Squawk Radio

Okay, long story.

I've been with Avon for six years. They were wonderful to work with in a lot of ways. They put out some great books. My editor was fabulous and I'd work with her again in a hot second. About halfway through my tenure there they asked me if I'd be willing to write books set in England because they saw more potential for sales growth there. I thought about it for a while before realizing that there were plenty of wonderful writers already doing that and that I had nothing new to bring to the party. To Avon's credit they accepted my decision, continued to offer me contracts, and really gave me a lot of room write the kind of books I loved.

But, like any business, they put their energy behind the parts of their business where they see the most potential. And it became clear that they didn't see a big upside for writers doing my kind of writing.

There are some writers whose books take off all on their own, a nice little spontaneous combustion of sales. That's not most writers and it wasn't going to be me. The rest of us need a little publisher nudge now and then. And so last summer I decided to go looking for a nudge.

It turned out, however, that there weren't a whole lot of publishers who thought there was much of a future in American-set historicals.

And then the crises began. Yes, we had one of Those Years, where every time you turned around there was another fire to put out.

It might have been just our turn. I, however, am convinced that Matt's aunties had finally had enough of that foreign girl who took him across the ocean so that his mother couldn't move in with them and be catered to by his wife like a good Chinese daughter-in-law would do and so they invoked that old "may you live in interesting times" thing.

Matt says it's because I keep killing the @#$% bamboo in my office and I'm screwing up the Feng Shui. Whatever.

So it turned out to be a really good thing I didn't have a deadline this year.

I wrote. I wrote rather a lot, actually. Small bits of two historicals and a healthy chunk of a contemporary that is absolutely NOT a romance. It was interesting. The contemp's not as much FUN to write - not nearly as much of an escape from real life, not as much of a fantasy. But it some ways it's easier. You can use all sort of your personal frustrations and steal all kinds of ideas from your friends and neighbors' lives. (Though you have to disguise them better.)

And that's all you're hearing about them because I'm very superstitious about talking about a work in progress until they're sold.

But I didn't try to sell them. Publishing - not just writing, but *publishing* - requires a certain amount of emotional energy. You have to be braced for rejections and bad reviews. You have to be ready to fight for the book if it comes to that. You have to be prepared to stay on top of all sorts of business and promotional details. And if I was going to wade into the fray, I wanted to make sure I was ready to do it right.

I almost am, I think. But I have no idea what's going to happen. I could have a contract in a matter of weeks . . . or it could take years. I could sell one of those three books or something else entirely.

So for those of you who so kindly asked what was next, I don't have a solid answer.

Should be interesting, though. And I'll make sure to come back and let you know when I do.

Susie, who promises Secrets tomorrow