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Guest post: Janet King, aspiring author
This is one of a series of guest posts, which will allow published and aspiring authors to talk about their work. I met Janet through Twitter.
We support each other on our journey.
Q: Janet, what is the working title of your book?
A: The Soul Difference.
Q: Where did the idea come from for the book?
A: I was once made to feel so bad by an appraisal at work, that I literally felt my life was turning upside down and that there was no way through it. I’d worked for a very long time for the same company. Working hard and long hours. Over the years, the workload took its toll on my health and I couldn’t cope any more. Behind the scenes, it felt like there was a conspiracy going on, plotting against me. The angst just grew and grew. I sought the help of a spiritual intuitive, and from that day forward, I was slowly, on the way back to finding my soul and my health.
Q: What genre does your book fall under?
A: Spirituality and enlightenment. I have travelled a long journey since those ‘black’ days. There is light now within my life.
Q: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
A: Julia Roberts without a doubt! Think “ Eat, Love PRAY” ~ GOD dwells within.
Q: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A: Love your life.
Q: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
A: I believe in me and will take the necessary steps to publish in any guise.
Q: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
A: In all honesty, the draft took minutes. It was like time standing still. Thoughts, the questions and answers abound though. I’m filling in all the spaces constantly.
Q: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
A: “You can heal your life” Louise L. Hay and “A little light on the Spiritual Laws” by Diana Cooper
Q: Who or What inspired you to write this book?
A: My own progress through adversity and the love of God.
Q: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
A: I hope to offer encouragement to believe in yourself and the higher good. The Universe really does deliver. You just have to believe to receive; live in the NOW, act and live your life in pure intent and kindness. What you give, so shall you receive, in wondrous guises you never thought possible before. I trust in my every day, that it will be wondrous and become abundant in many ways. I am truly blessed and will be guided to live it for the higher good.
Read Janet’s blog here:
http://www.writtenfromtheheart.com/
Thanks Janet!
From A to P – F – Frantic Editing
This post was posted in September 2011.
In July 2011 I put up a post here on editing my novel, The Istanbul Puzzle. I had spent six weeks doing a thorough edit based on suggestions from my publisher Harper Collins. I submitted my heavily edited version soon after and hoped that that would be it, bar a final check for minor problems.
I was wrong.
A few weeks later the manuscript came back. Another editor at Harper Collins had gone through it and had a number of general issues for me to consider, as well as cuts and suggestions for every page. At first I wondered was this unusual, was my manuscript in need of extra help because it was so poorly written. The monster of self-doubt doesn’t need much encouragement to come trampling across the garden!
So, I called a long published author friend, with a dozen novels under his belt. He told me what was happening was more common that not these days and was called a “second pass” edit. Slowly I learn the truth.
And the thought that came to me as I scanned through all the suggestions was this; don’t ever get involved in trying to get published with a major house if you don’t want to work hard. Very hard. Like seven days a week 3 – 4 hours a day until your brain hurts and your patience frays atomically thin.
But I’ve survived. And it’s over. I submitted the revised version yesterday. And I have to say that the suggestions from HC were really very good. A much better novel is emerging. The changes are in the following areas:
- cuts for pace, there were many of these and every rambling paragraph or word has been spotted by HC,
- cuts in myths and legends. I had packed in too many. The new version sticks to the very best.
- Sean and Isabel, getting their relationship right, and describing Sean more clearly early on will help readers understand the main characters better.
- The ending. I have twisted the ending further, adding depth and a smoother ride to the bloody finale.
The novel stands at 100,700 words now. About 7,000 have been cut. It is with my editor. I await her response. I am quite happy to have another run at it, if she feels it needs it, but with the date for publication fast approaching (Jan 19) and a self-imposed deadline for a first draft of my next novel in the series, The Jerusalem Puzzle, coming up in January too, I do hope the next edit will be a little less taxing.
For a first time published author with Harper Collins UK the big surprise for me in the past few months has been the level of hard work and the nitty-gritty editing that has been required. The editors at HC spotted every little thing that I let go, that niggled and I passed over. Don’t let any one ever tell you that the art of editing is dead at major publishers. It certainly isn’t at Harper Collins Avon.
Here is a slideshow of scenes from The Istanbul Puzzle. I will be posting more of my story from aspiring to published author over the next few months. Please subscribe on the right, down a little, if you want to learn more.
