The proposal I sent in a couple of days ago (with my slightly nuts overachieving PR heroine, my lone wolfish hero and the ex-drug addict handbag-designing sister) has been approved.
Three quarters of the synopsis dealt with the characters, a quarter with the plot. Given recent discussions on Jackie's blog I was a bit worried that the heroine's conflict might be too defined by her parents, but I seem to have somehow avoided this particular pitfall.
However, the plot isn't problem free. No indeed. I might have given them only a 200 word summary, but my editor spotted a potential plot device which I must Avoid At All Costs, and as I suspected Scotland may have to go. Other than that it's full steam ahead. Or in my case, chugchugchug. I feel like I'm about to set out across the Atlantic in a dinghy.
9 comments:
Well done, Lucy. Great news (although not great about Scotland having to go).
:-)
I'm pleading Scotland's case!
Yay, re avoiding the parent trap! What was your plot device - if you don't mind me asking?
Boo to losing Scotland! What's wrong with poor old Scotland then? Is it not 'urban' enough??
Nah, wet and windy is not glamorous enough. Anyway apparently it's my decision, so will see how brave I feel!
My plot device was trying to get my characters into bed by having my heroine persuade the hero to sleep with her to overcome her perceived 'frigidity' issues. The problem is that she's not the sort of person to ask for help, so this set up isn't believable. I think I may be able to get round it by having the hero (who is the helping type) getting her admit to her 'failure', tell her it's something she can't solve on her own, and that he'd be delighted to help her out. We'll see...
Great news Lucy!! Can't wait to hear more. If you don't mind me asking... what exactly was in your proposal? Was it a synopsis type thing? I'm trying to do my proposals' for Lucy and I have two really strong characters (at least I think so) but not sure what happens past the half way point. Hard to write a synopsis!!
Great news, Lucy! Love your title, btw, for the first book. Thanks for stopping and congratulating me on my 2nd acceptance! I LOVE my title -- like you, no virgins or billionaires anywhere. CAVELLI'S LOST HEIR. My working title was THE PRINCE'S CAPTIVE BRIDE. I was surprised, I assure you. But I really, really like it. :)
I had some elements in this book that I was worried about, but they made it through. And my books, so far, are NOTHING like the synopsis. Never, not even close. *g* In fact, this story was the first entry I submitted to the IS contest (my second won). The only thing I kept was the hero's name and the country he lives in. :) I think my editor is coming to expect that now. *gg*
Rach, my synopsis wasn't really a synopsis - more a character analysis of the hero and heroine. What they're like and why. What their greatest fears would be. What sort of man/woman would they really not want to be attracted to. I started with the heroine and then the hero and then tacked on a very vague plot summary.
However I'd told my editor that this was probably what I'd send and she said that she understood the plot would come as I wrote so this was ok. Maybe you could check with Lucy to see what she wants?
Lynn, I love your title. It seems they're moving away from billionaires and mistresses!
Scotland not glamorous enough? I'm trying to get indignant about my adopted country but finding I actually, probably agree. For a main MH setting anyway.
I'll be keeping my eye out to see if you reverse the trend though ;-)
Well done on getting book 2 approved. It's interesting that people can and do act 'out of character' in real life but you can't have it in a book - I've heard it can jolt a reader out of the story.
Thanks for sharing the progress with us anyway, those of us who are unpublished are traveling with you vicariously, I'm sure.
Lynn - I really like your title too. Perhaps this is the start of a new trend?
Fab news Lucy! Love the title for your first book, BTW.
It's fascinating seeing the whole process unfold, and your look at the conflict in your FtH entry was sooooo helpful. I liked the way you hinted at issues, raising questions about what might be behind them without telling too much.
I still suffer from a severe case of infodump syndrome! The first chapter of my WiP will be getting a good hard edit to cut out all that backstory.
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