Friday, January 25, 2008

What do they got that I don't got?

No one questions Sam Spade's motives for finding his partner in the Maltese Falcon, though it was pretty clear to me that Spade didn't have much love lost towards the dead man.

No one questsions why Phillip Marlowe keeps working even though his client is dead. He doesn't have to explain why he keeps on the case after every couple of chapters.

No one has to explain why the private dick will do anything for the beautiful, but dangerous dame who shows up on his door with a flimsy story and the smell of gun powder on her hands.

But write a story where a misanthropic female private eye is getting paid to investigate a situation, and her motives get questioned. It's money! How the fuck do people not understand money as a motivating factor? *I* understand what people will do for money. I understand money as a motivator far better than love or lust.

With this, I add another to the list. There are some publications that are completely unattainable for me. Some simply because I have a tendency to write stories with (gasp!) sex and violence and "bad words!" Some because a slew of rejections and the reasons given. Some because I'm damn sure that the editors just can't handle Bo Fexler.

But no body crosses Bo Fexler.

  • Story in Progress: technically, nothing
  • Last story finished: A Valentine's Love Story for Bo
  • Reason for not writing: working on grad paper

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sticking my nose in here, but have you considered creating a different character for the magazines you'd like to crack? Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with Bo - but there comes a point as a writer when you have to decide if you're happy where you are or if you want to stretch your writing muscles to be published in your dream zines. I'd love to crack ThugLit but can't seem to get my stories dark enough yet. :-))

Sandra Seamans

Clair D. said...

I've thought about it, but honestly, it seems so wrong that good writing is somehow diminished because it's a strong female character, not a lusty man. Maybe I should resubmit the story with Bo as a man... maybe then these editors wouldn't be so put off. ;-)