Was It As Good For You As It Was For Me?

A year in review? Not much to review in 2011, as far as my life goes. Two major happenings: After living in North Carolina for ten years I moved back to Ohio, AND I signed a contract with a publisher for my novel, Televenge.

I feel as though I lived with a paintbrush in my hand the first five months of this year. We partially renovated the old farmhouse we’re now in (and still loving every minute of it.) The last seven months were spent on the final drafts of my book. It’s a big book, so there has been a tremendous amount of editing to do. I was hopeful for my novel, The Sanctum, but it was just not the right time for it. It's a story whose time is yet to come. And it will, I have no doubt.

But it's interesting to see how things unfold. I secured a well-known literary agent in 2010, and that in itself gave me a whole boatload of validity. Although he could not work his magic for The Sanctum, it did not stop the right publisher to come knocking on my door for Televenge.

Looking back at previous January posts, they're almost depressing. I suppose because--they were. The last three years were tough years to wade through. This year feels different.

In between all the moving and working on my book, we celebrated birthdays (my granddaughter’s first) and holidays with family, hot summer months, a gorgeous autumn, and finally here we are—about to enter the coldest months of winter. 2011 came and went by quickly.

Unfortunately, it looks as though 2012 will sail by even quicker.

Michael is looking at eye surgery soon (cataracts) and I’m up to my nose hairs in preparation for a sizable publicity blitz. I need to exercise more, eat better, and stop sitting at my computer sixteen hours a day. God, how do I break that habit? I’m thinking about getting a little dog this year. Nothing big or hard to handle, just a little non-shedding, housebroken dog that will force me out of the house every day. To walk! I think I need the distraction.

I’m still trying to figure out the social media onslaught of information that I feel so inept about. I need a faster computer. The list of needs still outweigh the wants. But Michael is working every day and that’s positive. I have to say, 2011 was much better than the three years before it. I’m looking for the new year to jump leaps and bounds over them all. My optimistic self still believes in the good of mankind, the healing of the economy, and in a God who has our best interest at heart. Well, let’s hope so, anyway.

Happy 2012 to you and yours, and may you see the fruits of your labors unfold into many, many good blessings this new year!

Happy New Year!

One Writer's Publishing Dream Has Come True, Baby!

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, I can tell you I’ve been slaving at my computer, going over and over and over again the final edits of my novel, Televenge. After seven years, the story has been through its final rewrite. I’ve polished the last of it.

Ninety days ago, I felt an urging in my spirit to finish this book. What I thought was done, simply was not. It was as if the sky opened up and showed me every trespass, every omission, every place I overwrote, every misplaced comma, and every undotted i and uncrossed t. I’ve worked, literally non-stop for weeks and weeks, and now I know why.

Satya House Publications came calling with an offer I could not refuse. I have signed on the dotted line. Televenge will be released in October of 2012. My first novel. I cannot express my overwhelming sense of peace and pride in this endeavor. So many good folk have come together to make this possible. Since 2004, I have worked on this story nearly every day, even when I was working on The Sanctum, I spent a little time each week on Televenge.

It started way back in the late 80s. That's when I formed the outline in my mind. But I never put pen to paper until the late 90s, writing only bits and pieces. Finally, in 2004, I wrote the first draft. Since then, I’m not really sure how many drafts it’s been through. Over a dozen I can assure you. I’ve blogged about it many, many times throughout the years, thinking I was close to publication when I wasn't. And I've talked about Televenge at nearly every speaking engagement where I’ve been booked, having had more than one member of the audience ask to purchase even the manuscript.

When Southern Fried Women was published back in 2006, three of the stories were off-shoots of Televenge. Stories created from minor characters or chapters taken out of earlier drafts. SFW was put together to create a platform for Televenge. A launching pad, if you will, and it’s done marvelously well. I suppose I'm simply amazed at how far we've all come. All of us who have worked to see this dream come true.

Between now and next October, there are ten months to prepare once it has passed through the editors hands at Satya House. My publisher is pulling out all the stops. She's gone "whole hog," as my daddy used to say. But anyway you say it, our plans are taking shape. We have to play with the big boys on this one, but I’m looking forward to it. Despite the odds and the condition of the publishing industry, I anticipate good things. Very good things.

What was once just a dream, Televenge, one woman’s journey through the dark side of televangelism, is now a reality.

Blessings to you and yours this holiday season.

The Magic Of This Writer's Christmas

It's the holiday season, but my mind is elsewhere. I'm hoping I can get away with the minimum amount of holiday hoopla this year. At least my tree is up, and my manger scene is sitting on my dining room table. Maybe I'll find time to bake a batch of cookies, wrap a few gifts, send a few cards. Maybe.

If you're a writer, quite possibly you know what I'm talking about when I say that I have a looming deadline. A deadline extended one full week. With great intensity I'm working around the clock to not only finish the story, but to put every ounce of magic I can into it. A story I've been working on for over a decade. Believe me, if I had a bag of pixie dust, I'd be shaking it into my computer right about now.

My hope is that this time next year, the book will lay in your lap as your hands turn each page, forgetting the time and the place where you sit. That your heart and mind will be completely taken over by characters who will live with you the rest of your life. Quite a tall order, I know. A magical one.

So forgive me for sparse blogging. Deadlines eat up great chunks of a writer's time and force us to put life on hold. But know this, wonderful things lay at the end of it.

Blessings to you and yours.