Seriously!
I know it sounds crazy, but for some reason you become hardened and believe me in this industry you need a coat of armour as a first layer. But whilst it was initially hard work, it has been an overall experience which I’d gladly undertake again. I’ve learnt so much in a short period of time. I’ve learnt that life isn’t easy and you have to work for everything you desire and I hope that seeing me strive to see my dreams realised has had an impact on my own children’s dreams and aspirations.
I have been writing for a very long time, and only ever entered short pieces of fiction into contests and anthology calls. I had never really thought about going the whole journey and actually submit a completed novel to agents or publishers. That all changed in the December 2009, when I came across some old files of a piece of writing I had begun a few years earlier, but the idea was so ridiculous I thought I’d just walk away. But after reading the storyboard and the simplified notes I considered on a serious level that maybe I had something good to work with.
Of course, I always have this tendency to doubt my ideas and thought the genre was maybe overdone and clichéd and again decided that the time just was not right. But all that changed in May 2010, after finishing a series of vampire novels and I made the decision then and there, that now was indeed the time.
Within a twelve week period I had the first draft completed and then the dreaded edits and proof reading began. And might I just add, I hate editing. I am terrible and lazy when it comes to editing my own work and if I was rich enough, I’d have someone do it for me. But anyway, I gave my completed manuscripts to my two sisters to read, and then of course my husband. Whilst waiting on their verdict, I started penning queries and wrote my synopsis.
Having registered with Firstwriter.com, I put together a detailed list of reputable agents and publishers open to unsolicited submissions. Once my sisters got back to me and biting the nails clean off my fingertips, I was expecting harsh criticism, but it didn’t come. They loved it. They too are vampire fanatics and couldn’t compare it to anything they had read before and loved the unique twist that I had added.
So, in a sense they spurred me on and I didn’t hang about. By July 31st I was submitting to agents and publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. Of course, the rejections came in, they hurt, and at times I cried and then one day I just thought, “to hell with them, I won’t give up” and I didn’t.
Finally in January 2011 I got my first break, and my book was published as a first edition in March 2011. Then in June 2011, another firm acquired the rights to my work, and it was a deal I couldn’t refuse and thus the second edition was born. The second and third books in the trilogy are due out in the coming months and I have secured publication for four more books next year.
I cannot say that it has been an easy journey, but it has been a learning curve the whole way. I have become more adapt at seeing my own faults as a writer and welcome the views of my readers whether they be good or bad. In general I am pretty calm and try not over analyse reviews and in most cases, I avoid reading them, but being a newbie in the industry it’s kind of hard not to.
Overall, I’d tell any aspiring author out there to never give up. If you are passionate and believe in your story, then you fight the elements that can knock you for six. Keep submitting, keep reading and keep writing. It’s what we do best.
About
the Author:
Fiery Librarian
Julieanne Lynch is an author of urban fantasy books for both adults
and teens. Originally from Northern Ireland, Julieanne now lives in
Ireland, where she works on her Shadows Trilogy and other series
full-time. Before becoming a writer, she considered a few different
career paths, a rock star being one of them. She studied English
Literature and Creative Writing at The Open University, and
considered journalism as a career path. However, she decided writing
was the way for her and believes all of her education and reading
prepared her for it.
An avid
reader, Julieanne has always had an encompassing fascination with
folklore. When not writing, she enjoys crime series such as Criminal
Minds, CSI, NCIS and Cold Case, and loves anything with Vampires,
listening to metal, meeting new people, drinking lots of green tea,
and sharing her dreams with her children. She is a self-professed
goth wanna-be,and is happy when left to write into the early hours of
the morning.
Find
Julieanne online:
In
the Shadows
By
Julieanne Lynch
Published
July 21st 2011
Strict
Publishing International
ISBN
9780857791962
“In
The Shadows”, the first of The Shadows trilogy, is an urban fantasy
of vampires and the supernatural, and much, much more. In the
shadows you will find lust and passion, battles for power and for
blood, and death and fear around every corner. In the shadows you
are carried away to an unknown future. Your destiny awaits, and you
are no longer who you thought you were. You have a thirst, for blood
perhaps, but a thirst for very much more than that.
Giselle was a
normal girl with an attitude common to most girls of her age. Her
family might not have been perfect (whose is?) but she loved them,
and her future looked bright. She had an awesome best friend and a
steady boyfriend, but how could she possibly have been so wrong about
someone she loved? And how could she have been prepared for the
darkness and for what she was to become?
Giveaway
is tour wide- multiple ebook
copies of In the Shadows
And
2 prize packs that consists of:
In
the Shadows signed cover art, key ring, magnet, personalised mug, business card,
and pen- open to international shipping
Great post! In the Shadows sounds great and the cover is amazing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diana! I hope you get the chance to read it soon.
ReplyDelete