Hi, ya’ll! Just wanted to fill you in a little on my writing journey. This is the story about my path to publication. I suffered writer’s angst in spades!
Angst: a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one
about the human condition or the state of the world in general. In my case, it
was the state of my mind in general. lol
Although
I’d always written short stories and poems from grade school on, it wasn’t
until I’d had my left thumb amputated that I considered writing a novel. You
see, after it healed, I had to get the flexibility back in that hand and was
soon bored with typing tests and the like. So, I started writing in earnest,
not having any idea if I could write an entire novel or where it would end up. I
finished writing my first novel of romance, Love on the Rocks, in March,
2009. Four weeks later, I had it tweaked and polished to the best of my
ability and began the submission process. All told, I wrote four novels
and a novella in 2009. I also started two other novels and wrote a
selection of shorts to enter for challenges and so on.
Rave
reviews were received on a regular basis as friends, family and acquaintances
read my work, but I could not garner the attention of an editor.
In
November, 2009, I joined my first NaNoWriMo, easily producing and editing
(although I wasn’t supposed to, as I found out later) 100,684 words on three
separate novels during that one month. I loved being immersed in my characters,
having the words flow freely and enjoying the sense of accomplishment. Yes! I
was finally living my dream of writing full-time.
One of the
novels I wrote that November was Zakia & the Cowboy, a romantic
suspense…the first in my Thunder Creek Ranch series. I thought
of it as my best work to date and was really proud of it…until I received a
form R for my efforts. Still, I thought it needed a home so I entered it in a
couple of contests. Nada! Zip! Nothing!
Putting on
a pity party is not my style and so it was that I started researching
epublishers. I sent eight submissions in 3 days, Feb 25th, 26th and 27th.
In March,
2010, almost a full year after I wrote my first romance I realized
all the form R’s I’d received had not prepared me for the angst I’d suffer when
an editor actually took an interest in one of my manuscripts.
My first
two requests for full manuscripts came in on February 28th, 2010. That’s
right…after ten months of submitting manuscripts and receiving rejections
my very first request was followed almost immediately by a second that same
day. Shortly after that, I got a request for a partial from another
editor. All for the same book!
At that
time, I had no idea if any of those would lead to a sale but I kept my fingers
crossed. In the meantime, butterflies had taken wing in my belly and sleep
was difficult to come by. Concentration on writing and other tasks had
taken a back seat to checking my emails and worrying if my writing was clear
enough. Is my voice one they’ll enjoy? Are my
characters/conflict strong enough? Too strong?
The
writing life is certainly a tough one and a continual learning
experience. I’ve learned so much from other authors, published and
non-published, as well as workshops on eHarlequin and by writing
almost non-stop. I now have over 30 titles available on Amazon and elsewhere.
I don’t
know if any of this has helped anyone, but it feels good to be sharing with
you. Please take a moment or two to share your comments and experiences
so we can learn from each other.
Until next
time, Lorraine Nelson
You can find information on my books in the following places:
http://www.lorrainenelson.weebly.com
http://www.lorrainenelson.wordpress.com
http://www.facebook.com/LorraineNelson.Author
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5254629.Lorraine_Nelson
1 comment:
Hi Lorraine: I think we all feel that knot in the pit of our stomach when we send our 'babies' out to publishers and editors. I know I did, and my 1st book was exactly as you described with editing anxiety almost as worse as the submission process. I had to rewrite many scenes, because there were too many POV's, but once I did, I have to say, my publisher at that time was right. The story came out soooo much better. Now, I stay with 2 POV's; the hero and heroine. Thanks for sharing your journey.
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