I admit, the day started out pretty rough. Just so nobody thinks my head is getting too big, I got a rejection on a short story last night that bummed me out so bad that I had a pretty nasty talk with Gregar, my sadomasochist muse.
I said something like, “If I had any other muse, then maybe my stories wouldn’t be so dark and full of pain all the time. Maybe I wouldn’t be throwing severed hands around or chopping fingers and thumbs off, or, in this last case, corrupting an innocent into killing a holy person!”
Gregar laughed so hard he bent over and slapped his thighs. “If you had any other muse, then you wouldn’t have me.”
“Well,” I retorted. “What else but blood and violence can I expect from an assassin?”
The Shadowed Blood went ominously quiet. Goose bumps raced up and down my arms, but I didn’t back down. I was too upset.
He stared at me until flames began flickering in his eyes (which if you’ve read the Shanhasson books, you know that’s a really bad sign). Finally, he said, “You created me, Lady. You hid me in Shadows. You placed my ivory rahke in my hand and whispered to me of blood. Every time you write, you throw me to the bottom of your Well and trust me not to let you drown. You need me exactly the way I am.”
I knew he was right but damned if I would admit it. “Why can’t we write something happy for once where no one dies or suffers? You know, sunshine, bunnies, light…”
But I knew the truth. One of my favorite lines from The Road to Shanhasson is:
THERE IS NO DAWN WITHOUT NIGHT, NO LIGHT WITHOUT SHADOW, NO LOVE WITHOUT HATE, BUT LOVE SHINES BRIGHTER IN THE MIDST OF DESPAIR.
“Sunshine and bunnies?” Rolling his ivory rahke back and forth across his palm, he stared at me blankly. “What fun would that be?”
So after that little chat, I whined a bit more, made a few silly oaths (something like never reading another submission call, EVER), and then just shut up and got to work on the Maya story. Of course, the first scene I needed to work on involved demons and torture. Gregar didn’t say a word, but he couldn’t help smirking every chance he got.
Finally, at the end of this last day of vacation, the Maya story is sitting at: 82,419 words. I have 9-10 sections left to revise (including the new ones I finished yesterday), so the story length is right on track for 90-100K. Revision Xibalba is far from over, though. I’m going to have to make another pass and watch for continuity problems. It has taken me too long to get through this project to remember some of the finer details.
So back to the Evil Day Job tomorrow. I don’t know if I’ll manage Dark & Early yet or not.
*hugs tight*
Hugs back, thanks Sis! Gregar invited Conn over to remind me that not everything I’ve written is dark and violent…but Conn was too busy tying Rae up again. *snort*
I know what you mean. I’ll read one of those cute, funny books and think “I can do that” but in no time at all, there it is, a pile of corpses, usually created by my heroine. All I had done was tell her to go out shoe shopping and that’s what she does. No Jimmy Choo’s for her, she’ll be going to Payless and like it.
Sorry about the rejection. They suck.
The image of Gregar blinking in disbelief at sunshine and bunnies is priceless… 😀
*hugs* about the rejection. what do them rejecters know, anyway?
Ah, Rene, I feel your pain! I love your heroine, though. *g* Thanks, they do suck, but that’s part of it.
Bethanie, I can’t tell you how many bits of horrid scenes Gregar has been tossing my way today, like a man slowly roasting in the sun until he bursts into flame, and giant mutant rabbits gnawing on a leg bone. *scrubs brain with Clorox* Enough, Gregar, enough!!!
*huggles her Burkhart gals for equal but opposite reasons*
You two are awesome. If the publishing world knows what’s good for them,
we’ll soon be seeing your faces on our worldwide currency.
…
Can I be a Burkhart empire toady?
ROFLMAO! 😆 Gregar does sunshine and bunnies – I love it! 😆
Dude, Sorry about the rejection. That sucks. Feel free to email and vent if you want.
Gregar’s response to sunshine and bunnies= Epic. 😆 *pat pat*
And on a more serious note, lots of hugs for the rejection. I really liked that story too. Also, if you didn’t have Gregar, we wouldn’t have such yummy raw dark (not to be confused with depressing) fiction to read. 😎
*hugs Pesh back* A Burkhart toady! Laughs, give my beloved Sis another hug for me (since you’re closer!).
Bethanie, Soleil, Gregar’s quite the ham as you know!
Thanks, Ann, I’m feeling much better.
*salutes*
Will do!
And I promise to wear pink while I do it, just to satisfy any repressed
spite. 😈
~hugs~ They don’t know what they’re missing.