Hello Fellow Writers and Readers

I decided to write a blog about writing; about mine in particular because my publishers think it’s a good idea, and writing in general because I’d get bored with just my own story (so to speak), and also because I’d like to think I could help beginning writers. Writing is a tough business. Hopefully by recording my good experiences and ones I’d rather not repeat, others could follow a similar path. Or not as the case may be. :-)

First, let me say that while believe in my skill as a storyteller, my editing ability is mediocre at best. I’m better now because I’ve had to improve to be successful, but I know there will be an occasional typo and as my dear sister and number one editor says, “Kelly’s funny mistakes”. Hey, that might be a fun game. Write to me when I make goofs; I’ll publish the best ones.

Second, I’m not going to start out with giant biography; I have some of that on my website and I think people are most interested in learning about the writing world and the books I’m working on than about my personal life. On my website there are links to other stuff, like the dancing blog my husband and I do.

Finally, since writing is a big part of my life this blog will bump into lots of stuff; things I’m researching for a book, publishers, books I’m reading, interesting people and places that will land in a story, etc. I get bored easily so I intend this blog to be ever changing, fun, if also meandering.

So here we go. I have a bit of catch up to do; I’ve been seriously writing (aka, writing to be published) for about five years. I started out with short stories for two reasons, one, this way is easier to be published if you are an unknown, and two, I needed the quick fix of actually seeing my work in print. I compare this to school grades vs. the working world; one of the reasons I loved school is that nice affirmation every quarter. In the working world I was lucky to get two reviews a year, and those were filled with vague promises and weird “feedback”.

Anyway. I started with short stories, and had pretty good luck with them. I joined The Writer’s Market which helped me figure out exactly where to send them. I don’t use it anymore because I can do the research myself now, but for someone just getting started I think it’s tremendously helpful. Short stories were also a way to see what I wanted to specialize in. I tried it all, romance, children’s stories, sci-fi, fantasy, detective, adult fiction, young adult fiction. And I did discover what I liked best; young adult fantasy. But…I still love to foray into other genres, and continuing to write short stories allows me to do that. I also get to experience all different kinds of publishers and editors which help my writing and my submission skills. There is a famous quote that says a good writer knows the difference between a bad story and a bad publisher…so true.

During this time I also wrote a paranormal romantic trilogy. I know, it seems dumb even to me that I would write THREE books when I hadn’t sold the first one. But…I did. And I did sell the first one to New Concepts Publishing. And it did pretty well. But when I tried to sell the second one to this publisher, I heard nothing back. Which would be a complaint about this publisher; they do not communicate. So, now I have to wait until my book is out from under their contract and then hopefully sell the trilogy in its entirety somewhere else. This publisher also does not edit. At all. This is also not the norm. And I know my books need editing. Saying that, they have always been fair about getting me my royalty checks. Lesson learned about the trilogy; if you don’t know anything about the publisher, don’t send book one of a series.

I sold my next book after my trilogy (a romance) to Freya’s Bower, followed quickly by a sale to their sister publication, Wild Child Publishing, a young adult novel. This publisher is fabulous, and the editors are the best I’ve experienced. That said, some of their editors are better than others, not in technical skills, but in people skills. I do not have a fragile skin because I’ve worked in corporate America for so long, but I would guess for some writers starting out if you get a cranky editor it cold be brutal. The best editor (in my opinion) at FB/WCP is Michelle Ellis. She’s skilled, funny, tells it like it is but also encouraging. She’s also a great writer. So I have several books there now, two YA books and three romances. This publisher communicates and gets your checks out fast. I highly recommend them.

But as much as I love Wild Child, I wanted to move to the next level. WC is a small press. So the next two novels I wrote, both young adult, I sent to bigger publishers, one to Flux, and one to Holt. These are not huge like Bantam Books; I would classify them as medium. Unfortunately, most big publishers only accept from an agent. and it’s hard to get an agent when you are first starting out.

So that’s where I am; waiting to hear back from Flux and Holt (six months), and continuing to write. I’m working on another YA book. For me it’s important to keep on writing no matter what. It makes it easier to take a “no” when you are half way through another novel. :-)