Update

I didn't want to write another post until I knew what was happening and thus has something to talk about, but today I received an email from my ed (yes, I am allowed to call her my ed, squeal) giving me the go-ahead on my new idea. And yes, it is a Saturday!
As she had promised, she phoned me a couple of weeks ago (less than a week after sending me the rejection email), and we chatted for forty minutes, discussing a whole range of things. I'd sent her three story proposals and there was one particular aspect of one that caught her attention. We talked some more and eventually came to an agreement of what the trope for the new book would be and discussed ideas to make it more twenty first century. She encouraged me to write character sheets for the h/h and I can honestly say they were a revelation to me (something for another post). Anyway, having sorted out my characters and the background of the story, I emailed her my main idea... and it was shot down in flames! There was little old me nibbling at the invisible barriers of the Presents/Modern line and the ed wants me to smash the barriers with a sledge hammer! Ok, maybe I've exagerated a little...
As usual, she was full of excellent suggestions which sparked further ideas in my brain. This time when I sat down to write the background to their relationship, I was buzzing and could see the h/h and their complexities with perfect clarity.
So, today, I got the go-ahead and a couple of pointers on aspects that could be a potential problem with regards to the h/h's motivations. She's taking a week off now and has asked me to get the first three chapters to her for when she returns and then she is going to call me that week to discuss my progress. As I get extremely angsty if I go for any length of time without writing, ie three hours, I had already made a start (figuring if this version was shot down in flames too, I would simply scrap it and start again) so that gives me plenty of time to finish the third chapter. I can then sit down and make sure that my h/h are coming across on paper as I envisage them in my head.

Thanks for reading, and take care all xxx

Rejection but no Dejection

Last night I finally received an email from the editor with my full - they're passing on the book. Both the ed and the senior ed love my voice and writing style but unfortunately they felt the hero wasn't fully fleshed out and the heroine had a tendency to come across on occasion  as immature. The good news is, they want to work with me on a new story putting into practise everything I have learnt. And, through the three rounds of revisions, I have learnt so much - when I wrote this book (well over two years ago!) my focus was very much on the heroine - in a way, the hero was merely a foil. Since I started the revision process, I have learnt that the hero deserves as much care and attention as the heroine, and right from the very beginning of the story. I can't just plonk a big alpha male in the story and expect him to bring himself to life - that's my job! Luckily, I have written a further two and a half books with heroes that, at least in my own head, are fully formed. I know them as intimately as I know the heroines.
The editor wants to call me after Easter to discuss ideas and deadlines and has asked if I have any material she can look at in the meantime. I have duly emailed back with a brief synopsis of the two and a half books, so hopefully she will tell me which she likes the idea of the most and we can take it from there.
At some point over the next week I'll get a synopsis of the rejected book done and start subbing it elsewhere. I also have a full with Entangled (I won a pitch competition in February and they requested the full) which I am waiting to hear back from so it's by no means all doom and gloom. If anything, I feel surprisingly cheerful (was a bit down last night but hey ho, you have to take the knocks).
Thanks for all the wonderful support you have given me during this - it really is appreciated.

Take care all xxx

Eleven Things About Me

The brilliant Aimee Duffy http://aimeexdx.blogspot.co.uk has tagged me in her blog. I've got to answer eleven questions about myself, so here goes:

1) What is your favourite kind of romance and why?

A big thing for me is humour. I love books that have the ability to make me laugh as well as making me cry. I love feisty heroines. I love big alpha men that have a real human side  (Maisey Yates and Sarah Morgan always manage to strike this balance perfectly). More than anything, I love a book that pulls me into its world and where I feel every emotion - for me, a good romance makes me ache (and not always in a pervy way!)

2) If you were stranded on a desert island, who would you want there?

Easy-peasy - my husband.

3) What is the last thing that made you feel all warm and fuzzy?

That was a couple of hours ago when my hubby and two boys brought me breakfast in bed and the Sunday papers. Believe me, this is by no means a regular occurrence! I keep waiting for it to back-fire into an April Fool.

4) If you could read minds, whose thoughts would you want to listen to and why?

I would love to read the mind of the editor who has my book! And maybe use some mind-bendy stuff to prod her into getting in touch!

5) If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be?

As above! If I could be the editor for a day I would definitely give me a rolling four-book contract ha ha ha.

6) What's your favourite holiday destination?

The Seychelles. I went there for a wedding last year and it's the most beautiful place on Earth.

7) Who is your idol?

In a literary sense it would be Stephen King. I adore his books, especially the stuff he has produced over the last decade or so. There is so much heart in them and, for all the 'out-there' stuff, a great deal of love.
In a personal sense it would be my sister (but don't tell her in case she gets a big head). I'm just so proud of her and everything she has achieved.

8) What is your bravest act in life so far?

I wish I could put something down like climbing Mount Everest or doing a trek through the Amazon, but I'm the biggest wuss in the world (although I have done a bungee jump). I would say that getting married at twenty-one was probably the bravest because I married knowing everyone thought I was too young and too wild and expected us to divorce within a year. But if there is one thing guaranteed to make me do something it is when someone tells me that I can't or that I shouldn't! We've just celebrated our fourteenth anniversary so yah-boo to all the doubters!

9) Your favourite pet?

We had two dogs when I was growing up called Brandy and Sheba, and I adored them. I would love to have a dog and am slowly talking my husband round to the idea.

10) What is your favourite fairy tale and why?

I used to have a giant book of fairy tales and my favourite was one about a princess and her maid. They were travelling to the princes house when the maid overpowered the princess and forced them to swap roles so that the maid could marry the prince. I remember how angry I would get reading it but then how happy I would be that the prince, able to see past her new lowly status and recognise the goodness inherent in her, fell in love with the real princess anyway. I just wish I could remember its name - it was something along the lines of the Goose Princess if there is anyone out there who can confirm it for me?

11) Morals. What does that mean to you?

People should be free to live their lives as they choose, so long as they are not directly hurting someone else through their actions. I truly believe that if everyone treated each other as they would wish to be treated, the world would be a much better place. Live and let live, that's my motto.

Apparantly I'm supposed to ask eleven questions too but its Sunday and I want to get back to the papers. Instead, all blog readers are invited to answer the same questions Aimee posted to me - please let me know if you do!

All the best xxx