From the Back of Beyond...

I am back from Moab, Utah, and a reading/signing at the Back of Beyond bookstore. I came back with sand in my shoes, sun on my face and a sinus infection and cold that has me feeling like my head is three times as big as my body (something that is NOT true).

Many thanks to Anna McGinty for facilitating the reading/signing, being a lovely tour guide and host, and taking a day to introduce my ten-year-old daughter to the wonders of Arches National Park.

Moab is a beautiful place, and a hotbed of tourism. This, of course is understandable considering that not only is Arches National Park two miles from town, but just up the road is Canyonlands National Park. Since I only had one day, I only had time to tour some of Arches, but what a beautiful place it is.

Moab is one of those cities very much unlike the rest of Utah. It took me five hours to get there, driving through Solder Summit (elevation REALLY REALLY high) through a blinding hail storm, complete with thunder and lightning, an eerie fog that floated up off the road and wrapped itself around my car, obscuring my vision and creating panic in my mind, and relentless rain. My hands were wrapped so tightly around the steering wheel of the green, Plymouth Breeze it took me twenty minutes to get them off when we finally reached Moab. Perhaps the fact you have to go through so much to get there--almost a trial by fire--you appreciate so much more when you finally arrive.

I suspect the residents of Moab have PURPOSELY made it hard for the residents of Utah to reach. It's not quite so treacherous coming in from different directions. With its liberal air, its many breweries, and it's 60-70 percent non-Mormon population, Moab reminds me of a deserty Park City. Without quite as much moolah attached.

The reading/signing went well, even for a Wednesday night. While I did not play to an SRO crowd, those who were there were gracious, interested, and asked questions a whole lot longer than I would have suspected I could hold their interest.

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Now, on another note, joining me today is author Karin Tabke, an aspiring author on the verge: She has editor interest from three (yes, three) different publishers. When you have tried to break through for years, the onslaught of sudden interest often hits like an avalanche, unexpected, frightening, overwhelming. Well, I'll let Karin tell it in her own words.

How do you snag an editor?

It doesn't hurt to have a hot commodity. In my case, the commodity is hot. An erotic novella to be precise. The first of a three novella series. I call it my Hot Cops.

I stopped writing the stories of my heart last year since they were getting me nowhere, and went for the story of my smarts. Did I sell out? Nah, I like these smart sexy cops I write about, and so it seems do three editors in very nice houses.
OK, so, along with those stories of my heart, my writing hadn't evolved to that edge so many editors and agents scream for. My voice was a bit muddled, but when I finally ditched the superfluous BS, this amazing thing happened. My voice emerged, and it's a good thing it emerged when it did, because my brain switched from la la la I love to write this so everyone should love it too, to, OK, lady what's hot? I figured it out pretty quick. So I wrote it.

Let me backtrack for a moment and explain something. There is luck involved in getting bought, but before luck you must to be able to write a legible sentence (preferably with a subject and a predicate) and while you're at it, make the story a page turner. Then go search for your agent. Ha! Good luck. With my little novella Politically Incorrect, which it is in every way shape and form, I didn't bother with the agent search. Why? It's a novella, and, novellas = beans in the agent bank account. Not worth their time. Not with an unpubbed like moi. They want the big books (which I have and they've rejected) so I went on a friend's advice (Natalie, you know who you are) and subbed to editors.

Funny thing happened on the way to the store.

Editor number one, took two months to tell me she loved my characters, and to please send her the full.

Editor number two took longer, but she came back with a letter that is now framed. Karin, she began, you came close with this one. You write great cops! But (now to paraphrase) this story is too sexy for us. Give me something sans the boot-licking-you-worm scene. :) So, I emailed said editor and told her I was working on another novella that had no boot-licking-you-worm scenes, and was she interested? She said absolutely, send it. Um, well, clearing throat, it's only half complete. Well, send it to me when it's complete.

Meanwhile, editor number one has since told me she loved my story and my characters, but she had some revisions. So she emails me the revision letter. My first ever revision letter. I dreaded reading it, but in the end it was painless. The lady knows her stuff. All sound calls. I told this editor I would have the revisions done and the revised MS in her hands in two weeks tops. And I did. She emailed me that she had it and couldn't wait to read it. That was in March. Meanwhile, editor number two--out of the blue--emails me a couple of weeks ago. Hey, she says, do you still have PI? Even though editor one had it, she's made no offer, so in my book that meant PI was still available. Send it to me ASAP editor number two says, via email, I'll print it here.

Are you wondering why she changed her mind? She didn't. But her house did. They're launching an erotica anthology line and she remembered my great cops. So I send it, she emails me back in oh, 25 minutes. This is terrific. Who else has it? I told her, and then she asked me if I were to receive an offer from editor number one would I give her the chance to counter. Of course, I say.

I mention to a published friend what is going on. You need an agent, she says. Yeah, I know, but they've all shot me down. My friend then emailed her agent and told her my situation, and I was then invited to email the agent what was going on. I did. I included in that email everything that had transpired regarding my story and asked if she would take a look at my work, and added, if she liked what she read, would she represent me. She immediately responded that the work sounded intriguing and to send it. I did. No word yet. In the meantime, editor number two has asked for my contact numbers and also kept me abreast of what was going on at her end. I could tell she really was into me, and that was good, because I met editor number two a couple of years ago and was really into her. She's a keeper. So last week I find out another house, the really big one, is also launching an erotic anthology line. I also find out who the editor is, and for shits and giggles e-queried her late Thursday night. First thing Friday am there it is, a request for the full to be sent to her attention via email. Oh, wow. Now what's a girl to do? I'm feeling a little guilty here because I love editor number two. I feel like I'm cheating on her. But the reality of the situation is this. She may love me and want to buy me, but maybe her sales staff and higher ups aren't feeling it. So, why hedge my bets? Oh, and editor number one said she would have an answer for me by the end of the first week of May. According to my calendar, that date is history. My feeling is, if she wants me, she'll let me know. Obviously she doesn't. I'm not going to bug her. She has my numbers. So, here I am with all of this interest in my little novella that could, and I have NO AGENT! So, just before writing this I shot off an email to the agent who has my work and basically said, "Help!"

And that ladies and gents is where I stand.