Midnight Surrender doesn't exist...

Except in my hard drive.

Sigh.  Years ago, I did write it, and submitted it to Dell. They got as far as making a cover for it, the whole shebang, and then decided they didn't want it.  It's now sitting in my computer, and every once in a while I take a look at it and wonder whether I should do something about it.

So I was dismayed to find that it's listed in Goodreads, and that people had it listed as a "want to read." Some people even have it listed as having read it.

Well, maybe these folks read something else of mine, or maybe I shared with them that unpublished manuscript way back when. But even though it's listed in Barnes and Noble and (I think) Amazon, it really does not exist, there is no way you can buy it anywhere, and I don't know how get all of them to take it off their web sites.

So this blog post is a warning to all of you out there that you won't be able to read it any time soon.  If I decide to publish it (probably on my own), I'll let you know.

Editing an Old Friend - Cupid's Mistake

Almost done proofreading the scanned copy of Cupid's Mistake so that I can republish it as an e-book.

I haven't read it in years, and so I can edit with a good amount of detachment and objectivity. It feels, oddly, as if someone else wrote it, not me.  The good thing is that I believe it's a solid story. The bad thing is that part of me wonders whether I can write as well again after not writing a full-length novel for almost a decade.

I'd like to test the waters by entering some RWA contests, but I think because they won't let previously published authors enter unpublished work unless they've not been published for five years (my last novella--not a full-length novel--was published in 2010), I have to wait a total of 11 years before I can enter an unpublished work in one of those contests.

Yeah, I know, I should just write a new one and put it out there.  But times--and styles--change. I, personally, like my writing style, because the rhythm of it falls well on my inner ear. However, I am not so certain younger, more modern, ears are tuned to such sounds any more, if that makes any sense. As a result, I'd like to test the waters via a contest before I put a book out there.  But, I don't really want to wait more years to test the waters.

That said, it's nice revisiting the Hathaway family in Cupid's Mistake.  The Hathaways are a loving family--a bit eccentric, but all of them kind-hearted.  Even the matchmaking Lady Hathaway--ever ambitious for her children--is there with a hug and a shoulder to cry on should her children need it. There are a lot of dysfunctional families in novels, even in romance novels, and I've written more than a few of them. But the Hathaways are, I think, one of the few who are simply nice, caring people.  And that does make me happy.  It's like visiting old friends, and good-hearted friends at that.  :-)