This is the beginning of my adventure. I am embarking on a journey which technically started over three years ago when I first completed a novel manuscript. My manuscript was then called, ‘The Genius of Flight’.
Well, some three years on, I’ve now published ‘Transcending Love’, which is ‘The Genius of Flight’ in a more perfected form.
I have had a love-hate relationship with my book. I loved the writing, and in fact the revising and formatting to degrees, but I hated the cover creation and editing process.
The editing process is painful because it’s the first bout of criticism which you receive along the road to becoming a successful author. You’ve written what you think is a killer story, that everyone is going to want to read, and the movie producers are going to want to sign the rights to, and suddenly your editor and beta readers throw you a curveball. Your grammar is AWOL, literally. You have misused words and used the wrong version of a word. Your manuscript when it’s returned to you looks like something that even the most relaxed student would be embarrassed to receive. Red pen and tracking changes create a unique piece of art across what was once your pride and joy. You feel small, a tad thick and totally deflated. The idea of being signed by a publisher flutters out of the window.
This is my story and yet I am here, now published and in fact very proud of my achievement.
I swallowed my pride, acknowledged the error of my ways in effect, and ploughed on. It was tough and doubt was ever-present in my mind, but with the support of my family, I finally feel that I have produced the story I always intended to, just better.
My debut novel, Transcending Love, would fit into the contemporary popular women’s fiction genre. It’s written in the first person present tense and has two points of view characters. I will talk more about why I chose this tense in a future blog, but for me, the story is the character’s story and therefore I wanted them to tell it.
Transcending Love is a love story with a wee paranormal/metaphysical twist. Give it a go, and allow your subconscious dreams to take you on a ride!
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