I saw some great advice on FB the other day. It boiled down to one simple truth - you can't please everyone. If you try to create something that will appeal to everyone, you're setting yourself up for failure. Or at the very least, blandness. Yuck. When I'm giving my spiel on who I am and what I write (you know, when I'm not having an existential crisis SHADY), I usually say something along the lines of "Hello there". . . wait. Wrong universe. Damn you, see what you did, Shady? LOL. Anyways, I usually say, "Hi, I'm Melissa Olthoff. I write Scifi and Fantasy, and I sneak in romance wherever I can because I write what I love to read." That last bit is super important to me. I looooove adventurous stories with a strong romantic subplot, relatable characters, witty banter, and themes of found family and the power of friendship. I said what I said. Yes, I know that last sounds very My Little Pony, but think about your favorite stories and how so much of the plot is driven by the bonds of friendship. Harry Potter, Guardians of the Galaxy, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Star Trek, and yes. . . My freaking Little Pony (I have kids, don't judge me LOL).
My husband gives me the same advice all the time. He's said point blank - don't write for me. I'm never going to be your audience. He loves plot driven scifi and mil scifi stories with very little angst and romance, whereas I am all ABOUT the angst and romance. To be clear, he also says he thinks I'm a great writer, and he's so dang supportive of my crazy author shenanigans. But his point is an excellent one. I'm never going to be everybody's cup of tea, and that's fine. I'm more of a mocha girl anyways ; )
On the writing side of things, Salvage Bunny 3, officially titled Fallout on Darsaana, is off to Kevin Steverson for review! So long as Space Dad gives me the thumbs up, there's nothing left for me to do but send it in to Chris. I'm SO DANG EXCITED for you guys to get your hands on this one. Yeah, Kailey still can't always have nice things because bad guys suck, but she shows her teeth a little more in this book and kicks some ass. It was supposed to be her last book, but she told me there was still too much of her story to tell, so I guess I've got to write a Salvage Bunny 4. Oh. No.
(Kailey at the high temple of the Asur on Darsaana)
I've also started working on my 4HU Depik Companion novel. It's been a super busy week with day job and kids and just life in general, so I'm crawling right now with only 5K in. My speed will pick up soon enough though, and my goal is to have the draft done by the end of the year. We'll see how NaNoWriMo treats me this year (that special time of year where authors lose their freaking minds and attempt to write at least 50K or a whole-ass novel in the month of November wheeeeeeee!!). It'll be fiiiiiiine. But I better get on that, because I can hear Ducky tapping her foot, and my Depik doesn't look pleased. You wouldn't want me on the wrong side of an assassin, would you? Until next week, folks!!