Monday, March 10, 2014

A leap of faith can pay off

Sometimes all the hard work is worth it.

I loved my fantasy romance novel, The Magic of Lavender, and it received some excellent reviews. But because I'd self-pubbed it, I gave it less attention than the stories I subbed to publishers. In my heart, I knew an editor could take the story up a level.

I had started the third and fourth Goddess Connection novels, but let those languish because I knew I wouldn't commit the same level of promotion to my self-pubbed stories as I did for others. But I absolutely love the premise of this series - that every woman should embrace her inner goddess, and be treated like one. An idea I hoped would resonate with all readers. Plus, I just love a strong, intelligent, feisty heroine who comes into her own.

So earlier this year, I hit unpublish for both books in The Goddess Connection series - The Magic of Lavender and Dancing with the Devil.

I subbed The Magic of Lavender to Lyrical Press, now an imprint of Kensington Publishing so Kensington editors reviewed it. And loved the concept too, but said it needed work.

So work I did. I cut thousands of words and added more where the story needed it. I also changed the title of both books. The Magic of Lavender has become Goddess, Awakened, and each book will follow that style.

All that hard work paid off with an acceptance! I signed the Kensington contract last week, and it will be published under the Lyrical imprint. *happy dance*

A good reminder to go with your gut. A reminder I needed, I think.

I'm about 30k into the third novel. My goal is to have a draft finished by May, when I attend the Dara Marks workshop, Engaging the Feminine Heroic. It should be a great fit for all the stories in the series, and I'm hoping to come away with some great ideas.


If you're unfamiliar with Ms. Marks, you should check out her Inside Story book on structure. Well worth the read!