Book recommendation: Rejection, Romance, & Royalties

I just finished Laura Resnick's book Rejection, Romance and Royalties, and I can't recommend it enough. It should be on every writer's bookshelf, irrespective of what genre you write, along with Stephen King's book On Writing and any book by Carolyn See and Anne LaMott.

Laura reveals the gritty truth on what it's really like to be working writer, and it ain't all hearts and flowers. She deals with the years when she had a hard time selling, the frustrations of dealing with a new editor after being orphaned, how hard it can be to get those checks from your publisher, even with an agent.

But she also talks about the joy and satisfaction she gets from being a writer, not to mention the perks that can sometimes come your way (I so want to be invited to that sci-fi/fantasy conferene in Nantes!)

Off topic: I was squealing like a fan girl when I saw that the great Carole Nelson Douglas left me a comment on my blog after my post on POV. I have loved CND ever since I read my first Irene Adler novel.

The historical detail of late 19th century Europe of the books, not to mention the she has fleshed out a minor character from the Holmes canon into a living, breathing human capable of taking center stage is amazing. Anyone looking for a mystery novel set in fin de siecle Paris should pick up her Irene Adler novels.

I should clarify further on my post on POV. I'm not averse to novels that have third and first person POV. My first YA is partially narrated in first person POV but it's very limited. 3/4 of the book is in third person. I think if the first person narrator in Interpretation of Murder had been a more dynamic character, it might have made a difference. Still, I found it jarring when the author later narrated a scene from Stanton Younger in the third person, after having him narrate for most of the book.

Thanks for reading,

EKM