Becoming A Published
Author
(Or How To Live On An
Emotional Roller Coaster)
When you start writing a book, you really have no idea at all
about the emotional roller coaster ride you’re about to
begin. We all write differently. Some of us are ‘pantsers’
while others are ‘planners.’
Some write from beginning to end, while others write a bit here and a
bit there, and then assemble the whole thing into a coherent whole.
No matter how you do it, you invest time, energy, emotion,
technique, cleverness and hour upon hour of passion and enthusiasm into the
work of the moment. You can go from thousands of words dashed off in a flurry
of keyboard strokes, to the solitary word dragged from the recesses of your
mind and laboriously typed letter by letter onto the page, only to be discarded
an hour later in disgust.
Some days are a flat gallop of rampant creativity, while others
are a dull, plodding stagger across the printed page. Some characters leap from
your mind onto the page while others push and shove their way into the
manuscript, evicting others and leaving them to fall forlornly onto the discard
pile.
There’s a final moment of relief and
exultation as you write the final line and place the final word, followed very
quickly by the first quivers of doubt about your ability to write even a brief
sentence. Gathering your courage, you carefully send out a query letter,
requesting a publisher or an agent to consider reading your masterpiece, or you
press the ‘submit’ button to send the whole thing
out into the wide world to (hopefully) seek out fame and fortune.
More often than not, a letter or email returns, explaining that
your work is ‘not quite what we’re looking
for at the moment’ or ‘not the
right fit for us although another publisher might consider it in a different
light’ or… Your spirits take a tumble, but you
remind yourself that all the successful authors had many rejections and so you
soldier on bravely.
At some point, you experience the elation of the acceptance
letter, and you almost bounce with joy as you read it. You bounce right up to
the point where you read the editor’s comments and discover that
your pristine manuscript wasn’t quite as pristine as you
thought it was. After the initial deep breath, you realise that the words of
the editor are there to help you produce a better story, not crush your spirit
and trample on your creative integrity, so you set your emotions to one side
and begin the editing process.
Many edits later, you realise that your story is about to be
published. It’s an ecstatic moment, and then it’s
terrifying - what if the readers hate it? What if they review it, and it never
rates more than one star? What if no-one reads it at all? Doubts and
fears assail you.
And then rational thought slowly takes over. Does it really
matter? You don’t like every book you’ve
read, so it stands to reason that not everyone will like the one you’ve
written. You’re a grown up. You’ve got your
big girl panties on. You can cope. And so far all your reviews have been OK -
not necessarily brilliant, but at least OK.
And then you get THAT review. The one that you knew would come.
The one that says all the things you’ve feared and all the things
that strike right to your heart. There is sadness and that sinking feeling in
your stomach that makes your knees quiver - and then there’s
relief. It’s finally happened - you’ve had the
dodgy review and you’ve survived it mostly intact.
The rational part of your mind takes over and you start breathing again. The
roller coaster finally slows down just enough for you to begin to enjoy the
ride, and you swoop around the curves of receiving royalties and being called ‘an
author.’ It’s a
priceless moment.
You relax. You enjoy it. And then you write another book.
Frontier Resistance
Frontier
Book Two
Leonie Rogers
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Publisher: Hague Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9872652-8-9
ASIN: B00MTACKWK
Word Count: 133,000
Cover Artist: Emma Llewelyn
Book Description:
The much awaited sequel to Frontier Incursion.
The Garsal have landed and Frontier has changed forever. Now Shanna and her friends must master their new gifts that will enable them to seek out the alien invaders before they enslave her world.
On the plateau the Council under Tamazine (the Senior Councillor) allies with the Starlyne race. Only united do the Scouts, their starcats, and the Starlyne have any chance of surviving, but Tamazine's distrust of the alliance creates a fatal weakness.
Below, the Garsal plot. They need a new pool of human slaves to expand their empire, but first, they must locate the humans already on Frontier and subdue them. Time is running out for both invader and settler, and the outcome hangs in the balance.
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/tvymDYRwj6Y
Amazon Apple Barnes and Noble Google play Kobo
Extract from Chapter 4
“Learn to fly? Are you serious?” Amma leapt abruptly to her feet, gesticulating wildly with her arms. “How on earth will I fly? You might not have noticed, but I don’t have wings.” The normally calm cadet was almost hysterical, and Shanna reached up to lay a hand on her arm.
“I had no idea I could vanish either Amma – and now I discover that apparently I can manipulate light waves! I mean, really!” There was a small sound of hastily stifled laughter from Verren. “Fractus, exactly what do you mean by ‘fly’?”
