Tagged Times Two: Six Things
October 3, 2008 by Lillie
I have been tagged by Christine Duncan at Rule of Three to tell six book-related things about me and also by Chris Redding to tell six odd things about me. Excercising a little artistic license, I’m going to make all the book-related things about my new novel, which makes them odd, so I’ll answer both tags in this one post. 
- I wrote Dream or Destiny ten years ago and had an agent trying to sell the book for two years.
- After I ended my relationship with the agent, I let the book sit around for a couple of years, then sold it to another publisher on my own.
- Before the book was published, the publisher decided to focus on erotica, and I felt my book was no longer a good fit for that publisher.
- After I cancelled the contract with that publisher, I let the book sit around for a couple more years, then sold to GASLight Publishing. Publication was delayed because of illness of GASLight’s principals.
- When I updated the manuscript, I got input from several people (who are acknowledged in the book). Each person who read the book gave me suggestions to make it better.
- I had to make revisions to account for changes that have occurred in society during the last ten years. For example, caller ID wasn’t common (maybe it didn’t even exist) ten years ago. Now I had to account for the fact that David and Marilee had no idea who made the threatening phone call they received.
I’m going to tag a few folks—if I’ve tagged someone who doesn’t participate in memes, just ignore the tag. Anyone who wants to play along is encouraged to do so. You can either write a post on your own blog or respond in comments. And you can tell six book-related things about you or six odd things about you. Or you can do like I did and tell six odd book-related things.
David Bowles at Writing the Westward Sagas
Grace Anne Schaefer at People of the Frozen Earth
James Doughty at Doughty Families
Jeanne Dininni at Writer’s Notes
That’s interesting how you had to alter your book because of the changes in society. Pretty interesting! I want to get around to reading Dream or Destiny, as the description makes it sound quite exciting.
Justin,
I hope you enjoy the story!
Lillie,
Thanks for the tag! I’ll do my best to come up with six odd and/or book-related things about me!
About your having to update elements of your story: I, too, have a (short) story that I wrote years ago that I’m thinking of publishing at some point in the near future. If I do, I’ll also need to update certain minor elements of the tale–though more for the purpose of making internal date references and age calculations more accurate than for bringing it in line with modern times (since my story actually centers around an antique item and its role in both a historical murder and a planned modern murder.)
The six items you’ve listed in your post present a fascinating story about the evolution of your book! Thanks for sharing them!
Best wishes with your book’s publication and sale!
Jeanne
Thanks, Jeanne. Your short story sounds fascinating. Let me know when it’s published—I’d love to read it.
Will do, Lillie!
I look forward to it, Jeanne.
Hi Lillie – your new theme is awesome. It’s like stepping into a bright and beautiful garden on a dull day.
You have an awful lot of sticking power to persevere with a novel for ten years. I’m glad you didn’t let that publisher categorize your book as erotica.
It sounds like an amazing mystery story. Stuart was reading the book blurb you sent and he’s dying to read it as he loves that sort of book.
Cath,
Thank you for the lovely compliment.
I don’t know if I had sticking power—the novel would get put away and forgotten for years at a time. But it kept calling to me to get it published.
The publisher wasn’t going to categorize my book as erotica—the company was going to publish mostly erotica. Since my book is not even explicit, I didn’t think it would fit with the rest of the inventory. People looking for erotica would be disappointed, and people looking for books that weren’t erotica wouldn’t look at a site offering primarily erotica.
I hope Stuart enjoys the story!
Lillie, what an interesting back story. I’m glad you were tagged and shared the details of this particular journey.
Jennifer,
I’m glad you enjoyed the backstory.
That is quite interesting, I do like to write, at least in my head. I liked reading about part of your journey. I don’t know if I missed the rest somewhere on your blog though. Would like to read it
Tertius,
I haven’t written much about the writing of Dream or Destiny, though you can find out about the book by clicking on the link near the top of the sidebar or on the Books tab on the navigation bar.
Hiya, it’s a real problem if you’ve been writing stuff for a long time and haven’t had it published cos when you go back and check the details it’s amazing how much stuff can change. Especially if you use images to describe places that you’ve never visited. When you edit them they never “feel” the same somehow. Strange!!
regards
Stu
Stuart,
I haven’t had the experience you mention of descriptions of places I’ve never visited, but things do change a lot over time.
It is encouraging to me to hear that your book finally found a home after so many years! I have one that has been sitting around for a couple of years. Several publishers have read it and liked it, but it just doesn’t seem to fit with anyone’s needs at the time. Someday, maybe . . .
Renae,
A few years ago, I was a member of the Romance Writers of America. Another member of our local chapter was published by one of the major romance publishers, and she did a survey of all the first-time authors published by major romance publishers that year. She found that on average they had been writing for seven years and had completed seven manuscripts before they made the first sale. I know one woman who wrote for more than twelve years without selling anything. After she made her first sale, she sold a number of adult novels and children’s books in a short amount of time—she had plenty of manuscripts to offer from all those years of writing. Long before she was published, she said, “I know God wouldn’t have given me this strong desire to write if He didn’t also give me the talent to go along with it. I know I’ll be published—it’s just a matter of time.”
That reminds me of Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Thanks for the encouragement, Lillie!
That’s right, Renae!
WoW, Lillie. I didn’t know that you’ve faced so much of obstacles just to get your book published…
No matter what, you’ve finally made it now!
wilson,
Getting a book published certainly isn’t easy, but it’s definitely worth it!
Oh, Lillie,
This is WONDERFUL! I am so thrilled for you – and have already emailed you.
I am so grateful that you addressed the “changes” that need to be made over time to make a novel – well – timely! In the course of 12 years, I had to change many of my “ideas,” as they became outdated or antiquated. Unless one wishes to write a novel “in the past,” I don’t think that many would-be writers, who work on their novels for years, understand how much editing is involved to keep a story current, by the time they get to the end!
I am just sooo thrilled for you – and can’t wait to read the mystery! (Let’s see how I do…somehow, I anticipate that YOU will definitely break with formula…)
Congratulations again!
Rita
Rita,
Thank you. And congratulations to you, too! It’s taken a long time for both of us … and we’ve learned a lot.
I haven’t got an e-mail from you.
I hope I’ve broken the formula You’ll have to be the judge if you agree.
Thanks again for your support and encouragement.
Switching publishers and all is very interesting. It is great that you have kept your book alive for so long, and have even made the proper changes to make it fit in the present. Kudos to you!
Cheers!
Jasper
Jasper,
Thank you for the kudos!
[...] Ammann tagged me to tell six things about myself, either odd or book-related things … or a combination. Since I always have to be [...]
[...] The first draft took about six months, but it took ten years to get it published. I had an agent for two years, but after the contract expired, I put the manuscript away for a time. Periodically I would take it out and try again. I described this experience in more detail in a recent blog post. [...]