Rejection with Mickey J Corrigan, X-Treme Measures #Giveaway

This week's Mickey J Corrigan talks about Rejection and her latest release, X-Treme Measures!

Originally from Boston, Mickey J. Corrigan lives and writes and gets into trouble in South Florida, where the men run guns and the women run after them. The tropics provide a lush, steamy setting for hot Florida pulp. Books include the edgy novellas in The Hard Stuff series from the Wild Rose Press (Whiskey Sour Noir, Vodka Warrior, Tequila Dirty, and RealLife Rum); the spoofy Geekus Interruptus and F*ck Normal from Australia's Bottom Drawer Publications; and the thriller Sugar Babies from Champagne Books. Her urban crime novel, Songs of the Maniacs, was released by Salt Publications in the UK.

Visit at:

www.mickeyjcorrigan.com

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5828647.Mickey_J_Corrigan

http://mickeyjcorrigan.tumblr.com/

You Gotta Love Rejection

by

 Mickey J. Corrigan

My new book came out on September 18^th, and I've been thinking about how much rejection it has already faced. And how much more it will have to face. Not me, the book. What I mean is this. First I rejected it. Then publishers. Editors. Now readers.

Let me explain.

The idea for the book started as a joke. What if women could get rid of their cheating spouses… forever? Ha ha.

But that got me thinking. Love could be so hurtful, sometimes you need to turn it into a punch line. What if I created a story that would appeal to women who were going thorough or had recently been through a messy divorce? Could I make them smile? Or even laugh out loud? What about tapping into their frustration and anger, allowing an outlet for their disappointment and rage? That's how I came up with the idea for a hitwoman who knocks off cheating spouses. One who couldn't get over her own failed marriage.

But then I rejected it. Such a dumb idea. Nobody would read it, and men would find it especially insulting. So I was the one who gave my book its first rejection.

I did, however, write 1500 words to bring it to my writers' group. Just to see their reaction. The women all loved it. No rejections there. But so did the guys. Surprise, surprise. One man in particular was very excited by the idea and told me repeatedly I had to write the book. Sent me emails, reiterating his enthusiasm.

Okay, already, maybe my rejection had been hasty. His words stayed with me as I wrote the first draft. But in writing and editing the manuscript, I rejected many sections. Too this, too that. I rewrote them, or took them out entirely. By the time I was done, the story was too long for a novella, but just barely novel length. I had rejected so much of the text.

Without much expectation, I sent the manuscript to my literary agent. But she didn't reject it, she loved it. However, she rejected the title. So we changed it to Ex-Treme Measures, and she sent it out to a long list of publishers.

And they rejected it.

A year later, I tried submitting it myself to a noir publisher. This is what they said: a book really has to stand out as a perfect fit for us in order for us to go for it, and I’m afraid this one does not.

Ouch.

I considered hiring a hitwoman. Instead, I submitted the manuscript to Diana Carlile, my amazing and talented editor at The Wild Rose Press.

She questioned some of it. Parts were wrong, or confusing and in need of revamping. More rejections. Together we rejected several cover designs. Argued about the hyphen in the title.

Rejected, then kept it.

Now the book is out. And I know what's coming. Some people will love it, other readers will reject it. Too satirical. Too feminist. Not feminist enough. Not funny. Not believable. Not enough romance. Too much fantasy. Too realistic.

Hopefully, my divorced friends will enjoy it. Although some have found new love and may be too busy to read it. But now that I think about it, this could be the best reason of all for a book to be rejected. Right?

 X-Treme Measures

Vanna Treme runs a domestic investigations agency in downscale Deport Beach, Florida. She spies on cheating spouses while struggling to recover from her own imploded marriage. Vanna's unique PI firm also offers Ex-Treme Measures, special services designed to get rid of the marital problem.

Forever. Ringo, Vanna's trusted assistant, a hunky ex-cop, is worried. Their clients are lying to them, local competition is moving in, and everyone in South Florida is crazy or untrustworthy—or both.

But Vanna refuses to listen. She heads for the superficial glitter of Palm Beach, where the hits just keep on coming her way. Ex-Treme Measures combines humor, action, and evolutionary biology to investigate some of our culture's most pressing mysteries, including why men act like men, and why the hell women put up with it.

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