writing a summary, I wrote a story. It got a good review from my professor, I recall, but that didn't change my mind one iota. Writing was not for me. The song didn't change after grad school, or in a summer job as I watched my employers lock themselves in their offices to finish drafts. The proposition of having to write for a living, on a deadline, horrified me.
But then, after a string of random occurrences, I got a job as a kind of pseudo-reporter. I watched things happen; I wrote about them. I wrote about them every day for months on end. And in that process, I got more comfortable constructing sentences, putting clauses together and shaping paragraphs.
I learned, in the most basic sense, how to write.
Still, that was it. I read--had always loved to read--but I was quite content to leave the fiction writing to others. It didn't even occur to me to write fiction. After all, I only barely liked writing at my job. Why do it for fun? Unfortunately, one sad day around that time, an important relationship ended. I healed by reading. And then reading more. And more and more and more. I devoured 8 or 10 paperbacks a week, usually romance, usually in a series of some type because I loved recurring characters and inside jokes. Eventually, I ran out of things to read. I couldn't find a series I enjoyed or a romance with enough sparkle to hook me.
I thought, at first, I'd try my hand at fan fiction. I loved Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. Since I read faster than she published, I decided to imagine myself into the books to fill time until the next episode was released. After about 2,000 words of Dark Hunter fan fiction, I felt silly. These weren't my characters; they were hers. It felt weird to play the game using someone else's cards.
So, on Labor Day in 2005, I opened a Word file and I started to write.
When I wasn't in class (grad school, at the time), I was writing. Weekends, I was writing. I wrote the same way I'd read--voraciously. I created a family of characters and a bevy of sarcastic inside jokes. I plotted seven books in a paranormal romance series, one romance per book, and I plastered a wall in my apartment with sticky notes--ideas and quips for later books. I finished the manuscript on New Year's Day. It wasn't very good--and I have a rejection letter to prove it. But I'd done it, and it hadn't been nearly as bad as I'd imagined. A few months later, I started my second manuscript, which I called THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER. (Seriously. Isn't that terrible?) It took six months to write and six months to edit. When I was reasonably confident I was done, I sent it to one publisher--Penguin.
A few months later, we mutually decided that SOME GIRLS BITE was a much better title. :)
Today, I have a day job (in which I write) and a writing career (in which I write). I write a LOT, and there are still times when the words don't come and the fear rises up. But I've now written ten novels, and each seems to reinforce one central idea: A book is crafted one sentence at a time. Don't worry about the last sentence in the manuscript--worry about the next sentence in the manuscript. You can deal with everything else later.
Thanks for listening. And reading.
Love,
Chloe
Chloe, you are awesome! I cant wait to finish the series!!
Again thanks everyone, Tempting Tuesdays was a blast, the winners of the prize packs are:
Grand Prize Winner:
Christy @ Love of Books
Charmfall Winners:
Heidi @ Rainy Day Ramblings
Chantaal @ Wandering Fangirl
This essay touched me a bit. I'm always asked if I'd ever like to write a book, consider writing a book, thinking of writing a book. lol. The voracious reader/librarian combo always seems to make people think I'd long to create what I spend so much time enjoying.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I'll ever actually attempt anything. But I found Neill's history somewhat heartening. Maybe someday I'll try it...just for fun. And not get all cramped up because I'm not analyzing another's work but creating my own. Very cool post.
YAY! Thanks again for hosting Tina, we need to do read-alongs more often I think! I'll be excited to see what you think of the rest of the series if you get to them:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteI had a blast!
I love your true story jokes! In fact, they inspired me to leave crazy comments all over the blogsphere and end them with the words True Story. True Story.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I miss Jax!
P.P.S. Thanks for thinking up this brilliant idea for a read-along. :)
P.P.P.S. Greco is MINE! True Story.
@Missie- guess what this threading comments sucks!! It doesnt work on my blog!!!!
ReplyDeletePS- I miss that butt...er, Jax too...True Story.
Thanks again for hosting Tina. This is my first read-along and I had such a great time participating that I'd love to do another one. :) I'll be excited to see what you think of the rest of the series if you get to it, especially with book 4-that was my favorite:)
ReplyDeleteLol. Some Girls Bite does sound better than the other name ;)
ReplyDeleteBuying this book was a whim, I had never heard of the author and the book itself was actually just lying on a table in the book store. Giving in to the urge I picked it up and began thumbing through the first couple chapters. I was impressed enough that I bought it and promptly went home to settle in with a kick a** vampire novel.
ReplyDelete