Persistence

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I’m delighted to welcome my fellow Romance Bandit Suzanne Ferrell as a guest blogger. Suz’s first release is out now from Ellora’s Cave. Welcome, Suz, and congratulations!

Thanks for having me today Nancy and hello to all your readers. I’d love to talk about how I finally got one of my books published.

“ADDICTION-an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something.”

When I started writing sixteen years ago it was one of those, “I wonder if I could write a book” moments.  That’s something that happens to every author, thousands of writers and millions of people.

So, one late night I picked up a pen and started writing a scene that was milling around in my head. Next thing I knew I had five handwritten pages. Wow! I’d actually written a very interesting scene. A pregnant woman recognizes a murderer inside the mercantile store, (did I mention it was a historical scene?) and has to escape, find a safe place to leave her step daughter and then hide before the man finds her.

Now what to do with it?

Like many late twentieth century families we had a brand new computer at home. Excited, I had my husband teach me how to use the writing program on the computer and after some practice sessions with a typing program, I quickly converted my handwritten pages to typed copy. Pretty soon these pages went from five to ten, from one scene to two scenes, then one chapter after another, until finally, a whole story existed beginning to end. Yes, I was addicted.

“PERSISTENCE-the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult.”

After the first book was completed I knew two things. I needed to send it to editors to see if they would jump at the chance to publish my “baby” and that I had to write a second book for the two characters I’d left dangling in the wind.

So I made a list of my favorite authors’ publishers, looked up their addresses in the Writer’s Digest and mailed query letters off to half a dozen. In the meantime I began writing the second book, sure that I’d need to have it ready to go once someone snapped up my first book for publication.

I wrote and waited. Wrote and waited. Wrote. Waited.

Then letters came from publishers. Joy! This was it!

Sigh. Unfortunately, these were not letters claiming the book to be the best thing they’d ever read, although some did ask to see the whole manuscript. No, these were form rejection letters at worst and kind rejection letters at best.

But I kept writing. I finished that second historical romance. Then the bottom fell out of the American/Western romance market. So, I wrote two contemporaries, followed by a contemporary suspense. This one won a writing contest by a big publishing house. They paid me money. They asked to see the full manuscript. They asked for revisions, which I did. Sigh. They rejected it.

“PERSEVERANCE-continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition”.

I wrote a second contemporary suspense romance. Both were entered into the RWA Golden Heart contest. They both were finalists. One was again requested by a NY house, but ultimately rejected and the market for romantic suspense slowed to a near crawl.

The next step on the path was small-town contemporaries. These were stories based on my upbringing in the Midwest. The heroes and heroines had great emotional depth, but unlike the sweet small-town stories, mine had a bit of heat and bite to them. I enjoy external conflict that affects the characters’ internal conflicts. I like sex that is hot. Alas, not what the market was ready for.

Got lots of requests, followed by lots of rejections.

“STUBBORN-performed or carried on in an unyielding, obstinate, or persistent manner.”

My father says I have the tenacity of a mule stuck in mud when I want something. So, one day I was thinking about my critique partner’s newest Heat erotica book and an idea popped into my head. Why not try my hand at an erotic historical? All my books have been more sensual than the average book. Could I push the envelope further into the erotic world? I didn’t want to write sex scenes just to write sex scenes. They’d need to further the story and the plot along like my CP’s did.

So I took a poll of what I liked about or in eroticas I’d read, applied them to my love of Western or American historicals and started writing yet another book. The result was The Surrender of Lacy Morgan. A western historical erotica set in 1880′s Wyoming. I submitted it to two more writing contests and it won the erotica category in both.

I attempted to gain the interest in some literary agents for this book, as I have all the others, but no one wanted to take on me or my work. But I believed in this book. So I submitted it to the largest romantica publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

“SUCCESS-the correct or desired result of an attempt.”

Then in May of last year, I received the best e-mail ever. My now editor wanted to contract my book for EC’s Lawless westerns line. And much rejoicing was heard throughout the land. I did have to agree to change one character’s name. Then through the editing process, I learned more about how to write a smooth story, which hopefully will translate into the next book and thereby make the editing process easier for my editor and myself.

So on February 4th, 2011 I became a published author.

Does addiction, persistence, perseverance and sheer stubbornness guarantee success? Honestly, not always. However there is one sure way never to achieve your goals. That is to give up. By never giving up, you keep hope alive, and wherever there is hope, there is always possibility.

So dear readers, have you ever had to hold onto a dream when everyone else has tried to talk you out of it or rejected your efforts repeatedly?

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