Jack Fisher's Official Publishing Blog

Since I’ve been writing romance and erotica, I’ve noticed a number of themes emerging in my stories. Some of these themes are intentional. There are certain elements I want to include in my story and the characters within those stories. However, I’ve noticed that some of those themes are a bit more indirect. I’ve also noticed similar themes in other stories as well. One theme that seems to creep up more than most is the concept of repression.

We all know what the dictionary definition of the word is. Repression is, “the act of not allowing a memory, feeling, or desire to be expressed.” It’s most commonly used as a political term or a psychoanalytical term. Anyone who has been in therapy is probably familiar with that concept. In writing romance and erotica, repression takes on a very different context and it happens to be one of the chief guiding forces of a story.

The struggle of any love story or any erotic tale is often built on repression. A character struggles to deal with romantic feelings towards someone. Another character struggles to deal with powerful sexual desires. Few forces instigate conflicts in passions more than repression. Prevent someone from feeling an emotion or experiencing intimacy and it causes conflict, both internally and externally.

I’ve dealt with both in my writings. In Skin Deep, Ben Prescott struggled to express the emotions he felt for his best friend, Mary Williams. He was basically forced to repress those feelings because she ran with a different crowd and left him behind. It showed in his jaded personality early in the story.

However, I took this concept to an extreme in my recent book, The Final Communion. This story focuses more on the suppression of erotic desires and this is where things get even messier, both literally and figuratively. Grace Maria Goodwin lived her whole life in an isolated compound, segregated from other boys and conditioned to repress her natural urges. Except she wasn’t alone. Men and women alike had to suppress all these urges throughout their youth. It’s the kind of extreme repression that has the greatest effect, but it’s a repression that occurs in the real world.

So what happens when repressed individuals like Grace are allowed to vent all this repressed desire? Well, The Final Communion shows just how much she vents in graphic detail. In many ways, it’s a sobering experience, writing about this kind of repression and how it affects someone. It’s also part of a real phenomenon.

It’s true. These themes of repression were inspired by things in the real world that interested me. I read a number of stories about young men and women in repressive countries like Iran who find ways to throw secret, decadent parties. It’s enough to make me wonder just how far the effects of repression can go.

It turns out I’m not the only one curious about this. An article in Psychology Today says it far better than I ever could:

Nothing inspires murderous mayhem in human beings more reliably than sexual repression. Denied food, water, or freedom of movement, people will get desperate and some may lash out at what they perceive as the source of their problems, albeit in a weakened state. But if expression of sexuality is thwarted, the human psyche tends to grow twisted into grotesque, enraged perversions of desire.

It’s a sobering thought and one that makes me worry just how much real-world repression inspires real-world problems. For now, it’s an interesting idea to explore in my writing. Some of the projects I have in the works will deal with this issue directly and others indirectly. However those stories turn out, I think it’s still clear that the forces of repression will continue to affect us all, whether we like it or not.

I’ve been wrestling with another decision lately. It has to do with my efforts to find a publisher and/or an agent. Since I began trying to build a career as a published author, I’ve been stumbling around in the dark. I never took a class on being a published author. I have attended a few seminars and panels, but most of that deals with marketing, business, and other areas of expertise that I’m not skilled in at the moment.

To date, I’ve gone about finding a publisher the same way I go about finding a good pizza place. I Google publishers that specialize in romance and erotica. I review their submission requirements. Then, I submit. It’s a simple approach and doesn’t cost much, but I guess you get what you pay for in that respect. To date, I’ve received rejection letters from every publisher except Crimson Frost. And I’ve been waiting a long time for them to deliver.

So what other options are there? Well, one service I’ve been looking at is Writers Market. In the pre-internet years, it was the go-to guide for aspiring writers. It contained a list of publishers, addresses, and submission requirements. I even remember seeing this book at libraries, back when I still went to libraries. Needless to say, the internet has changed the publishing industry. However, new editions of this book keep coming out.

In addition, the website offers a subscription service that basically helps writers access the same information. At least, that’s how it’s advertised. I’ve learned to be weary of such claims because it’s rare for those claims to be met, at least in my experience. It’s this service that I’m interested in checking out. Perhaps it can link me to agents and publishers that Google cannot.

It is a risk, but only with respect to the subscription fee, which is considerably cheaper than some of the seminars I attended. Since I still have manuscripts I’m sitting on, this might be a risk worth taking. I don’t know if anyone here has experience with the Writers Market subscription service, but I’m willing to take a chance if necessary. Being a success at anything means taking chances. This is just one of them and I doubt it’ll be the last.

Thanks to the time spent at the beach and away from home, I feel refreshed and energized for the summer. That means I’ll be recovering from sunburns the next couple of weeks. It also means I managed to finish the first draft of my manuscript for my next story. I don’t want to make an official announcement just yet because I’m still tweaking the title. I don’t like to finalize the title of a new book until I’m absolutely sure it fits.

