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May 2006
The Writer's Quest, part 5
My last night of the college class is May 2nd. I've learned a great deal in this class, starting with the fact that "advanced writing" in the modern college environment is a rather subjective assessment. Will it help in the pursuit of publication? Only time will tell.
I started searching through my copy of the 2006 Writer's Market for agencies and publishers. This in itself is not exactly encouraging; the number of agencies and publishers that state specifically they do not want science-fiction or fantasy is staggering. The number of publishers that list that a certain percentage of their output each year is from new authors is conversely low.
I don't have a rejection letter to report yet, though. Based on the feedback from the last submission to class, I made another revision to the final chapter. Then, a whole string of submissions from the other students that needed to be critiqued, a book that had to be read and a presentation made on, and some other real life considerations have kept my writing time to a minimum. Another lesson from the class; taking a writing class has a nasty tendency to cut short the time you have to write.
For fun this month, I thought about how I might present Cardan's Pod to different agents/publishers for maximum effect. (Some will, of course, require some rewriting to make the story fully fit the proposed genre . . . )
For Romance publishers: Marta has long felt like a 'cold fish', but when Pharmaceutical Tycoon Josh Cardan is thrown into her life, it awakens a fire in her that no amount of seawater can quench. Will Josh be the one that got away, or will he be hooked for life? Will Marta's romance make a big splash or will it take a dive? Read Cardan's Pod and find out if the Porpoise Driven Life is just a fluke!
For Mystery publishers: Daniels has been on homicide for years. He knows there's no such thing as a routine case, but when the disappearance of the wealthy Joshua Cardan becomes suspicious, the detective finds himself in uncharted waters. Someone wanted Cardan dead, and made sure an accident happened to him on his sailboat, but who is this mysterious eyewitness to the crime that no one has ever seen, and why does the victim keep surfacing in the strangest of places?
For Literary Fiction publishers: Joshua Cardan may be rich, but his life is boring. His job is boring. His neighborhood is boring. His friends are boring. Even his sex life is boring. His life is so boring he barely woke up when his wife threw him off his sailboat. He's rescued by Marta, whose life is also boring. Her wardrobe is so boring it's non-existent. So is her sex life. Her diet is boring. Can two boring people make for boring literature that critics will love? If you figure it out, can you wake me up and tell me?
For Techno-Thriller publishers: Cynthia Cardan has a plan. Once her husband is out of the way, she can use the Cardan Pharmaceutical Company to flood the market with a new "wonder drug". In reality, this drug will render all men incapable of peeing while standing up, and she will take over the world while the men are in line for the bathroom. Yet unbeknownst to Cynthia, her husband Josh is rescued by a genetically engineered woman. Will Josh and his new allies be able to thwart Cynthia's nefarious plan? Or will this be mankind's last stand?
For the Sci-Fi channel: Hey guys; here's another perfectly good story for you to butcher all to hell and back for a "Sci-Fi Original" movie. If you had no respect for Ursula K. LeGuin, you certainly have no reason to worry about showing respect to a no-name writer like Rick Higginson. Bastardize the story all you want, just make sure there's lots of zeros between a prime number to the left of the decimal and the decimal point. I may cry over my characters some, but I'll laugh all the way to the bank.
See you next month, when I'll try to be a little more serious.
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