My last post described my submission to Harlequin for their e-book line Historical UNDONE.  Today, I received an email telling me that my story isn’t right for their line.

“For Historical Undone, we’re looking for a high level of sensuality that flows naturally out of the plotline. The characters should be fully fleshed out and should be the main focus of the story. The history should be well researched in order to give an authentic sense of period without taking over the romance. Though your story contains some of these elements, it lacks others.”

I will admit to being discouraged at this. I truly think my story is well-done and fits the description on the Harlequin website. However, at the time I wrote it, no stories had been released in that line, so I had no comparison.

I suppose my next step is to buy a couple of those e-stories and see how the published stories compare to mine. I suspect that the “high level of sensuality” is where my writing doesn’t match with their expectations. Do I aspire to write a “high level of sensuality”? That’s something I need to decide.

In happier news, I’ve been writing for NaNoWriMo and completed a 75,000 word historical romance novel that I plan to submit to a Christian romance line. Editing for that story will happen in January.

Right now I plan to move on to writing part 2 of last year’s NaNoNovel. Back into the world of TJ and Jody!

I think I’ll also try submitting my Egyptian story in a couple other places. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Today I submitted my first story to eHarlequin.com for consideration in their Historical UNDONE line of ebooks - a new line of historical short story romances.

Here is a short synopsis:

Twenty-year-old Kitane is forced into an arranged marriage with the aged king of Egypt. When the king dies before their relationship is consummated, Kitane is given in marriage to his virile son, the new king. She falls in love with him, but will she be the only woman to capture his heart? When Kitane is framed in a murder plot with the king as the target, their love is tested.

This historical romance offers a glimpse back into the 12^th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, a time of wealth and passion when kings were viewed as gods and danger could lurk in unexpected places.

This story is nearly 15,000 words long and I began writing it on September 10th. So from conception to submission, this story took me one month to write and edit.

I want to thank my friend Jen who encouraged me and was my beta reader. Jen, I don’t think I would have finished the story without your encouragement!

I finished editing the Egypt story tonight. A dear friend read it and gave me some feedback. I made a few more changes and am just about ready to send it off. I need a title and have to write a cover letter.

The final word count - 14,320. Awesome! Still under 15,000!

Oops, it’s 3:00 AM. Dang.

Don’t think tomorrow (whoops, that would be today!) is going to be an early-start day! ROFL

Off to bed now. Perchance to dream. About pharaohs?

I printed all 43 (double-spaced) pages of the story to edit during a class my children are taking. However, I was only able to get through 13 pages. I also wrote a new scene  - scribbled it on the backs of the typed pages.

I think the Egypt story is finished at 13,623 words. Now to editing!

I am now at 7351 words, which puts my Wednesday Word Count at 2072. I would estimate the story is half done, so I will probably end somewhere around 15,000 words instead of the lower estimate of 10,000. We shall see. I will write 2000 words a day until it is done.

The Nature Sounds radio is perfect for this novella - ancient sounding music, water sounds, nature sounds, some of the kinds of music you would imagine as movie soundtrack music. No lyrics, no rhythm to most of it. Usually very peaceful.

I am finding out more about Ancient Egypt every day. Today I researched briefly what kind of furniture would be in a Pharaoh’s home, what kinds of plants would grow in his garden and which of those would smell sweet, what jewelry a Middle Kingdom royal couple would wear, and I am sure other things I’ve assimilated already.

2720 words done on the Ancient Egyptian novella. Met my goal for today of 2000 words.

I’ve got my outline and my writing goals of 2000 words per day this week should get me to the end of the story by the weekend. Then I can edit and send it off next week!

Found a Pandora station that allows me to block out the ambient noise here and still allows me to THINK. lol
Nature Sounds Radio
(hope that link works - sorry, if you have dialup, I don’t think you’ll be able to use Pandora.)

Did you know that ancient Egyptian men usually shaved all their hair, but when they were in mourning, they let their hair grow? I’m uncertain as to whether the women also did this. But it comes in handy for my story.

I have to force myself to go beyond just reading and reading and reading about Ancient Egypt. I could do that for hours. lol I still need to do some research on Pharaonic names - they had at least 5 names - which do we use when???

I found out about a writing opportunity of 10,000-15,000 words and so I’m going to do that before working on any other writing. It’s a historical romance that would be published by a major publisher as an ebook. I’ve chosen to set mine (where else but) in Ancient Egypt.

Since I was able to write 50,000 words in one month, I think I ought to be able to bang out 10,000 words in a week or two and then take a few days to edit. Then I’ll try submitting this directly to the publisher.

Today I did a little research into which part of Ancient Egyptian history would be the proper setting. (You did know that the Ancient Egyptian culture flourished for about 3000 years, right? It needed a bit of narrowing down.) I’ve chosen the Middle Kingdom and probably the time of a pharaoh named Senusret II.

I also did some research into dress, names, and other cultural issues. I outlined my story (novella, or whatever) - the basic plotline. I’ve written about 600 words of it so far.

I’d have written more, but I hurt my hand by banging it into a doorframe and it hurt quite a bit earlier. I kept an icepack for a while and it feels better now - at least somewhat. Of course, it’s my right hand. I’ll probably put ice on it more tonight, in hopes that tomorrow it’ll feel just fine. I want to get this story written!