Hello 2015

I'm starting off the New Year with a very, very, very rough draft of my short story collection finally completed. The last story of the collection took me three years to write. I started over writing it four times as the first three attempts just didn't capture what I was hoping for. Months between starts and stops passed by. Then, recently, just before the end of the semester, as I was calculating grades for one of my classes, the way to write the story presented itself to me. I started writing it the first day of break. 
                                                                            
Today, putting the last period in place on that story was one of the most satisfying feelings I've ever experienced. I still have a lot of rewriting to do to get everything right, I still need to find someone who will read the entire manuscript and give honest, no-holding-back advice, and I definitely have a lot of leg work to do to find a publisher who is willing to give it a chance. But, the skeleton is in place.
For now, just for a little bit, I'm going to enjoy simply sitting here and looking at my first book-length manuscript.

Comments

RKBrison said…
Couldn't let this pass without saying congratulations! Isn't it a great feeling? You can use the accomplishment as fuel for your audience search. Enjoy and thank God!
JK said…
Thank you, Randy. Having the rough draft in place is a wonderful feeling. When both of my boys saw it, each gave me a big smile and said, "Way to go, Mom." Their response ranks right up there with how it feels to see the manuscript completed.
RKBrison said…
Oh, absolutely -- without the acknowledgement of others, I'm not sure I'd have realized I'd crossed the finish line. I am glad to say well done and to join vicariously in the celebration. If your experience is like mine, this will resonate far longer and deeper than you can imagine.
JK said…
I'd love to hear about your work. Is it available to purchase?
RKBrison said…
No, my novel isn't available to purchase from a publisher.

Funny how long it took me to write a simple answer to your simple question. My first thought was, "Why would anyone want to purchase it? Don't waste your money."

The facts are that I did pitch it a couple of times, an agent asked me to submit it to her at a conference two years ago, but I've been too lazy (it took 7 years and still needs a lot of revision) or scared (of failure? of success?) or satisfied (like a marathon, just finishing was a joy) to go further: lame excuses in the professional writing world, rationalizations, I know, but as a working man, they're plenty of justification for me :)

But lately the novel and some other stories have come to mind often. A new friend at church has done pretty well in the e-publishing world; perhaps her encouragement and your milestone are the push I need to get going again.
J said…
I am so proud of you!!! I miss the world you created in this collection of stories, and your literary--and literal-- voice!
JK said…
Thank you, J! You are very missed on this end. I think about our Coffeehouse days often and wish we were still meeting there to visit, read, and write.

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