True Confessions: Why My Writing Sucked

I probably bore people with blathering on about how I started writing gay male romance when I was in high school. I really did, although I couldn’t never say why I liked the idea of two men together rather than two women. Well, yeah, it’s the whole I hadn’t accepted my own desires yet concept.

What I have accepted is how badly I sucked as a writer. I don’t mean back in high school. I wrote my stories in my trusty marble composition books—thread bound, never glued— so they’re there for me to read if I really want to remind myself of how badly I sucked at the craft of writing. I’m talking about even more recently, like before I started receiving serious editing from my publishers.

Let me count. Yep, I have ten novels which are either finished or very close. They patiently wait on my computer for a shot at the real world.

Why don’t I release them? Because they embarrass me. Yep, I might have good story lines, but there’s no way in hell or any other realm that I could release them and feel proud of them. The poor dears sit hoping I’ll fix them— banish the adjectives, the purple prose, the serious POV problems, the— you get the picture.

Which brings me to another reason I wanted to revisit Canes and Scales, my first published novella, and turn it into a novel. C&S deserved a fresh edit, more chapters, and an edgier story. It deserved my attention as a published writer who has been slapped up alongside the head for her numerous verbal transgressions.

I am proud of the results. Canes and Scales: The Novel doesn’t suck because this time Dreamspinner’s editors not only slapped, but they also mauled, pummeled, and beat my words into splendid shape.

I cherish every editorial bruise. Each one is another learning lesson.

Stay tuned: exclusive Canes and Scales: The Novel excerpts to come this week!

xoxo