Now this is not going to be a story with the same scope or scale as Skin Deep. This is a much shorter, more compact story. It’s focused in that it gets right to the point, delivering everything I hope to deliver for the intended audience. Just what audience will this book appeal to? Well, I’d like to keep that under wraps for the time being, but I will say it’ll have a very specific appeal.

While I wrote this book with every intention of self-publishing through Lulu again, I am going to try and get a publisher to publish it for me. It would likely have to be a niche publisher of sorts, but I’m willing to start small and work my way up to the big time. First though, I need to edit and refine my draft so that it’s as polished as can be. Don’t know how long that will take, but I’m willing to be patient. Great things cannot be rushed.

I find myself in a difficult and unfamiliar situation. For a lot of writers, just finishing a manuscript feels like a daunting task. I still remember how I felt when I was working on “Skin Deep.” There were times when I thought I would never get it done. Then, I finished it and suddenly, the act of completing a manuscript became the easiest part of the writing process, at least for me.

Since then, I’ve completed over a dozen manuscripts. So far, they’ve all been self-published through Lulu. Two more are in limbo with Crimson Frost right now and I have no idea when those will come out. For that reason, I do have a few that I’m basically holding in reserve. One in particular has me especially conflicted.

So far, many of the stories I’ve told have been exercises of sorts. They’ve been a way to help me learn and refine this craft that is still quite new to me, even though I’ve been writing every day for nearly two decades. Self-publishing is easy thanks to Lulu, but getting the backing of an actual publisher has proven very difficult. I’ve submitted queries for pretty much every manuscript I’ve written. To date, only Crimson Frost has responded and I’m still waiting on them to deliver. However, I’m still looking for that one opportunity that will help me turn this passion into a legitimate career.

This brings me back to the manuscript in question. It is complete. It’s been complete for over a year now. I’ve edited and refined the hell out of it to a point where I really can’t do much more with it. This manuscript is not like some of my self-published work. It’s a much longer, more detailed story than something like Jackpot. It’s also not a story that fits solely within the category of erotica. It is, more than anything else, a romance story and one that I believe appeals to modern romance readers.

Essentially, I look at this manuscript as being my most mainstream story to date. It’s a story that doesn’t require a mature audience. Young adults can enjoy it every bit as much as the elderly. It’s built around several well-developed characters, a major conflict, and a few significant twists. I really believe that this story is something that can build a franchise. I know every writer thinks that about their story, but I’ve put a great deal of effort into actually delivering.

So far, no agent or publisher has responded to my queries with this story. I haven’t given up on it though. I understand that sometimes it takes a while to get your foot in the door in this industry. My only concern is that I’ll sit on this manuscript for too long. Is there such a thing as too long? Again, I’m new to this industry so I’m not sure.

I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing with this. I still want to wait and see how things pan out with “Embers of Eros” at Crimson Frost. However, at some point I’ll have to change my approach. I’m just not sure how I’ll go about it yet. Hope I figure it out soon. I still have so many stories I want to tell.

I’ve returned from my vacation and it was every bit as relaxing as I had hoped. Sure, I got sunburned in a few areas, but it was worth it. This is important to me because as both a writer and a person, I am a creature of habit. I have a routine and I like to stick to it most of the time. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to switch things up every now and then. This has helped me mature. Again, both as a writer and as a person.

Being on the beach, soaking in the sun, and admiring the sights did a lot to relax me. It also helped inspire me. It’s easy to feel disconnected from people when you’re so focused on writing out a story. A big part of what makes any story work, especially one with romantic and erotic themes, is making the people feel real. Not every character can be a superhero. Not every relationship can be Shakespearean in its purity. There are places for stories like that, but they’re too easy to resort to when a plot breaks down. I don’t want my stories to be that bland. I hope it shows once “Embers of Eros” and my other pending books come out.

Like many others, I intend to hit the beach this holiday weekend. I’m meeting with family and friends. I hope to catch some sun, cruise the boardwalk, and admire the bikinis. It’s been such a long and dreary winter. I think a trip to the beach of overdue.

It is also my hope that any vacation will help inspire another book. It only took one trip to Las Vegas to inspire two books, The Escort and the Gigolo and Jackpot. I hope a trip to the beach can do the same. Granted, the beach isn’t quite the spectacle of a place like Las Vegas, but it involves sand, surf, and valid excuses for wearing less clothing. Those are all key ingredients for sexy inspiration in my book.

So on behalf of me, Jack Fisher, and all those who enjoy a fun and sexy time, have a great Memorial Day holiday!

So I’ve been hard at work on my next book, which I’m still hoping to sell to a publisher. I’ve been making great progress, but there’s one issue I’m still undecided about. It has to do with the ending.

When I started this book, I already knew how most of it would play out. I know how I wanted to portray the characters, the relationships, and the overall structure of the story. However, I’ve learned in my many years of writing that when it comes to writing endings, I have plenty of room for improvement.

