Wednesday, January 18, 2012

STOOPING LOW

How do you scare a little78-year-old lady?
Have her read my manuscript, AZAEL’S LOT.
And why would I scare this little old lady?
Because she asked for it! I swear she did!
OK, OK……
I failed to mention it was a horror story…
A dark religious horror story.
And yeah, yeah I know…
What in the hell kind of genre is that, right?
But that’s the best genre it fits into.
Well, the little old lady is my neighbor, Harriet.
If you remember from previous posts…
Harriet read my current manuscript…
IS IT NOW YET? - .humorous women’s fiction...
And we frequently discuss books we’re reading.
So there we were a few weeks ago...
On her stoop talking books again…
And somehow we got on the subject of Jewish lore…
The Pseudepigrapha, and other ancient writings…
And that’s when I told her that my manuscript...
AZAEL’S LOT, includes all of that.
“Oh, I’d love to read it, Leigh.”
So I printed off the whole enchilada…
And gave it to her before I left for Mexico a few weeks ago.
Then, just yesterday Harriet called…
“Oh, Leigh! I couldn’t finish reading your manuscript…
All the blood! The filthy rituals!  What those witches did
to that boy! I just didn’t want those visions in my head.
I was afraid of getting nightmares. I’m sorry. I thought
the story was about angels, not witches, demons and Satan.”
“But there is a redeeming factor in the end, Harriet.”
“Sorry dear, I just can’t read anymore.”
 So?
That fact that I scared Harriet…
Is that a good thing?
After all, horror is meant to scare…
And it's not like she's never read about kids getting killled...
She read the HUNGER GAMES trilogy...
Or, am I a stooper...the lowest of the low?
And...
Have any suggestions of a genre...
That's better than dark religious fiction?

Always, Em-Musing

9 comments:

Sarah said...

I'm no genre expert, but it sounds like Harriet might not be the intended audience for your ms. Am I wrong about that? "Religious fiction" does make me *think* it might be the right audience for her, though ... good luck figuring that one out!

Anne Gallagher said...

Poor Harriet. Yeah, dark religious fiction is different, but if it does have horror elements, I would say you have to say that somewhere.

dark graphic ritualistic fiction with religious themes

how's that?

Lydia Kang said...

To each his own. It doesn't reflect on your book, but that some books don't mesh with some readers.
I'm sure you'll find a more receptive reader soon!

alice said...

Hmm. I'm not sure what genre that is, but it sounds interesting.

Cassie Mae said...

This sounds like a book I want to read, but I should probably not read it late at night cuz I'm a wimp, lol. :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I think it's a good sign. And don't feel bad - she asked for it!

M Pax said...

I think it's a good sign, too. She's just not the right audience for that one. Poor, Harriett.

Unknown said...

One thing for sure, Leigh, your writing must have been very powerful! Better get her another story fast.

Jennifer Hillier said...

Dark religious fiction is the scariest kind! Sounds right up my alley :)