And the wheel goes round and round....

I just finished a book (again) that I’ve been working on for the past three years. I say "again" because this is this story’s third incarnation, and I’m ready for the experience to be over!

I remember presenting the concept of the amnesiac-cowboy’s-secret-babies at a plotting workshop with my critique group in January of 2003. I loved the ideas they shared with me about the story and the title suggested by one of the participants—Married in :08. Yep, eight seconds. The hero is a rodeo bull rider.

The hero and heroine of Married in :08 were high-school sweethearts, separated by cruel fate (aren’t they always?). They’re reunited (of course), live happily ever after (don’t they always?) and the secret babies turn out to be adorable 5-year olds (what else?).

I submitted "Married" as my option book after I sold "Daddy in Waiting." I’d written and targeted the ms to the Desire line. Then I found out about the no-kids-in-Desires rule (oops) and my editor suggested I re-write it for Special Edition. I was game, but worked for a time on a light paranormal for the Silhouette Romance line’s Soulmates promotion. Then Silhouette decided they didn’t want any more Soulmates and that one went on the back burner. I wrote another full and a partial for the Romance line, but neither of those made the cut. Always in the back of my mind were the star-crossed lovers of "Married in :08."

Last fall I decided enough was enough. I traveled to New Jersey to meet with the senior editor at Special Edition. She liked the idea of "Married" and asked to see the full. I had just added eighty pages to make it long enough to be a SE, so I knew it was ready. As I was preparing the manuscript and refining the synopsis I started having problems with my back and ended up in bed for most of the month of December. Then I received the email outlining the new page counts for the various Harlequin and Silhouette lines. As soon as I was on my feet I cut forty pages of my newly-minted brilliance to make it conform to the new manuscript length.

Hey, if you write category, you know what I’m talking about.

So…the good news is that I finished the synopsis this morning. I can’t get to the post office until Wednesday, but that will be soon enough to send my baby on to its great adventure in NYC.

If you have a vibe to spare, could you aim it toward New YorK?

Cowboys rule!!!

posted by Karen @ 10:25 AM