It took me awhile to come to grips with that statement. I did not pursue a degree in English or Literature or Journalism or any other major that would have furthered my writing skills - so when I finally set out to write a book, I felt a bit like an imposter amongst those that live, eat and breathe literature. The ones that know when you are supposed to use "lie" vs. "lay". The ones that know the rules about switching points of view. The ones that "show" rather than "tell".
But then I entered the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. I lurked around the forums for some time, taking in all the sage advice offered by those with much more experience than me. I finally broke my silence once day and confessed my insecurity about being an actual "writer" given my background and lack of experience. To the credit of the others on those forums, they were quick to show me the error of my thinking. I had written a book. I was a writer. Not necessarily the best writer, mind you, but a writer nonetheless. And though I did not advance far in that contest, entering was so worth it for that reason alone.
While I have been writing short stories and poems on and off throughout my life, I did not complete my first novel until 2012: The Stewards of Reed, Volume 1: The Rise of Fallon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYQCZVW
It was not the sort of story I ever expected to write. Aside from the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, at the time I had not read much in the fantasy genre (I still haven't to be honest. I like the Game of Thrones, but so far have not cared much for the other popular fantasy books I have read. I'm just not that into vampires, and I need a plot that is not as slow to develop as The Name of the Wind).
Anyway, one morning I woke up with an idea for a story, and as I walked the dogs, the plot just kept snowballing and I could not ignore it. Upon returning home, I asked my husband if he would mind watching the kids for a bit and I started to write out all the thoughts in my head in bullet form.
And there that list would have stayed, untouched through the years, if I hadn't have been laid off from my job shortly thereafter. It was not totally unexpected (I had moved 3000 miles away from where my former company conducted its business, and the time difference - combined with my inability to travel much - hampered my effectiveness). Regardless, the timing was not the best as we had just closed on a new house and the loss of my income hurt.
Instead of panicking and insisting that I find a replacement job immediately, my husband allowed me to take some time to develop those bullet points into a full-fledged novel. I started writing in earnest in February, and by July was done with the first draft. The arduous self-editing process started, and I finally sent it out to a few close friends (my beta-readers you might say). Only one of them actually ended up reading the story, but his feedback was invaluable.
I won't lie - it hurt to hear the criticism of my precious book - but at least it was constructive criticism. So I spent most of the summer of 2012 re-working the story. One of the more time-consuming edits was to change the speech to something more formal/less colloquial. But it was worth it in the end.
By fall I was ready for the book to be professionally edited. This is an important step that many first-time authors make the mistake of skipping. This not only hurts themselves, but ALL of us newbies. I've heard time and time again that many readers are skittish about trying out new authors due to the prevalence of poorly written books rife with grammatical and spelling errors. I realize editing can be expensive...but try to have it proof-read for errors at least. That's what I did. I could not stomach another extensive re-write, so I had my editor (the wonderful Jill Bailin) focus primarily on proof-reading, though she provided some additional feedback on how to handle Luca for which I am eternally grateful.
Anyway, the next step was to work on the cover. My cousin, Patrick Wark, studied art in college. He was willing to work on the map and cover art for free...and that worked perfectly for my budget. As much as I tried to fight it - it is true that people DO judge a book by its cover...so I ended up taking his work and hiring a graphic artist to upgrade the fonts and polish the overall look. I'm happy I did.
And then, in early 2013, I finally "published" the book on Amazon. To date I have sold over 120 copies, and have given away 900 more via the free promotions that Amazon offers. It is still amazing to me that people across the world - UK, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and others - own copies of my little old novel. I'm even more amazed that most of the feedback has been positive thus far.
I suspect the audience for my book is a small one...it doesn't have any of the urban dystopia, vampire, elves/dragons themes that dominate most of the fantasy genre. But I'm on to Volume 2...and hopefully my small audience will continue to grow as I hone my craft.
This blog is my outlet for that overall writing process. It is where I can discuss my personal struggles as a new author, without commandeering my family blog site with all these posts about my book and my experiences (thus boring my friends and family to death). It is my secret journal (for now)...
Welcome to RM Wark's Works!
