I just finished reading a book that’s in the same genre as mine, the MC had the same name as mine, and there were some of the same (weird) nuances about her character as mine. The story itself was completely different, but I couldn’t get past these glaring similarities. Which makes me think that some of the agents I’ve been sending my book to can’t see past them either.
I swear I didn’t copy.
How weird is it though that we can all live in our own happy little universes and write books that we think are completely unique and BAM there’s someone out there who does what you do, only they’re published and you’re not. (YET. I’m not published YET.) It was a good book in the end (I read the whole thing today) and I always love finding good new books to read. But it was a little disconcerting to say the least.
In other news my BFF just finished reading my MS and, bless her heart, she read it in 3 days. She doesn’t even like fantasy books. She said she was hesitant to get started, because she knew fantasy wasn’t her thing, and she was afraid to talk to me if she didn’t like it. But she said that once she got into it, she had to keep going. She read it on the sly at work, and spent father’s day with my MS in her hand.
That makes me happy (her husband, probably not so much). So I’m reinvigorated. I know this story is worth telling. I just have to condense it and clean it up.
And after reading all day, my eyes are going a little fuzzy. So now to pop the acetaminophen, grab some water and get editing.
So maybe one day, an agent will say yes!
I'm reading a book that has some similar aspects to my WIP as well. A few tweaks will fix that, though. Still a little unnerving.
ReplyDeleteBTW, we were the 45th follower on each others blog. Funny!
Oh, dear, I know how you feel. I've run across books that have similarities to ones I've written and have/am going to publish, and it's disheartening to say the least. Just do what you love, though. I mean, if you had never read that book, you'd keep going and who knows what would happen! Sometimes it's good that there are similarities, especially if that other book is doing great. Not everybody reads the same stuff, and more than likely, not many people are going to notice small things that are the same. :)
ReplyDeleteI too know how you feel. When I get an idea for a painting or project I avoid Etsy until I at least get a sketch down so that I'm clear on what I want to do because no matter how unique I think my idea is I know that someone else already has their own take on it! Someone once said that there are no new ideas and I think they are right (just better ones!)
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