I wrote my first book because I couldn’t find anything I wanted to read.
Really, it’s as simple as that. And as complex as that, too. I had just graduated from college. I was somewhere I didn’t want to be, sharing a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles with my mother. It was a trying time all around, and writing became my refuge–if I was writing I didn’t get into spats with my Mom; if I was writing I didn’t have to think too much about what I was going to do when I left LA and started out on my own; and if I was writing I could be tall and witty and beautiful (none of which my 22-year-old self was) and meet a tall, handsome, witty guy. With red hair.
Here’s my dark secret: I wasn’t writing for publication. I was writing to give myself exactly what I needed to be reading at that point. A comfort read, full of froth and dress descriptions and a happy ending. And I got to write about an historical period I find fascinating, which meant doing research, and that was totally a plus. When it was done, for the hell of it I sent it to a friend of my mother’s who was an editor, just to see what she thought. And she thought it was good enough to publish. (I went through years and years of guilt because I didn’t “suffer” enough before I was published–but then I decided I wanted to write SF and I faced plenty of rejection; I like to think I got my suffering in there.)
Thirty years later, I look at Althea and it holds up. There are occasional sentences that make me want to take my 22-year-old self aside and say “no, really, honey, no.” It’s not a mature work, as the lit-critics say, and I am pleased to say that my writing has certainly improved since then. But Althea was exactly what I needed it to be then: a fun, frothy entertainment. If you’re in need of a little romance of the popcorn variety, Althea returns to sale today as a BVC e-book. I’m not just delighted to see it available again, I think I’m actually kind of proud of it. The 22-year-old girl typing away in that one-bedroom apartment had no idea what doors that work would open.
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Madeleine Robins is the author of The Stone War, Point of Honour, Petty Treason, and a double-handful of short stories which are available on her bookshelf. She has just finished The Salernitan Woman, set in medieval Italy, and a new Sarah Tolerance novel, The Sleeping Partner (coming in Fall 2011 from Plus One Press). Her first Regency romance, Althea, is now available from Book View Café.
I love this story! It started me thinking about those “first million words that are practice” and the treasures that can be discovered there.
I blogged about it here: http://deborahjross.blogspot.com/2011/04/first-million-words-and-treasures.html
with quotes from your insights.
I loved the book. I adore regency romance, of the sweet variety particularly, so this was just the thing. Thanks for a fun read!
Thank you for reading!
(When I started writing, “sweet” was just about the only kind.)
I wonder how many writers started out just like that–writing what they wanted to read. I did the same when I was stuck in the country with no car, four kids, and no life to speak of. But I was older and more cynical and knew I was writing unmarketable satire. It wasn’t until I decided it wasn’t half bad that I got serious about publication. Congratulations on being smart enough to start with marketable material!
boy howdy isn’t that right about starting out from a grim dim place and writing one “Just for me.”
I began because of a disappointing read. I bought the latest book by some favorite writer, and it was a terrible disappointment. (In retrospect, it was a trunk novel.) Rather than wait for her to produce another, better book, I decided to write what I wanted to read.
It could be said that the Sarah Tolerance books are a direct response to a Regency I read decades ago which so disappointed and infuriated me that I had to respond…thirty years later.