This is like one of those “Can you spot the X?” photos. Can you spot the quail in this pic? While the others in the covey are scratching around and eating, one will get in a high spot and be the lookout for predators. At first I thought I hadn’t gotten a good photo – several were out of focus – and then I zoomed in and wow!
Love how he’s looking right at me, too. 
I’m over at Word Whores today, talking about when you *should* write to the market.
Gag me with a billionaire spoon and lead me not to strangle every author that has a ban of brothers (be they members of an MC club, Navy SEALS, or secret ops FAMILY that, yeah, now are operating a private security firm). I HATE that the creativity of my favorite authors is leashed, dictated by publishers.
Let me tell you. I was in marketing for 28 years. I was so successful because I DID NOT FOLLOW THE CROWD. I examined what “the crowd” was doing and I went in another direction. The public is BORED with the “conventional wisdom”. Everyone wants shock and awe. We LOVE shock and awe. Catering to the whims and tastes of the general masses does not shake us out of our comfort zones. I expect authors to deliver a memorable experience. Period. I read 175 books this past year and maybe 3% even stayed with me. Made a permanent mark. I seek out intelligence in the authors I follow. Some deliver, some do not. Brilliance is rare. Oh, so rare. But for me, I need to feel that the authors that I follow are at least growing. An author in her/his 30’s can be excused for his/her lack of sophistication at an early age. But I need to know that that an author has the chutzpah to buck the system, if necessary, and GDIT self publish if the Grand Muse directs them to do so!
What will it take to inspire true greatness that comes from the soul? Oh, yeah, the inspiration is there, but is it economically feasible? I beg, BEG, my favorite authors to just write from their soul; to just write because what is speaking to them is coming from a place that emerges from their souls and needs to be expressed, MUST be revealed, regardless of the monetary return.
So easy for me to say. I am not a starving artist. I have never suffered paycheck to paycheck. But I know that our society depends on you, The artists who put your “art” on the line from day to day. YOU keep us balanced. YOU do not bend to the whims of the current fashion. You are the art that makes us as a society make sense, Stop looking at “what sells”. Look into your heart and write what you love. Write what soars your heart and brings you to tears. Write it as if it were the last manuscript you will ever publish, like your legacy will die with you the last word you penned .I want that book. I will pre-order it on Amazon tomorrow and mark it on my Google calendar to alert me when it comes in so I can load it onto my Paperwhite and start reading your story tomorrow.
Stephanie – you crack me up! That was quite the rant. 🙂 Though, you know, I disagree that it’s the publishers applying these constraints. Yes, the publishers will say they think an particular premise won’t sell, but they don’t (in my experience) say write THIS. But I love hearing your story, that you were successful because you didn’t follow the crowd. I’ve never been good at that, so it bodes well for me! Thanks, chica – I’m happy to have you out there!