A lot of people have already heard this news, since I shouted it all over the Internet when I got the contract last week, but I haven’t had much time to blog about it. Dreamspinner’s new religious/inspirational imprint Itineris Press has offered me a contract for my story about a small town in Maine dealing with the suicide of a gay teen.
I’m very excited, of course, but also a bit worried. The novel is brutally frank about a lot of things, throwing biblical arguments around and depicting teen sexuality and drug use. No doubt there are plenty of people out there who will consider it tame, but I did have at least one beta reader put off by the level of “raunch,” as he put it. And with all the biblical stuff in it, I could be in for a world of hate mail from Christians and non-Christians alike.
Or maybe nothing will happen, which might even be worse. I’ve been going through a dry spell recently, where I’ve received some nice e-mails from readers about my stories (for which I am very grateful), but sites like Goodreads no longer seem to know I exist. I’ve been reminded of a quote from Oscar Wilde:
There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.
Hopefully, I’ll get a little more attention in June, when Saturn in Retrograde is released. It’s not so much that I’m an attention whore, as I would like to someday support myself with my writing, and that’s unlikely to happen if I fall off the radar.
But then I have a habit of whining too much. I’ve just finished one of the rounds of editing on Saturn in Retrograde and now I’ve received this contract, so my life is pretty good right now.
Jamie Fessenden's Blog 