Holding on to dreams

Never ever give up on your dreams, because a turn of events may deliver your dreams out of the blue. Fifteen years ago, I create a character and told her story. I was just learning to write to be published. I took the short story into work and showed it to my friend, Lisa. I trusted her, and hadn’t shown it to anyone else. Bless Lisa. She managed read my poorly written first effort and liked my character. ‘I want to know more about her.’ She said. That comment sent me off on amazing journey and change my life completely.

So began the creation of my character, but first I need to know how to write a novel. How to set out a page, create cliffhangers, paragraphs etc. To start with there was a thing called grammar and punctuation. So I started ordering books from eBay. I decided if I was going to write to be published, I needed to do it to the best of my ability.

My first novel was a huge learning curve. The character went through many changes, as I began to rewrite. I send the book out many times and, of course, suffered rejections. I realised I needed to learn more. Then one rejection gave me the encouragement I needed. They were kind enough to tell me they felt the story had strength. That I could create atmosphere, but I was too wordy in my storytelling. I had no idea what was meant by wordy. Once again, I went back to the drawing board, knowing I needed to understand more. It was at this point I learnt that I needed to write short stories if I was going to learn my craft.

I had read that most great writers master the craft of short story writing as it teaches you the importance of concise storytelling, if you can only use a certain set amount of words. Also you need to built up a collection of published works. Agents and publishers are more interested in taking your novel on, if you have an history of being published. Once again, I set my first novel aside until I had gained more experience.

Not once did I give up on my dream to see my first character in print. I knew it wasn’t her fault I lacked the ability to tell her story. I didn’t want to fail her, by selling her story short. Amanita was willing to wait. Though I have grown older, and time has marked my face, she’s still stunningly beautiful, and her message is still as strong as ever. Now I have grown more confident , I have the ability to tell her story. Yesterday, I received some amazing news from Dean of Black Hare Press. Amanita has met his approval, so now it her time to shine