Whenever editors discover I lived on a farm they always ask for a farm story. I've probably had five editors ask for farm stories over the past twenty years. But they all wanted the romanticized view of a farm, not a dark portrayal of farm life.
So maybe it's time for the real thing.
I think it was good to get away last weekend because my current project really started falling into place this week. One day I was ready to toss it; the next I'd solved a major problem. I'm guessing the book will be about 90% nonfiction, but will be sold as fiction. I found myself getting really depressed because I was spending so much time living in the past. So I started another project, a thriller. Now when I need to get away from the real world I shift to the thriller. I never thought I'd write two books at once, but this might work out.
Here's my little pitch for the farm story:
WHO KNEW LIFE ON THE FARM COULD BE SO EVIL?
My one-sentence description:
Bohemian drug addict meets Midwestern farm boy and marries into a rural life of death, repression, mental decay, and environmental destruction.
My plan is to write the whole manuscript before submitting it anywhere. If you're a publisher or editor and would like to see the project, please contact my agent, Steve Axelrod.
22 comments:
*shivers* Get cracking! I want to read this. :)
(sending good writing vibes your way)
I can completely relate to your "rural life of death, repression, mental decay, and environmental destruction". I grew up in it! I, for one, can't wait to hear more about it.
Oh Anne! That sounds really interesting. Please keep us posted!
thanks alex and christa!
kaycie, you can probably relate to running into people who got excited when they found you lived on a farm. i'd have people say, "It's our dream to live on a farm! That must be wonderful!" And I'd want to say, "It is if you enjoy watching a pack of coyotes eat a calf as it's being born."
So many titles come to mind:
Roots of Evil
Satan's Crop
Children of the Corn
I think that last one has been used somewhere though. ;)
jaye, i can't believe i never thought of calling my own kids children of the corn. i have a lot of years to make up for.
Good luck with both, Anne. Working on two project is kinda chaotic. I think that's why I do it! :) :)
On a side note, my latest publishing problem I think is working out. *whew*
So creepy, Anne. I love it. :)
i just saw the movie 'the messengers'...talk about creepy farm life! (but that was ghostly, real people stuff is scarier!) yes, that description sounds like something i could totally get creeped out and love every minute of!
You had me at "Bohemian."
How can I pre-order?
I'm so glad you're writing this book. I remember when you talked about some of your farm life experiences, and I remember thinking it would make a kick ass book. Fictionalizing it a bit sounds like the perfect way to go - can't wait to read what you do with it!
Of course I'm fascinated by the interaction of personalities, especially what you were looking for when you stepped into that life. It will make a fascinating and complex read.
The two projects at the same time are very cool. Jumping from one to the other will make both better, I think. Emotional fatigue and boredom are not a writer's friend.
"Bohemian drug addict meets Midwestern farm boy and marries into a rural life of death, repression, mental decay, and environmental destruction."
Didn't they do that on an episode of Green Acres?
Sounds fun. Can't wait to read it.
kelly, i must get the poop!
mary louisa, haha! how about bohemian rhapsody for a title? ;)
angie, yeah, i think it has to have some fiction to it in order to appeal to a wider market. i kept thinking i needed to bump other people up a notch or two, but i finally realized my character needed to be stretched. once i figured
that out i was able to move forward.
jason, yeah, i'm actually excited about both projects. just yesterday i was telling somebody that writing is like gambling. with each book you think you're going to win. you lose, are down a while, then you recover from the loss and convince yourself you're going to hit the jackpot with the next one -- and the buzz starts all over again. it's seriously fucked up. :D
stephen, that was my husband's favorite show. he used to take a break from doing chores to watch green acres. heh!
cinderelly, oh, i want to rent that movie. thanks for the reminder! running off to netflix!
heather, one thing i really have to work on is getting some humor in there.
If it turns out to be anything like that painting, I already have my skin crawling.
Cool.
"WHO KNEW LIFE ON THE FARM COULD BE SO EVIL?"
I asked myself that same question years ago every time I had to clean out the farrowing house or spend all day on a Massey Ferguson 1100 disking peanut fields in the south Georgia heat.
Not to mention cutting pigs, or trying to tear loose a million tangled Morning Glory vines from inside the combine.
Oh, those farm memories.
I actually saw the eyes of pure evil the time my brother and I were told to cut the tusks off of a 300 pound Red Duroc boar hog who my grandpa had trapped inside the back of an empty grain truck.
We climbed in armed with only a scoop shovel to shield our advance and a pair of large wire cutters. I'll never forget the look of pure unadulterated evil in that hog's eyes the moment I touched his tusk with those cutters. Before we knew what had happened, he head- butted the shovel out of my brother's hands. It flew up and out of the truck bed, and my brother and I quickly followed. Ha Ha!
Good luck with your writing, Anne. :)
daniel that would make an interesting cover....
jeff, LOL! we never had hogs, but it seemed they were a lot harder to manage than sheep or cattle. and they'll eat ya! i do remember that happening to a couple of poor geezers who had heart attacks in the hog lot.
hogs will EAT you?! now, THAT'S creepy!
cinderelly, you can think about that next time you're eating a BLT sammich. :D
lol! yes, we do have a couple of veggie-tarians in our fambly that keep reminding us! we just quote from 'pulp fiction', "bacon tastes good...sausage tastes good!" to annoy. but, it IS sooo bad for you! :[ (every time i hear the word 'sammich' now, i think of that hasselhof footage!)
haha! i can't stop laughing about the sammich and hasslehoff!
Post a Comment