The Starlyne gestured gracefully with its small hands and indicated the door in the wall. “I shall show you.” The door opened of its own accord, and they followed the Starlyne into a small cavern. Shanna smelt the freshness of Below, mixed with the pungent odour of pungo, as a small air current stirred the wisps escaping from her braids. There were a number of strange looking suits, which appeared to have oddly elongated extensions on the arms and legs. She frowned at them, thinking they looked remarkably like the kites her father had made when she was a small child.
“The Garsal are a high technology race. They conquer because their defence and detection technologies are second to none, and their sheer numbers then allow them to overwhelm other species. Approaching them using high tech equipment is unfeasible – we learnt that at the expense of almost all of our race.” A sensation of sadness floated over the room. “These glider suits will allow Amma, and perhaps a few more of you, to fly. Amma will learn to read the air currents, she will learn to launch and fly and she, and you, will travel more swiftly than you have ever dreamed. She will be able to search for the Garsal ship from the air, locating in a short time what might otherwise take you months.”
Shanna turned her head to watch Amma and almost laughed out loud as she saw that the older girl was standing stunned, mouth hanging open. She took the opportunity to nudge her gently in the ribs.
She grinned as Amma shut her mouth with a snap, then opened and shut it again, completely speechless. She shook her head.
The Starlyne beckoned them back into the other room, and when they had seated themselves, nodded to Challon. “Challon, you will learn to create lightning.”
“I’ll what?” The dark, lean man nearly fell off his cushion. Dipper nudged him with her head, and he reseated himself.
“You have the ability to draw electromagnetic charge from the ambient atmosphere. This will prove most useful as an offensive weapon. And for sabotage.” Shanna felt slightly evil to be enjoying everyone else’s discomfiture so much. But she was finding it a nice change not to be the centre of attention for once.
“Learn to fly? Are you serious?” Amma leapt abruptly to her feet, gesticulating wildly with her arms. “How on earth will I fly? You might not have noticed, but I don’t have wings.” The normally calm cadet was almost hysterical, and Shanna reached up to lay a hand on her arm.
“I had no idea I could vanish either Amma – and now I discover that apparently I can manipulate light waves! I mean, really!” There was a small sound of hastily stifled laughter from Verren. “Fractus, exactly what do you mean by ‘fly’?”
The Starlyne gestured gracefully with its small hands and indicated the door in the wall. “I shall show you.” The door opened of its own accord, and they followed the Starlyne into a small cavern. Shanna smelt the freshness of Below, mixed with the pungent odour of pungo, as a small air current stirred the wisps escaping from her braids. There were a number of strange looking suits, which appeared to have oddly elongated extensions on the arms and legs. She frowned at them, thinking they looked remarkably like the kites her father had made when she was a small child.
“The Garsal are a high technology race. They conquer because their defence and detection technologies are second to none, and their sheer numbers then allow them to overwhelm other species. Approaching them using high tech equipment is unfeasible – we learnt that at the expense of almost all of our race.” A sensation of sadness floated over the room. “These glider suits will allow Amma, and perhaps a few more of you, to fly. Amma will learn to read the air currents, she will learn to launch and fly and she, and you, will travel more swiftly than you have ever dreamed. She will be able to search for the Garsal ship from the air, locating in a short time what might otherwise take you months.”
Shanna turned her head to watch Amma and almost laughed out loud as she saw that the older girl was standing stunned, mouth hanging open. She took the opportunity to nudge her gently in the ribs.
She grinned as Amma shut her mouth with a snap, then opened and shut it again, completely speechless. She shook her head.
The Starlyne beckoned them back into the other room, and when they had seated themselves, nodded to Challon. “Challon, you will learn to create lightning.”
“I’ll what?” The dark, lean man nearly fell off his cushion. Dipper nudged him with her head, and he reseated himself.
“You have the ability to draw electromagnetic charge from the ambient atmosphere. This will prove most useful as an offensive weapon. And for sabotage.” Shanna felt slightly evil to be enjoying everyone else’s discomfiture so much. But she was finding it a nice change not to be the centre of attention for once.
About the Author:
Originally from Western Australia, Leonie now lives in NSW in the Upper Hunter. She is the author of “Frontier Incursion” (YA Speculative Fiction) published in October 2012 by Hague Publishing, and also works part time as a physiotherapist. She dabbles in poetry, and has had a short story published in Antipodean SF.
Frontier Resistance, part two of the Frontier Trilogy was published on the 3rd of October 2014, and she has also finished the first draft of the concluding book. They’re full of glow-in-the-dark cats who like to sleep on the bed, alien invaders, and a planet out to kill the unwary.
She has a past life as a volunteer firefighter and State Emergency Service member, and once trekked almost six hundred kilometres with eight camels and several other human beings. She is married with two late teen kids, two dogs and two cats, one of whom frequently handicaps her ability to use a laptop computer.
Twitter: @RaeYesac
Wordpress blog: www.leonierogers.wordpress.com
1 comments:
Many thanks for hosting me here, Roxanne.
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