What a year this has been! 2010 was my first full year with a novel out in paperback. After numerous book signings, author appearances, book club meetings, and three trips out of state to promote the book, things are moving forward with Radium Halos.

The romantic comedy, Celebrities for Breakfast continues to find new readers, and may soon also be available in paperback. With two foreign entities (Turkey and Korea) interested in both novels, anything can happen!

Something new for 2011: My first newsworthy honor of the year:

Radium Halos was selected as the #2 Top Drama pick for Red Adept’s Kindle Reviews Annual Indie Awards 2010 http://redadeptreviews.com/?p=4127 (Scroll down).

Nice to wake up to this recognition first thing on January 1!

Also, I decided last week I would enter one of my previous, unpublished novels in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. I pulled out and dusted off a novel I hadn’t read in a long time, and discovered with a little work, it could be a contender. Sadly, once I got a little deeper into the editing, it became clear I would never make the contest deadline. So, be looking for my entry next year for the ABNA!

Wishing everyone a joyous, happy, and healthy new year!

One of the places where you can purchase my ebooks is Smashwords.com. Here is more information about them:

Join the Spread the Word About Smashwords Campaign > —————————————— > > Over 50 Smashwords authors are participating in the “Spread the Word > about Smashwords” Campaign.

My third attempt at a novel was my most ambitious project to date: a sweeping novel with four main characters, (all male), which took place in the 1950s in a small town in Virginia. The title: Born Leaders.

As with the other two novels, I sent off the query letters and sample chapters, but to no avail. My query/response spreadsheet was beginning to look like a report from a ten-year government study.

During this time, I wrote a short story which was beginning to show some promise. I worked on it for months, with critique groups and revised it several times. When it was as polished as I could get it, I sent it into our local Charlotte Writer’s Club contest, (The Elizabeth Simpson Smith Award), and it won first place– $500.00.

The award was more than just a local contest, (I was told), but a coveted prize each time it is offered. I attended a dinner in my honor, (along with the second and third place honorees), and accepted my award later at the monthly meeting. Although this seemed like a great honor at the time, I discovered later that agents are only interested if you win a national award. Still, I was proud of my accomplishment, and was also pleased to discover the short story would be published in the Writer’s Club anthology.

Next blog post, I will explore my fourth attempt, (a young adult novel), loosely based on events from my own teen years.

So, my first novel attempt– my pride and joy, which I’d spent months writing, editing, polishing, and pitching (to agents) fell flatter than a pancake. No go. So what do you do? You scoop yourself up and try again.

The story idea for my second novel came to me first, before the characters. They developed from the story. As with the first novel, I wrote, revised, enlisted the help of test readers, and began sending query letters to agents. This time, more of them asked for the complete manuscript rather than just sample chapters. I thought, “wow, I must be a great writer.” I printed off the copies and stuffed them into huge envelopes. The agents took their time to describe the degree to which they were not entertained. Nevertheless, as with the first, I received feedback prompting me to improve, change, revise, and enhance what I’d written. Somewhere in this process, I found my voice. My true writerly self was beginning to emerge.

With all these agents rejecting me, I decided I needed a spreadsheet to keep it all straight. I sent a query letter on X date, and received a rejection on X date. The full manuscript was mailed on X date, and the agent asked for revisions on X date, and so on.

Soon, it was clear this second novel was to be enjoyed by family and friends only, but no worries– I had an idea for yet another novel! This one was based on a childhood memory– I dropped something out of our car window when I was six years old, and watched it tumble end over end into the traffic behind us.

Next up, more rejection, but a bit of local notoriety.

As promised, I wanted to describe my “road to publication” in a series of blog entries. This will be the first in that series.

In 2002, I began writing short stories. Most of them were amateurish at best, but a few of them showed promise. I submitted them to local contests– (the first one I ever submitted to the Charlotte Writer’s Club won honorable mention). I was excited, but I wanted more. Also, I wanted to know more. How do you get published? How do you get a literary agent? How can I improve as a writer?

Over time, I found the answers to my questions. I studied, participated in writing critique groups, wrote more, and read books in several genres. Soon, I had one particular short story which my writer friends suggested I flesh out into a full novel. I worked on it for several months, and began submitting it to literary agents, who were kind enough to give me suggestions for improvement. I spent several more months revising the manuscript, sent it to new agents, and received more rejections than I care to admit, but I learned a great deal in the process. One important lesson learned, was that I should begin writing the next novel– take what I’d learned from the first one and create something new. Move on.

Next post: What happened to novel number two…