Hello friends and welcome to another weird and wonderful week of writing!
On Friday, the holding pattern I’ve been in with my freelancing came to an end as the new pitch guidelines for the first quarter of 2022 came out. I had been anxiously waiting for that email for over a month, but as I reviewed the new guidelines my heart sank a little. What my publisher was asking for… well, it was all just a bit outside my comfort zone writing wise.
I confess, I went to bed discouraged.
But then I woke up and said to myself, “screw that.”
This is going to sound crass, but to be perfectly honest I didn’t apply for this freelancing work to write strictly what I wanted. No, I signed up so I could make money off my writing. That’s it. I needed cash and the opportunity was there. Was I a romance author before I landed this gig? Hell no. But that’s what the market (and my publisher) wanted and so, to earn some money when I was in a dire financial pinch, I became one.
Now, it turns out I love the work and find the experience in and of itself just as valuable as the money I’m making, but point is this job has been stretching my limits since day one. To hang my head and wonder if I’m able to step up to this new challenge goes against everything I’ve learned about myself this last year.
So, if keeping my freelancing gig means learning how to write steamier, cliche-ier romances? So be it. I’m gonna do it. If my imprint wants cozy mysteries, guess what conventions I’m going to be studying up on? Because, for me, this opportunity has shown me what I am capable of and it sure as hell doesn’t stop at writing fantasy whenever I feel up to it.
Sometimes writing is a business and dammit do I love my job.
Kerry Share
Just Another Struggling Writer 
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