Original Post Jan. 6, 2012
A year ago I was still hoping that someday I would be published, yet this week I signed the contract for my second manuscript, The Scars Between Us. Let me stress once more that this is NOT the sequel to Tears of Betrayal. The Scars Between Us, stands on its own merit.
When we lived in New England, after having been swindled by a editor, who I trust karma will catch up with, I was frustrated at the fact that I was no closer to having my manuscript published. I started reading everything I could find on getting published.
One such book was an anthology from published authors who told of their tales. More than one of them stated that while they did not have any luck on their first manuscript, they were able to get their second or third manuscript published. Well that sounded easy enough, all I had to do was write another book. I mean I had written one, how hard could it be to write another? In case you have not figured it out by now that pretty much sums up my personality, I get an idea and I run with it. Jump into the deep end of the pool, sink or swim kind of mentality. Okay I had better get back on tract here or my editor will send me a e-mail about the excessive use of clichés. Not that she edits my blog mind you. No, I am afraid I am on my own for that.
So now that I had decided to write another book I had to figure out what to write about. My first thought was to finish a drama that I had started a few years back. I started to work on that but soon found my mind drifting. I would walk the River Bend Cemetery, which was close to our condo in Westerly RI, and my mind would take off. One day while walking I got the inspiration to write a story based on a poem I had written nearly twenty years ago. So it began that the story, then titled Somewhere in my Dreams, came to life. I would carry a small tape recorder with me and the story would just flow every time I set foot in the cemetery, which is fitting beings a good deal of the story takes place in that same cemetery.
A part of me was afraid to attempt to write a second manuscript. I was not sure if I could give the characters their own voice or if they would sound like the same characters from the first book. I mean I didn’t even know I could write a novel until I wrote the first one, was I so pompous that I actually thought I could do it again. Yet, there I was taking the plunge.
As it was, I found that just like my first manuscript, the story wrote itself. It leapt onto the pages over a span of three months, demanding to be heard, waking me up in the wee hours of the night until it told me it was finished. That was late summer 2010 and now in just a few short weeks it will be in print, under the new title The Scars Between Us, for all to read. Only instead of being my first book it will rightly take its place beside its predecessor, Tears Of Betrayal. Even though I wrote this one to take the lead I could not follow through with that intention. Tears, as it is affectionately referred, was my first. My baby, and as any parent knows you just can’t give up on your baby.
It amazes me how one’s life can change in such a short time. Just five short months ago I was hoping to get published, someday. And yet here I am, on the verge of seeing my second manuscript released. I have signed a contract for a traditional book deal with Koehler Books. I have made the transition from writer to author. My “day job” consist of writing, researching, networking, promoting, and numerous other things that are now required of me. I am very happy and I’m doing “work” I truly love! Sometimes life turns out better than imagined…
A year ago I was still hoping that someday I would be published, yet this week I signed the contract for my second manuscript, The Scars Between Us. Let me stress once more that this is NOT the sequel to Tears of Betrayal. The Scars Between Us, stands on its own merit.
When we lived in New England, after having been swindled by a editor, who I trust karma will catch up with, I was frustrated at the fact that I was no closer to having my manuscript published. I started reading everything I could find on getting published.
One such book was an anthology from published authors who told of their tales. More than one of them stated that while they did not have any luck on their first manuscript, they were able to get their second or third manuscript published. Well that sounded easy enough, all I had to do was write another book. I mean I had written one, how hard could it be to write another? In case you have not figured it out by now that pretty much sums up my personality, I get an idea and I run with it. Jump into the deep end of the pool, sink or swim kind of mentality. Okay I had better get back on tract here or my editor will send me a e-mail about the excessive use of clichés. Not that she edits my blog mind you. No, I am afraid I am on my own for that.
So now that I had decided to write another book I had to figure out what to write about. My first thought was to finish a drama that I had started a few years back. I started to work on that but soon found my mind drifting. I would walk the River Bend Cemetery, which was close to our condo in Westerly RI, and my mind would take off. One day while walking I got the inspiration to write a story based on a poem I had written nearly twenty years ago. So it began that the story, then titled Somewhere in my Dreams, came to life. I would carry a small tape recorder with me and the story would just flow every time I set foot in the cemetery, which is fitting beings a good deal of the story takes place in that same cemetery.
A part of me was afraid to attempt to write a second manuscript. I was not sure if I could give the characters their own voice or if they would sound like the same characters from the first book. I mean I didn’t even know I could write a novel until I wrote the first one, was I so pompous that I actually thought I could do it again. Yet, there I was taking the plunge.
As it was, I found that just like my first manuscript, the story wrote itself. It leapt onto the pages over a span of three months, demanding to be heard, waking me up in the wee hours of the night until it told me it was finished. That was late summer 2010 and now in just a few short weeks it will be in print, under the new title The Scars Between Us, for all to read. Only instead of being my first book it will rightly take its place beside its predecessor, Tears Of Betrayal. Even though I wrote this one to take the lead I could not follow through with that intention. Tears, as it is affectionately referred, was my first. My baby, and as any parent knows you just can’t give up on your baby.
It amazes me how one’s life can change in such a short time. Just five short months ago I was hoping to get published, someday. And yet here I am, on the verge of seeing my second manuscript released. I have signed a contract for a traditional book deal with Koehler Books. I have made the transition from writer to author. My “day job” consist of writing, researching, networking, promoting, and numerous other things that are now required of me. I am very happy and I’m doing “work” I truly love! Sometimes life turns out better than imagined…