Louisa's Intro

Thought I had at least better do this post before I forget, like I apparently did on the last incarnation of the old board. Ooops.

My name is Louisa, obviously, and I am a Legal Secretary living in England, who has aspirations to be a published author one day.

I spend what little free time I have reading or writing, and for the last few months I have been really focusing on writing original fiction instead of fanfiction.

My fanfiction tends to focus on the fandoms of Harry Potter and Tru Calling. Though I have dabbled in other fandoms on occasion, and have been far too lax in writing my Tru Calling series in recent years.

I write pretty much any genre from angst and tragedy to humour that borders on crack. I also write a fair amount of romance and don't really care if it is het or slash.

I took part in NaNoWriMo for the first time last year and intend to do it again this coming November as well. I also intend to have something ready for submission to a publisher before the end of this year. I have several projects on the go and am determined to stop putting off what it is that I really want to do with my life.

My original fiction tends to be of the paranormal and romance genre, and yes, some of it is what would be termed "slash" in fanfiction circles. I don't publish any of my original stuff online.

I am also horribly addicted to virtual pet sites, though have had to cut back on those in recent months as well.

I live in rainy old England with a very lazy cat, who is currently stretched in front of the fire.

I watch lots of paranormal tv shows and movies and am always happy to chat about them.

Not much else to tell really.

Hey Lou!!! Weeelcome back, you can't imagine how great it is to read you again, I've missed you a lot in the board!!
I think it is a good step to write original fiction instead of fanf now, even you can write original things having in mind fictional characters from shows, books... Do you still write about TC?

I still have all my notes for the stories I had planned, but have not had time to write any TC fics since I started back at work again.

What I am considering doing, is finishing the one that I have partially started and then writing an essay type post explaining what I had planned for the rest of the series of stories. But that would only be a last resort and after I have had to make the decision not to write any more of them. At the moment it is not that I don't want to write them (or that it is a chore of some sort), only that I don't have the time to put into them.

Welcome. Good luck with the writing. I wish I was better at it.

Hey!! Welcome!!!
Wow!!!.... Keep writting!! You´ll get what you´re working for!!

I'm pretty sure, specially cause Louisa is pretty talented!!

I'm pretty sure, for what I remember of the fanfics I translated you to Spanish, you can actually get something published. I really think you have what it takes to get books published. You just need luck now.

And it's really great to see you here again.

Thanks.

And yes, Juan, lots and LOTS of luck.

I have been looking at several publishers and one of them said they accept and publish 4% of the submissions they get - and that is apparently a lot higher than most. So I will really need a lot of luck to get my foot in the door.

Yeah, that's really weird... They are so selective, and then, they publish crap like Millennium... I really don't get that kind of choices.

I suspect it boils down to what they can make money out of and what the public will buy.

I am hoping to get published with a small publisher (at least at first) since they are not likely to be as selective and picky, and once you have a publisher and a foot in the door then it is much easier to continue getting published.

Yep, obviously small and independent publishers should be the best initial approach. They won't offer a big amount of money, but they have another set of benefits.

I am also looking at those that do ebook versions as well as print versions, and the general rule seems to be that sales from ebooks give a higher percentage to the authors as well, presumably because of the low costs of providing ebooks compared to those that are in print. Some of them seem to offer both options for their established authors, so you start off with ebooks only and if you get a following they go into print as well.

Obviously, ebooks are a safe way to check how printed versions will work. It's like an almost free market study for publishers... But it seems you've already thought of everything. That's very good, indeed.

Are the books you are trying to publish fantasy or romance?

A mixture of both.

I write a lot of genres. Some are for young adults, some for adults, it varies. I have been looking at a lot of publishers, including those who publish more than one genre, or have linked publishers for different types of books.

That a little reminds me of a novel by Mercedes Lackey called "Jinx High". In it her character Diana is a witch who makes her living writing romance novels. And since she, in that book, is teaching a high school writing class, she tells a bit of what it is like to be a real working writer.

That sounds like an interesting book. Is it any good?

I enjoyed it. I've read it more than once. But then Lackey is one of my favorite authors. That's part of a 3 book (and the odd short story) series. The Diana Tregard mysteries. It's urban fantasy. Most of Lackey's work is conventional fantasy. But she also has that series which is urban fantasy, and a loose collection of other series that are urban fantasy. It's generally light fantasy, always darkest before the dawn type stuff. Elves with motorcycles and bards living in LA or New York.

Hi! It's good to read you again.

So is it fantasy stuff you're writing at the moment?

Mostly, yes.

The one I am working on at the moment - almost literally, it is in another window - is a romance with one of the main characters being a ghost.


Nice to read you again too.

Sounds cool, the story. I read that novel by Marc Levy, If Only It Were True, and the themathic was promising but the book resulted meh

I agree with Di, that sounds really cool! Good luck with publishing it and/or your other short stories!

I haven't even looked for a publisher yet, but somehow I would prefer to try and publish it on my own via a website and selling it as an ebook or get it printed after all. Wouldn't have to be that many books at first and my dad would support me to get it printed. And once more and more people wanna buy it and I'm starting to make some profit I can always get more books printed. Of course it sounds easier than it will be for sure, meh...but I'm too paranoid to send it to a real publisher. And I would hate it if they asked for too many changes.

Anyway, I was wondering if you still like Michael Rosenbaum? There is this Insurgence convention in Birmingham next month for Smallville, Supernatural and Vampire Diaries and so far Michael Rosenbaum is gonna be one of the guests. I'm seriously considering going there, but only if more actors or actresses I like will be announced soon.

And there's also a convention in Germany for Supernatural in May and Misha Collins has already been announced as one of the guests there. I really hope Jared and Jensen will be there too, so that I won't regret not going to Barcelona in June to see the 3 of them.

What do you think of the trailer for Ondine?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2010/feb/05/ondine-colin-farrell

I was looking at publishers after doing NaNoWriMo last year. Was looking at their policies compared to the company that is associated with NaNo. Not submitted anything yet though. I am aiming to get something ready for submission to a publisher by the end of the year.

If I get a lot of rejections I will look at self publishing and see if I can build up a readership so that real publishers might give me a look later on with other stories.

Not really seen MR in anyhting since he left Smallville. Other than the odd film back when he first started in Smallville, I have not really seen him in that much. Have to say that Smallville is just not the same without him though.

I don't take much notice of the conventions, but I hope that you get to meet your favourites wherever it is you end up travelling to to see them.

TYG - That trailer looks quite interesting. I had not heard of that movie before. Thanks for the link.

Ooh okay, good luck with that then! Sounds like a good plan!

I haven't really seen MR in anything since Smallville either actually, but I'd love to some time. And I know, you mean Sorority Boys, right? Haha, I loved that movie, but I remember you already told me back then that you didn't like it. And I've seen him in a few other movies, but so far I've liked Sorority Boys the most, I think.
And I agree, Smallville is really not the same without him. I still liked Season 8 though most of the time and was surprised that I didn't really miss him that much then cause I still enjoyed it a lot without him, but I really don't enjoy Season 9 that much so I totally started to miss him now...

And that's too bad, I had hoped we could go to the convention together. But thanks, I also really hope that I can meet some of my favs soon!