FEARLESS FRIDAY
I love author stories and how they got to where they are. Let's listen to one of my favorite guests, Dee S. Knight.
Fearlessly going where no man has ever gone before…
That's how it felt the first time I submitted something I had
created—fresh, from my own little pea-brain—to a publisher for the first time.
I imagine I'm not alone in that. To submit your work to a publisher—or
anyone—for a critical review is one of the scariest things a person can do.
Yet, being fearless is a requisite for being an author.
In the dictionary, the definitions for author and writer are pretty
similar. But I want to separate them. I want to say that "writer" is
someone who puts something to paper (or disc or the cloud). It can be a book, a
short story, a white paper, anything, really. A writer's intention might be just
to amuse himself/herself, and perhaps never show their work to another person.
An "author" is someone who creates a product using the written word
for others to read.
I have a friend who wrote the opening chapters of a book and asked me
to read it for feedback. Like an idiot, I said okay. Reading another person's
work—a friend's work—can be a touchy thing. You want to be honest and yet not
risk the friendship. So I tried to be diplomatic when I told my friend that
something she had included in her writing might keep her from being published.
"Oh, I don't care about that," she said. "I write for myself. I
don't intend to send this to a publisher." Okay, I thought. But
then, why ask me to read it? In my heart of hearts, I thought my friend was
fearful. I think she wanted affirmation that her book could be
published, but she was afraid of sending it off and finding out that it
couldn't. And maybe it would have been published. She'll never know
because she wasn't fearless enough to send it off.
Haven't we all had that fear? Haven't we all had rejections and had to
pull ourselves together and try again? Authors are often thought to be
introverts and solitary people. It's true to a point. But we can't be mice,
cringing in the corner when it comes to our work. For that, we engage with the
outside world or we would never be read. And creating, honing our craft,
publishing, and being read is what all the effort is about. For that we
must be fearless.
When asked for advice to give new writers, I usually say to write,
write, write. But I should add to that, to be fearless enough to send your
finished, polished work to an agent, editor, or publisher. Without that final
step, using my definitions, you might be a writer, but you won't be an author.
Be fearless!
Burning Bridges is a book I’ve been fearless about three
times! Right after I wrote the book, I sent it to publishers and agents.
There were no bites (though there were nibbles), so I sent it to a well-known
online publisher. I received the rights back last year and have now published
it myself.
Sara Richards’s world is rocked when three
love letters from 1970 are delivered decades late. The letters were written by
Paul Steinert, a young sailor who took her innocence with whispered words of
love and promises of forever before leaving for Vietnam. Sara is left behind,
broken hearted and secretly pregnant, yearning for letters she never received.
Then Paul died.
Now, years later, she discovers the betrayal
wasn’t Paul’s, when her mother confesses to a sin that changed their lives
forever. How can Sara reveal to Paul’s parents that they have a granddaughter
they’ve missed the chance to know? Even worse, how will she find the words to
tell her daughter that she’s lived her life in the shadow of a lie?
Picking her way through the minefields of
secrets, distrust, and betrayal, Sara finds that putting her life together
again while crossing burning bridges will be the hardest thing she’s ever done.
Buylink: mybook.to/BurningBridges
About Dee S. Knight
After a while, Dee
split her personality into thirds. She writes as Anne Krist for sweeter
romances, and Jenna Stewart for ménage and shifter stories. All three of her
personas are found on the Nomad Authors website (www.nomadauthors.com).
Fortunately, Dee’s high school sweetheart is the love of her life and husband
to all three ladies! Once a month, look for Dee’s Charity Sunday blog posts,
where your comment can support a selected charity.
Author links:
Brenda, thanks so much for hosting me today!
ReplyDeleteYour posts are always so interesting. Thanks for being here.
DeleteGreat blog Dee and Brenda. I remember that fear of sending my first book into the publisher.
ReplyDeleteYou have nothing to worry about with your wonderful books.
Callie
Me, too, Callie!
DeleteWhat a great post, Dee! I'd never thought of the difference between a writer and an author. And fearlessness can be the courage to face rejection (says the woman who spent 30 years trying to get published)
ReplyDeleteHow lucky for us that you kept at it, Alice, because your books are great!
DeleteNice post Dee. I see the difference between writer and author. I hadn’t really considered there was one before. Burning Bridges sounds like it’s custom made for me. On the dark side. I’ll put it on my tbr list.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne, thanks! I hope you enjoy it.
DeleteI like Dee's tip to be fearless and "write, write, write."
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Estelle. Yep, if you don't write it, they won't come. LOL!
DeleteThanks, Callie! I didn't worry too much that first time or two or three because i never expected to be an author. I was writing just for fun and to have something to do. But once I found I loved writing...well, the whole picture changed and I was really nervous.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview. We can all use some fearlessness about now.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? I'm truly worried. Think I'll go read a good book! ;)
DeleteA great interview Dee. I'm sure all authors relate to that fear when sending their completed manuscript to an agent or publisher. The acceptance letter is like winning lotto! Loved Burning Bridges, a beautiful, heart warming story.
ReplyDeleteHi Jan, I remember that acceptance email too. What a high!
DeleteThanks, Jan! We all love our babies (books). Thew fear of rejection is great.
Delete