Thursday, March 26, 2015

A Success Story

REMINDER NOTE:  LSP Digital is having a 99 cent promotional sale starting March 30 (8 am) and concludes April 6th. Both "Arms" and "Waterlilies" will be on sale for all electronic readers, not just prime) members.

This is an article I wrote for "Authors' Den" published in 2008. It came on the heels of the publication of "Waterlilies Over My Grave."  Now, in 2015, I'm not sure how true this is. Maybe in terms of growth, yes, I have succeeded. Once more, I'm back in the saddle and writing again and that's a good thing.  

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Success is what you want it to be. Your goals, nobody else's. 

I want to write grammatically correct sentences I work at it. I'm successful. 

I want to write a short story. I work at it. I read short stories, read craft books, write. I'm successful. 

I want to write a novel. It might take six months or a year, or two years. But once the project is completed, I've become successful. 

It's when you get into the degree of professionalism you want to obtain that the cartridge gets murky. (just made that up) Do you want to get published? you can. How? by self-publishing, by going with a small or medium press or holding out for that NY publisher in the sky. 

I chose to go with a small press that I knew (or felt in my heart) would do right by me. In that, I was successful. 

I started writing in the late 90's, but school and other responsibilities held back my writing time. Okay, my fault. I didn't HAVE to be so tired at night. I could have fought it. But it turned out to be a good thing. 

I wrote three novels. Two will stay in the bowels of my computer until earth no longer exists. The other--Legacy of Danger has undergone three transformations and the final draft will be finished in a matter of months (yeah me--success) 

(NOTE: Legacy is still waiting impatiently to become a reality. 2015)

In the Arms of the Enemy was published in 2007. I'd presented it to Harlequin at a conference in 2005 (I think) The editor loved the concept and asked me to submit a full. Yippee. You had to scrape me off the ceiling. However, after submission and a wonderful letter, I was rejected. Non-successful. 

How did I turn this into a success? 
I waited six months and took another look at the ms. By that time, I was embarrassed I'd ever submitted the blasted thing. It was full of errors. 
Could I have noticed it the first time around? No. I don't think so. Again success. I'd grown. 

No sooner than I'd finished,than I submitted the story to a new publisher who was willing and excited about taking on new unproven authors. Again, success. 

My second novel Water Lilies Over My Grave will be released in the Fall of 2008. Again success. this was another novel full of holes and technical glitches. Success. I found them. Not as many editorial mistakes as the last novel. So, the success grows stronger. 

(NOTE: Waterlilies was published in 2008 and can still be purchased at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and LSPDigital.com) 

I think success comes in degrees. My success came because I wanted to be better than capable of writing a novel or short story. I wanted it to be a novel people would be eager to read. 

Hopefully, in that I have been successful. 

Only a supportive fan/reader base will determine that. 

Patricia A. Guthrie author of 
In the Arms of the Enemy 2007 
Water Lilies Over My Grave Fall 2008

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