I've always wished I could get away with that gothic look. I even dyed my hair black in college, but my complexion is all wrong. Maybe there was a need to role play—I'm not sure. I know as a kid I wanted stereotypical girl stuff—to be a princess, saved by a prince, taken to a castle. Somewhere along the way though, I rebelled and decided good equaled BORING, and not JUST boring, but judgmental (how judgmental of me to think so, ne?) Maybe it was just the good girls I was exposed to. Or maybe I was reading into it because I just didn't want to behave.
Try as I might however, people would see the good girl in me.
Evidence to the Contrary
See, no matter how much I WANTED to sort of be BAD, I didn't want to screw up my future. This over-developed responsibility gene was inherited from my mother, and in my defense, I think I balance it well with the 'get into mischief' gene from my dad. No “all work and no play” for me. But regardless of hitting every party I could find, I also maintained high grades and was involved in a fair few activities, so TEACHERS thought I was a good girl. (and that was okay, life becomes a hassle when the teachers don't trust you).
And every once in a while I'd get a wild hair and do something distinctly main stream—trying out for Junior Miss (and winning), joining a sorority... the kinds of things rebels aren't supposed to do...
In my head somewhere was a 'beat 'em from the inside', but I never made any grand efforts to that effect (and the sorority I joined wasn't one filled with privileged bobble-heads, though I maintain the rest were *shifty*).
See, this was where it really bugged me. The BOYS who were drawn to me ALL thought I was that nice girl. Not a ONE of them was looking for a Bonnie to their Clyde. I suppose my problem is the opposite of Jessica Rabbit's. She's not bad, she's just drawn that way... me, I'm much naughtier than I look, so watch out.
So what does this have to do with Cozy Mysteries?
Will you get to the point already? Yeah, yeah... I just needed to lay some groundwork.
Y'all can maybe see that my blog isn't so serious. It's a rare day I don't spice it up with something silly or naughty. But the BOOKS I've been writing up until now have tended to be dark. There is a little humor, but mostly they are troubling, or mysterious—filled with angst and trouble... drama...
And I've been thinking about this image thing of mine... my NEED to be dark and mysterious, when in most ways, I'm just not drawn that way. Don't get me wrong. I will NEVER jump over to sappy, inspirational crap (you heard me, I called a genre crap—not that it's crap, but it's NOT me--'zat make any sense? I don't stomach most inspirational stuff unless it is a very well done life lesson and the person SUFFERED really a lot—see how rotten I am?)
But this COZY genre allows me to be just a little dark, and relatively naughty (oh, sure, it's PG naughty, but still...) LOOK what I get to do!
1) I have a murder victim whose primary crime was goosing too many women
2) I have a primary character who says, “I'm naked!”
3) There is a way to fit in an inside joke now and again and make it fit.
In other words, I am getting to combine the best of being a little tricksey and mysterious, with being a naughty tart, with following some rules so the darned book may actually see the light of day! How perfect is THAT?
I sent 4 chapters yesterday to MY AGENT, who said she is out of town most of this week, but I should get feedback soon after that.
I will still work on my other stuff—in fact I want to make some serious progress on CONSPIRACY before I hear back on whether I get this gig or not (wrote a whole page last night—though that isn't as bad as it sounds, since it takes a little time to acclimate). But I am thinking maybe it is time to spend some time working in a framework of the craft—honing what strengthens stories... lessons of tension, etc... getting feedback from an agent and editor about my writing... then maybe my rewrites will be much more productive and I will finally get one of these babies of mine out there.
That's my story and I'm sticking with it!