Book Update

Sometimes when I’m doing routine chores, introspective, witty thoughts pop into my head and I immediately want to write them down but as soon as I have the time to sit at a blank laptop screen my brain all of a sudden goes blank too. All the super intelligent insights I’d had are totally gone- well, to be fair, they probably weren’t that intelligent in the first place… sort of like when you get really drunk at the club and you make a SPECTACULAR dance move but the next day you realize ohhhhhhh nooooooo you were actually Gumby, not J. Lo. In the same way, my brain thinks its Hemingway in the shower and when I crack open the laptop my brain goes all Hodor.

I digress.

What I really wanted to talk about during this blog is where my book, “Faithful Lies,” is at in the publishing process. As a new (and neurotic) writer, I’ve not exactly followed the protocol of bestselling authors.

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Publishing Experts: Romance novels are between 50,000 – 80,000 words.

Me last year: writes 187,000 words without an ending.

Publishing Experts: Make sure you hit all your deadlines, even self-imposed ones.

Me: misses first deadline. misses second deadline. hits third deadline but had to cancel a planned vacation to do so.

Publishing Experts: October through December is the busiest time for our industry because authors, editors and publishers are in a crunch to get books online and on shelves for the Christmas shopping season.

Me: turns part of manuscript in two days before October.

My Editor in January: “I’m almost finished; will have edits ready this weekend.”

Me: “You know how we were going to split my book into two books since it was so long? I can’t shake this gut feeling that it’s supposed to be one book. But If you tell me no, I’ll understand.”

My Editor: I agree. Send me the entire original 187,000 script.

Me: weeping in gratitude, my little writer’s soul bursting with happiness despite the fact this has now pushed publication back.

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I only get one shot at my first book. No matter what happens with it- whether it sells or doesn’t sell, whether it gets glowing, fabulous reviews or gets demoralized and shredded by online trolls- “Faithful Lies” is my First Born, conceived in love and penned into life with the proverbial ink of my hopes and dreams. My novel wants to be presented to the world whole, just as I had envisioned her: vulnerable and filled with fun and humor and passion and poignancy… multiple characters birthed into existence while my imagination wrote their storylines… settings and scenes and drama and angst, heartbreak and dogs and the aroma of wonderful food… open door sex that’s romantic, not graphic, ocean breezes, desert winds, true love, bad love, the bond between friends, old family secrets… it’s all there… it’s all there in my big fat juicy novel.

And I can’t wait for you guys to read it.

10 comments:

I believe Pablo Picasso once said, “learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist”. You are an artist of words and story. Your masterpiece is the firstborn you just spoke of. I’m excited for you! Thanks for this fun, insightful update. Wishing you the best. ♡♡

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