How do you decide what to write?

I've heard "write what you know" many times. But what do I really know about Vampires and Demons? About Time Travelers? Honestly, I only know what I've read from other authors.

Let's take Vampires. I am a total fangirl of them and will read almost every book, see every movie and give every TV series a try. I got the idea to write one but really needed to make mine unique. So I took my favorite Vampire books (Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series, Kerrilyn Sparks Love at Stake series, Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark, Lynsay Sands Argenaux series, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Chelesa Quinn Yarbro's St. Germain series) and made a list of the advantages and disadvantages of each. I looked through that list and decided what made sense to me. Then jumbled them all up, put my own twist on them and wrote The Envoy (Available now from Lyrical Press).

Ghost? Well there's more freedom there because there are so many types of Ghost. I watched Ghost Hunters one day they had a marathon. This lovely paranormal researcher and a sexy ghost started taking shape in my head. From that came Ghostly Passions (releasing June 1, 2011 from MuseitHot Publishinhg)

And then I took on Death. While most books whoever is Death is male. But one author, W. Somerset Maugham, wrote a short story "Appointmentin Samarra" in which Death was a beautiful woman. It stuck with me. So I start thinking after rereading Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. Oh I didn't want to try to touch that one but the idea of the different incarnations having a physical presence? Oh yeah, I liked that idea. Which led to my current WIP! I'm still not sure of the title but the two in the running are My Lady Death and Death and the Detective. In which I also mix in my love of Romantic Suspense novels. I just need to finish it.

So if you want to write - then write. The ideas are all around let your brain mix the ideas around and you'll be surprised what comes.

Why do some publishers do that?

No parties will be named so.

Two publishers have received request for return of rights back and handled it in a very unprofessional manner... They have so far, to my knowledge, ignored them. Why?

I mean honestly. If an author isn't happy at a publisher and request rights back, why keep them? All it does is cause even more animosity in the author. That animosity grows and the next thing you know lawyers are involved, the court system and even the Romance Writers of America (RWA). Not to mention the behind the site bad mouthing that goes on in private emails.

Why not just give them their rights back and let them go on their way? These two publishers have had blog after blog hashing out all the sorted details. To the point in some cases where READERS won't purchase from that company in solitarity with the authors. Now the publishers look bad, the authors that are happy are being hurt and in a few cases chastising those that want to leave.

If an author wants to leave - why keep them? It may be for no reason other than the author has a personality clash with someone, or wants to rework a book to make it better. But they are ignored. Then they get angry. When all it would take is a few clicks of the mouse to delete the books from other vendors and their own website, signing a release of rights, dating it and emailing it to the author - all could be done, I'd guess, in a few hours at most a week with epublishers. Print books probably longer.

One publisher stated, when asked, that they have to go to court about the right revisions. Why? Did they go before a judge when the signed a contract? If they did - okay but if not why do they need to do that now? Why change from 90 DAYS to 90 BUSINESS DAYS? Why are they keeping unhappy authors? In my state we have a right to work program - meaning you can leave your job for any reason you want including "I just don't want to work their any more."

I understand contracts - but if you (publisher) gives a termination clause then live by it. Right?