July 21st, 2009 | by Vonna Harper |
Taming The Cougar isn’t hitting the stands until the end of Sept but I so love the cover that the devil made me plaster it here. So there.
Hmm. Now what does Vonna mean when she brings up the word LENGTH? Ha, I bet I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong, at least this time.
The deal is, I’ve been thinking about the various length stories I write, asking myself whether I have a favorite and why I’m content to bounce between shorties of no more than 5 thousand words and books such as Taming The Cougar that run around 80,000 words. I’ve only done a couple of the really short eroticas and don’t see any more on the immediate horizon but remember them as equal parts fun and challenge. The fun part is a given: I can write the rough draft in a couple of days. The challenge comes in handling a plot under those tight constraints. Sad to say there has to be more than 5 thousand words of sex. Readers and writers alike need to know something about these two (or more) people and what brought them together. Where are they in their lives, how did they get there, and what’s going to happen to them in the morning?
80,000 words of course makes those concerns non issues in that there’s plenty of time to explore characterization and craft a hopefully intriguing plot. I love working with a large landscape which can include throwing in fascinating minor characters, some world building if I’m so inclined, plot twists and turns. For me the most exciting part is giving my characters room to grow and change. It’s the whole ‘come to realize’ thing. Not much time to sit back and look at oneself on the way to maturity in a shortie. In a book my characters can screw up, admit the error of their ways, and receive their just rewards, if you get my drift.
At the same time, a novel can be a scary process. Can I pull off this tangled mess of a plot or even come up with enough of one? Do I care about my characters enough to hang with them for the long run and even more important, can I make my readers give a damn? Given my short term memory issues can I remember why I started the darned thing and why I thought I could pull it off?
Fortunately I’m in a position to mix things up, both with Aphrodisia and the two epublishers I work with. I’ve of course written a fair sized pile of books for Aphrodisia and have contributed to a number of anthologies. (For specifics, if you’re curious enough, all that’s on my web site ’cause otherwise Id never be able to keep it straight) The Aphrodisia anthology contributions run around 25 thousand words and are always part of a themed collection such as cowboys. (I’ve done three of those)
These days I write slightly shorter stories for both Ellora’s Cave and Loose-ID including one freebie at EC. Most of them dance the capture/BDSM dance but occasionally something totally different grabs my muse which as much as length differences keeps me excited about what I’m doing.
A question as I head off to buy a newly minted 10 year old girl a pair of shoes for her birthday, do you have a length you prefer to read or are you inclined to mix it up?
Vonna
www.VonnaHarper.com
Sometimes I like to pick up an anthology of short stories to get acquainted with new authors to me. Its gives me an idea of their style of writing. There have been times when I’ve enjoyed the story so much that I did not want it to end so soon.
by Armenia · July 21st, 2009 at 1:38 pmI like to mix the story lengths. Anthologies and short stories for quick reads and novel length when I really want to settle in with a book.
by Estella · July 21st, 2009 at 3:22 pmTo be completely honest, length doesn’t matter to me as much as a good story. Stephanie Burke and Dana Marie Bell are two of my favorite authors and some of their stories are consistently ‘short’. I just recently read Cherry Crush by Burke and loved it. The length was perfect for the story. I like your longer and shorter stories. Like I said, it depends on the author. If I like them a lot, I’ll like anything they write. If not… well, everyone has their preferences. Also, my favorite story of yours is Dangerous Ride. I re-read it all the time…
by Regina · July 21st, 2009 at 3:35 pm” . . . such as cowboys. (I’ve done three of those)”
Wow! I wish I’d done three cowboys!
I just wrote my first novella for Sexy Beast VII which is releasing in September. I’ve never written anything less than 450 pages so it was a real challenge! It was a lot of fun and now I can’t wait to write another one . . . or do three cowboys.
by Anitra Lynn McLeod · July 21st, 2009 at 6:47 pmHi Vonna,
by Booklover1335 · July 21st, 2009 at 7:02 pmI love to mix it up. Sometimes I am in the mood for immediate gratification, in which case the shorter novellas are just what I am looking for. Other times I want to get more involved…ergo a full length novel is what I reach for. I love it when my fav authors write both types of stories that way no matter what mood I am in I am guarateened a good read!
I love reading all lengths. Digging into a great long book, like JR Ward gives me a treat. But with those, I have to set aside time to indulge, b/c I can’t put them down.
Shorts I love to read between writing.
I’ve written lots of novellas for Aphro and even a couple of single titles with vignettes (ghost stories) in them, so clearly I love writing short. They are a challenge.
And I do love a challenge! Great topic , Vonna
by Bonnie Edwards · July 22nd, 2009 at 11:25 amI love reading different things as it keeps everything interesting.
by Larena Wirum · July 22nd, 2009 at 5:06 pm