The fact was I hated crab ragoon, despite the fact that I had never even tried it.
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| photo by wintersoul1 |
Now, of course, I adore it. If there was a swimming pool full of crab ragoon, I'd happily dive in and eat my way out of it.
A couple of weeks ago, I got word that a publisher liked a story of mine but it needed tweaking. They wanted to include it in the Not Your Mother's Book...On Family--if I did some revising.
I looked at the story several times and felt no inspiration. I began to hate the story. I had written it in a whirlwind session of submissions, and not only felt the ending "fell flat" but thought the whole piece was dead...and I wasn't in the mood to beat that dead horse.
Yesterday (thankfully) I found out it was a different story they wanted. Also, (thankfully) the talented Linda O'Connell, the co-editor of the book, did some magical work on the story that I had never hated.
What have you hated/resisted, until you tried it and found out it either wasn't too bad or you found out it was positively addicting?
And pass that plate of crab ragoon. I'm in the mood for another one...
Okra! Hated it as a child and love it now.
ReplyDeleteI could relate to your rewrite situation. I did that very thing last week. Because I have such a busy September and lots due then, I really scrambled to get things out. So far good nibbles from editors but no promises. Have a good weekend...
Claudia--Okra and I had the same relationship. Now I love it.
DeleteGood luck with your submissions. And hopefully, when they "bite," you won't get mixed up with your stories like I did...
Vegetable soup. It always looked like a steaming pot of garbage. Now I make my own. It's real, and it's spectacular.
ReplyDeleteI am not fond of re-working. I'd sooner throw that baby right out with the bath, and make a new one. That's figuratively speaking, of course. I don't mind tightening up a story, or clarifying. But I hate to lop off chunks of it, or turn it every which way but loose. That seems false. Oh, I'll do it. But my heart isn't in it, and that shows. Sorry, baby. You deserve better. It's me. Not you. I can't bear to mold you into something you're not.
I really need to work on that.
I usually like to rework something, and see if I can transform it enough to sell it elsewhere.
DeleteBut sometimes, if the story starts to look sucky, I'm done with it.
Silk. It's like milk, but better. I love the chocolate best, but the almond is good, too. I resisted trying it for ages cos I thought it probably tasted awful. Boy was i wrong.
ReplyDeleteShay--I'm with you. I didn't try Silk for a long time (how do they milk those almonds?) but my daughter introduced me to it. The chocolate is like a dessert drink...
DeleteWhen I was a kid my mom would make those pizza kit (Chef-Boyardee) box thingies, where you mixed the dough, pressed it in the pan, poured on the sauce and added toppings. I used to think it smelled like dirty feet baking...ugh! Now, of course, I adore pizza. And Crab Rangoon. And chocolate cake. And...well, dang it I guess I adore just about anything edible, except for fishy-tasting fish.
ReplyDeletePat
Critter Alley
Pat--I hated mayonnaise, until I went to France and made mayonnaise. And dipped artichoke leaves into the mayo and immediately fell in love with it.
DeleteFishy-fish? I completely agree with you.
Oooooh, I love crab. Any way, any how. I don't think I ate vegetables till I was grown. Wait. I ate broccoli, but that was about it.
ReplyDeleteAs for writing make-overs, I wouldn't sell anything if I hadn't got beyond the rewrite. I do a lot of revising. A lot, a lot. :-)
P.S. Sorry to be late, catching up here. The battery on Precious won't hold a charge and so when I'm doing my blog reading --during Braves games--I run out before I get down to Sioux. So tonight, I STARTED with Sioux. :-)
Cathy--MANY people have gotten into serious trouble when they started with Sioux... ;)
DeleteI revise a lot too. And I believe in marinating. Let the story sit for a few days, and go back and work on it some more.
And it's not necessary to apologize. We all have busy lives. Sometimes I read and don't get a chance to comment. I call it a "read-by" (instead of a drive-by).
I had always found artichokes to be very strange and they were one of the things that my mom had didn't make. In Home Ec. we made them but I wouldn't take a taste. It wasn't until after I was married that I found a liking for them.
ReplyDeleteDoes that count?
Have a super week,
Kathy M.
Kathy--Yes, it counts, and I was like that with artichokes, too. Now I fight people for the artichokes at the bottom of the salad bowl...
DeleteBack at ya--have a great week.
I can sure relate to hitting a brick wall with a piece. And when that happens, it's the worst block there is. Glad yours turned out well for you, though! My hated thing was tomatoes. And guess what I've been growing in the garden and eating at every meal lately? Oh, and you and Shay should get paid for advertising Silk. I must go get some....
ReplyDeleteTammy--Try it (the chocolate is especially delicious). It's real (almond milk) and it's spectacular.
DeleteUgh! I need to break through my own brick wall - I tried and tried to write a piece for the NYMB on family, and I Just. Can. Not. Do it. I guess it just proves that I can only write when I'm inspired but something. My muse runs away when I try to force her... oh, she is just like me! The minute someone tells me to do something, I do the opposite. Or run the other way!
ReplyDeleteCrab rangoon I could take or leave. But I can't think of any food I hated as a child and now adore.
Beth--So THAT'S the secret to staying thin--"leaving" crab ragoon... ;)
DeleteGrits! For years I turned my nose up...the taste, texture, smell, everything. Blech. And then the morning after my youngest daughter was born I was forced to eat grits because there was nothing else. Due to timing, the hospital cafeteria had finished serving breakfast but hadn't opened for lunch. The only thing left for me was grits. I stirred in butter, added salt and pepper, grimaced, groaned and took a bite. And--wow!--so yummy! I became a grits lover. And now I can't eat them anymore because I'm gluten-free. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteLisa--A couple of summers ago I had cheese and jalapeno grits. They were delicious.
DeleteSioux... it's odd to find someone with my last name. Artichokes are yucky no matter how they are cooked
ReplyDeleteAnd to think that I consider most people with the same last name as me "odd."
DeleteReality television. It's gateway television and should be avoided at all costs.
ReplyDelete