The Right Decision (for me, for now)

The conference was a fabulous few days - great opportunity to be exclusively in the company of writers, learn together, talk together and spend time with friends. I learned that historical writers need to strive for a sense of authenticity, rather than impossible accuracy, that writers need to plan their marketing well, and that drama techniques can really help give depth to characters' emotions and sensations.

I also learned a lot about techniques for re-starting stalled writing, that I have a very nice walk, and that I am capable of tickling people I don't know all that well with a feather...

Apart from all that, the conference gave me a chance to canvas opinions about an opportunity.

On Friday, literally minutes before we left for the conference, I received an e-mail wtih an offer of publication from a reputable e-publisher, for my first MS.

On Tuesday, I turned it down.

To say the offer was a shock was an understatement. The request had come back in June 2004 when I'd entered the first chapter in the Romance Junkies Writing Contest. I'd sent the full later that year, resent it when it turned up missing (so to speak) in March 2005. It was passed on to another editor, and then silence. Over two years after that first request, I had an offer, completely out of the blue.

I spent the conference listening to advice from people I respect, and making my mind up. For now I'm staying on the course I've set myself, and that course doesn't included e-publishing. That's not to say it might not in the future, or it might not with another book. But this book, this time, no.

But, oh, it feels good. Not the turning down, exactly - I always hate not being obliging - but the knowledge that my faith in that story is justified, and that I was this close.

Now it's up to me to get my arse in gear, get my finger out and be bold, fearless and dedicated in pursuit of the goals I've re-committed myself to.