-
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh ©1961
All my life since I was in third grade, all I wanted to do was to be a ‘writer’. At age 9, I would sit and make ‘books’ for my mom out of notebook paper, construction paper, and write my stories on the pages, cutting up magazine pictures for the illustrations.
As time went on, and I became a teenager, my interests turned to poetry. Teenage years of angst written out in emo poems, but some of them deeper than a girl of 12 or 13 should write. Poems about depression, suicide, war, fear, loneliness and even the beginnings of wondering of sexual curiosities.
My teachers began noticing my ‘art’ with words, and my winning of a National poetry competition for a religious poem/prayer to God, called “God Please Lend an Ear” got me more recognition than I could imagine. At age 14/15 to have my poem published in a National anthology and receive award after award was very thrilling to me. Soon it was short stories published in a local anthology for students and my dreams expanded. I decided my goal would be to write a novel.
For the next few years through high school and college I began the research to my story, and began in college to write the story down in five subject notebooks. My first Novel: Reckless, had about four rewrites by hand when it was first conceived, Filling a dozen five subject notebooks, which I still have. The characters changed, even some of the character names changed, events changed and plot thickened and developed, as I matured as a young adult and as an author. Then in 1997 I got a computer finally and began putting all that hand written stuff onto digital paper, where it blossomed over time into the final draft which I began to submit to publishers in 1999. Rejected three times in a year, I gave up for a while and then in 2003, decided to try it again, and submitted my entire manuscript to Publish America, and it was accepted. I was finally published, even without an agent, though I’d learn later why I should have had one…. but I had achieved a goal.
Unfortunately for me I was naive and didn’t get an agent to help me with marketing and promotion, and the publisher that accepted me while paying royalties does nothing for you for promotion beyond giving you a website to promote your book(s). Now sequel is nearly finished, but I’m hoping to get an agent this go round, and republish the first novel, perhaps in Hardcover, as well as get the second one published, since I was also able to get my current publisher to release their exclusivity on my novel to me in writing in an addendum to my original contract.
Fortunately for me I have had good feedback and many good reviews on the first novel, but now I have No clue where or how to even go about getting hooked up with a legitimate agent that I don’t have to pay. Any agent worth their salt doesn’t collect a dime til YOU do. Plus I don’t want to go with PublishAmerica again, as they are a print per demand publisher, and places like Wal Mart, Target, and Waldenbooks won’t carry their stuff. Barnes and Noble will order in my novel, but the only real place to get it besides the publisher’s site is via Amazon.com
Anyways, since publishing I’ve always had an interest in going beyond that into essays, editorials, and just writing for public ‘consumption’ as it were. I’d love to one day have a syndicated column where my editorials could be published. I have in the past had some book reviews and movie reviews published. I’ve ventured into the realm of Erotica and had a lot of that published online at one time. I have many ideas for new novels written down, even started, or outlined. I have a whole gob of poetry no one has ever even SEEN.
I am one that isn’t able to cope with life without Writing. Writing to me is my way to vent, relax, express, my mind, my soul, my heart, and more. This is no surprise to me then that I took right to blogging. I love blogging. I love reading other people’s blogs. It’s publication in the easiest way, perhaps too easy because nowadays every man, woman, child and even a few dogs out there have a blog.
So now I am running with it a bit further. I’m going to publish this blog, in hopes that someday it becomes more. It’s going to be a blog were you’ll find essays, editorials, sometimes fact, sometimes fiction stuff also. The title of it is my own, thought up by me, and is also registered to Crys, my partner, for me as a domain name, all my own to do what I will…. to let my thoughts wander where they will.
And I hope that you’ll visit, become a regular, add it to your RSS feed… help me get it noticed, and who knows maybe even syndicated someday.
