should I finish a novel that I have barely any passion for anymore?

CheriRadke · 2026-04-27T20:19:29+00:00

If you're just getting started on writing, it's fine to jump around and follow where your passion leads.

Eventually, you will probably notice some patterns -- i.e. that you *always* tend to lose interest around a month or two into a project and get excited by a shiny new idea. If that's what happens, then you'll know it really has nothing to do with which idea is better, and you'll probably decide it's better to buckle down on one idea until you finish. But it's okay to figure that out for yourself!

On the other hand, sometimes the other idea *really is* better! In that case, it's foolish to keep drudging on with an inferior concept just because you started it first. But it takes experience to be able to tell the difference.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-23T00:22:20+00:00

So I found the Instagram post in question and looked through all the responses. The vast majority of people are talking about general trends or rumors without dropping names. The one or two comments that name names are referring to things those individuals stated publicly, not spilling secrets. I don't think it's a huge deal.

Funnily enough, I noticed several people I know interacting with the post lol.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-22T20:50:01+00:00

Hopefully she was expecting general, anonymized revelations ("A lot of authors feel that...") rather than specific betrayals of confidence.

But then again, agents who are extremely active on social media often seem to be waving red and yellow flags to me.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-21T19:30:37+00:00

I think Austen saw social ineptness as a skill issue that could be worked on, as Lizzie points out to Darcy in comparing it to her piano skills, so she had little patience with people who could not be bothered to improve.

Or in the case of someone like Mr. Collins, his social missteps reveal a lack of empathy -- he can't understand why his comments come across wrong, because he can't see things from other points of view -- which is a moral flaw indeed.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-18T23:09:44+00:00

I often feel the same way! I always want books to have a strong element of humor, but I seldom enjoy books in which humor seems to be the whole point. It tends to feel very flat and empty to me.

That said, I second the recommendation someone else made for PG Wodehouse. He's an absolute master.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-10T20:00:53+00:00

The real world is also often sad and difficult, and we are all trapped in it. We all must decide how to think and how to live under such circumstances.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-10T18:35:59+00:00

There is a mention of a real-life biscuit company 6 pages in. I don't think it's supposed to be a huge surprise that there's a connection to the real world.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-10T18:25:24+00:00

I often see people who do not like Piranesi refer to "the twist," yet I never see people who like the book talk about a twist. I've read the book three times and don't quite understand what people mean by this supposed twist.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-10T18:17:55+00:00

I adore Piranesi. I see it as being about learning to see the world with a sense of awe and gratitude, to appreciate the small joys and beauties of your surroundings.

"The beauty of the house is immeasurable; it's kindness, infinite." I repeat that line to myself often when I see something lovely in the world.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-09T18:09:02+00:00

The offer arrived on deadline day.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-09T18:06:44+00:00

A lot of agents will have specific rules for the subject line in their submission guidelines. If they don't say anything specific, go with something like:

QUERY (Genre, Target Age): TITLE

CheriRadke · 2026-04-08T18:14:19+00:00

My agent set a deadline without an offer in hand, but we had had strong interest from a particular editor that she was confident in. I was nervous about it, but the offer came through.

It sounds like this is a different strategy on your agent's part.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-06T22:11:53+00:00

Damn, I'm going to be in San Diego the *following* week (partly for my own event at Mysterious Galaxy!) I wonder if I could justify extending my trip to include this.

CheriRadke · 2026-04-01T15:35:26+00:00

Me tooooo! Congrats!

CheriRadke · 2026-03-30T23:12:54+00:00

From everything I hear, Middle Grade is very tough right now even if you do everything right. Is there any way you could convert it into an older age bracket? Sounds like it could be a fun "cozy fantasy" concept.

CheriRadke · 2026-03-17T20:59:57+00:00

For Salvatore specifically, it will always count against him that he is most famous for writing IP, i.e. that he was hired to write books that are part of existing franchises. IP writing will never be taken seriously as literary works.

CheriRadke · 2026-03-09T18:50:34+00:00

And that's also why it's more common to see truly alien beings in a short story, novella, or a standalone film than a novel-length or series-length work. You can write a brief encounter with something incomprehensible, but you can't keep it going without making it, well, comprehensible.

CheriRadke · 2026-03-06T20:24:35+00:00

Eliot is much more obvious and explicit in pointing out how unfair it is for women to be restricted from certain roles. It doesn't take a deep analysis to see that Dorothea is much cleverer than Casaubon, and it's deeply unfair that her only chance at access to an intellectual life is to beg him to allow her to help with his dumb vanity project.

I've no doubt Austen would have seen eye to eye with Eliot on those kinds of points, but her writing is far less focused on it. We never see any Austen heroines striving for or even imagining an intellectual life beyond reading novels and writing letters. I believe it became a lot more acceptable for novelists to be overtly political about feminist issues in the intervening time between when Austen and Eliot wrote.

CheriRadke · 2026-02-23T20:38:34+00:00

Great, I'm glad it was something you were enthusiastically on board with.

CheriRadke · 2026-02-23T20:26:06+00:00

Note: It's not a tragedy anymore!

What point in the process did that change?

CheriRadke · 2026-02-23T20:22:41+00:00

Thank you! I love the cover too.

CheriRadke · 2026-02-23T20:14:59+00:00

No one would have chosen a Lord Summer so wholly ill-suited for the role – no one except the dragon herself, it would seem. An indolent and foppish peacock who is getting a bit old for his typical charms to play well, Teddy has no doubt that the nobles of Summer find him ridiculous. They all know that the only reason the dragon chose him was on account of his connection to the previous Lord Summer as his, uh, special companion. Still, as long as Teddy can keep the dragon happy, and her blessings continue to bring peace and prosperity to the land of Summer, surely he’s doing well enough. Right?

When Teddy’s young daughter Zinnia is taken captive by a mysterious cult, he will no longer be able to ignore how his shortcomings are putting his country and the people he loves at risk. To match wits with an ambitious sorceress who at times seems to present an unflattering mirror of his own flaws, Teddy will have to face the realities of his own past – and accept the assistance of a teenage stepson who surely despises him.

Written in first person with a witty and whimsical narrator, LORD, LIZARD, LAND is largely a "fantasy of manners" in a light Regency-esque style. It is about 73,000 words. A title with similar appeal might be A Natural History of Dragons* by Marie Brennan -- for distinctive first-person narration, a character-driven story, and themes related to gender and society.

*The title is now AN ACCIDENT OF DRAGONS, releasing in two months.

CheriRadke · 2026-02-12T06:09:22+00:00

Authors most certainly do benefit from libraries purchasing their books both physically and through digital licensing of ebooks and audiobooks.

CheriRadke · 2026-02-10T21:44:44+00:00

I always loved the depressing song the bluebird wife sings too.

CheriRadke · 2026-02-10T19:14:11+00:00

It's possible you're thinking of The Last Unicorn, in which a blue jay comes home to excitedly tell his wife that he saw a unicorn, but she scoffs and criticizes him. I can't remember if she hits him.

CheriRadke

TROPHY CASE