"Amber lingered at La Petite Coquette, her hand reaching out to stroke all manner of silk and lace in all the most beautiful colors ... her eyes were solely on the luxurious merchandise, the bras scalloped with flowers along their artfully stitched edges, the camisoles that promised to caress her every curve, the panties that offered her tight but imperfect ass the promise of supermodel stardom."
That's a sexy little number by Rachel Kramer Bussel, the short story writer and editor of Best Sex Writing 2008. Today she explains how she struggled to move from erotic short stories to her first novel.
Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing.
Jason Boog:
You are finishing a novel right now. What's been the hardest part of that process? What would be your advice to first-time novelists as they start their projects?
Rachel Kramer Bussel:
I've been writing my novel for a year and a half and the entire process has been hard. Continue reading...
I was never one of those people who always dreamed of writing a novel, and my agent helped me craft and sell the proposal.
I actually have a two book deal with Bantam, for Everything But..., about a virgin's sexual awakening, and Eye Candy, about a woman who runs a male modeling agency.
I would actually advise someone not to try to sell on a partial, because I've found the pressure of trying to finish the novel almost unbearable. I'm almost done, though, and the truth is I probably never would have finished without a deal and a deadline.
After coming from the world of erotic short story writing, writing something approximately 20 times longer than anything I've ever written has been very daunting. There's just so much time to cover and making it all flow together, making the scenes in my head come out on the page the way I've envisioned it, has been quite challenging.
But hopefully a worthwhile challenge!
» How To Go From Short Stories To A Novel: Lessons From Rachel Kramer Bussel from ThePublishingSpot
"Amber lingered at La Petite Coquette, her hand reaching out to stroke all manner of silk and lace in all the most beautiful colors ... her eyes were solely on the luxurious merchandise, the bras scalloped with flowers along their... [Read More]
Tracked on: January 30, 2008 8:13 AM | Permalink to Trackback