It goes like this. We all know how frustrating open-ended endings can be. Anyone who saw “The Sopranos” finale can attest to that. However, there are many ways that kind of ending can work. Sometimes it’s good to leave certain details up to the reader. Otherwise, you risk having the story drag when it doesn’t have to. Nobody wants their stories to drag. I, like every other writer, want to hold my reader’s interest.

In the past, I’ve opted to be more detailed with my endings. In Skin Deep, I went so far as to provide an epilogue that skipped ahead in time to depict the aftermath of the main story. I did something similar in The Escort and the Gigolo, albeit in a less detailed manner. For most of my stories, I’ve tried to provide some extra layer of detail to help add polish to the story. Sometimes it work. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Make no mistake. There IS such a thing as an ending that’s too detailed. When you lay everything out all neat and clean, it ceases to be much of a spectacle. There’s no room for discussion or speculation. As such, it becomes forgettable, like a movie you only see once and never feel inclined to see again. That might work for some stories, but I don’t want my stories to be that forgettable.

The story I’m working on now is one of those stories that can go either way. No pun intended. I’ve already identified a certain point where I can stop and leave the readers to fill in the rest. I also have a few notes that I could turn into an epilogue of sorts, one that’ll explore what happens beyond the main story. I can’t decide which approach to take this time. It depends on the tone of the book once I get closer to the end. Like I said though, this is one area in my writing I think I need to improve more than most. I’d like to start that process with this book. If I can get a publisher to sign on, maybe I can get that process moving.

Hope to have more updates on this and my other projects soon.

As I wait for news on “Embers of Eros” and start work on my next project, I’ve been doing a little experimenting in between. Whenever I read novels that involve sensual, romantic themes, there are any number of styles for depicting these themes. Some are purposefully vague, using all sorts of colorful metaphors to depict these basic acts. I think anyone who has read “50 Shades of Grey” is very familiar with the concept of the “inner goddess.”

Then, on the other end of the spectrum, there are styles that leave little to the imagination. They try to paint a very vivid, very graphic scenario between lovers. They describe everything from the shape of a man’s penis to the presence or absence of pubic hair on a woman’s body to the taste of various sexual fluids. Needless to say, the verbiage here can be pretty crude. Some of it sounds like it comes from a porno set, but in some respects that makes it more real and vivid. When done right, it can really put the reader in the scene.

I’ve learned after writing over a half-dozen books that I can write on both ends of the spectrum, but I’m not adept at navigating the areas in between. As my style of writing has evolved, I’ve learned to use both styles. Whichever style I use depends on the story. Some stories, like “Embers of Eros,” require that I be more vague. That story is heavier on romance than it is on erotic themes. So for that reason, I emphasize the romance more than I do the intimate moment.

For a story like The Final Communion, however, there’s just no way that being overly vague can work within those themes. That story is built around concepts of reckless indulgence and overt decadence. It needs to be vivid to get the theme across. Nothing can be left to the imagination. The reader has to see, hear, and smell the scenes it depicts.

So far, I’ve used a more vivid approach for my stories, but that’s largely due to the theme. The next story I write will be fairly graphic in that respect. It’s going to have little romance, but a lot of erotic themes. So this will be a chance for me to refine that approach.

At some point, however, I’d like to work on my romantic writing skills. “Embers of Eros” is a good point of reference right now, but I want to see how it turns out before I start another story. I do have a few ideas brewing that are more romance heavy, but they’ll require a bit more brainstorming before I start putting pen to paper.

So for fans of romance and fans of overt eroticism, I hope to give you plenty to enjoy moving forward. I also hope to continue improving with both themes as time goes on.

Still no word yet from Crimson Frost Books. With a holiday weekend coming up, I’m not expecting much. It is still my sincere hope that I can get “Embers of Eros” released sometimes this summer. Given the themes of this book, I think it’ll be a great book to read in the summer heat, especially for those lucky enough to take a trip to the beach. It all depends on how much Crimson Frost can do with their current manpower.

In the meantime, I already have another project in the works. I want to take a break from telling longer, more elaborate stories and do a few shorter stories. My hope is that a tighter, more concise plot will allow me to refine a certain set of skills. What kind of skills will this plot require? Well, that’s a tough question to answer.

My new project will combine two of my great loves: football and sexy undertones. It’s true. I love football and I build a big part of my weekends around football from August to February. It’s a very manly, aggressive sport. Those same themes can translate well into a sexier, more intimate situation. But how? Well, that’s what this new project will explore.

I don’t want to get into too many details just yet. I’ll try to throw in a few teasers in the coming months, depending on how much progress I make. But I might try to sell this short story to a few small publishers before I self-publish with Lulu again. I’d like to see if there’s a market for something like this. Football is an easy sell these days. Maybe this story can tap into it. Only time will tell. If I can finish this story while getting “Embers of Eros” published, then this will make for a very productive year.