So after all the voting
on the title, I have to say, my first thought won out. I know, I know, I let you all weigh in on the title and for the longest time I left it as, OUT Of The Ashes. The thing is, I had this gut feeling it wasn’t right. And no, I won’t be using this as the book cover but it was fun to create anyway.
Before I went to the SFWC, (San Francisco Writers Conference), back in February, I researched the title and found there were multiple titles of OUT OF THE ASHES, due to the whole rising of the Phoenix idea. There have been both books and movies using this title over the past couple of decades. If I too used this then my book wouldn’t stand out at all. That’s why when I pitched the book to agents and others, I used my original title of AFTER THE FIRE.
Since you must know by now that the pitch went well and I found both the editor I wanted and agent as well, I am now in the stressful but exciting period of waiting to hear back from my editor!
The worst part of letting someone read your book is wondering if you are any good! Will someone who doesn’t know you well, hasn’t loved you your whole life, think your work of 2 years is worth a damn? It’s what Brene Brown would call, “Daring Greatly!” I put myself out there and hoped for the best. I entered the great arena and most vulnerably handed over my precious work to be critiqued. I’m either brave or out of my freakin’ mind.
Either way, I have never felt more alive! I have been writing more this past month than I have in quite awhile. I not only have been coming up with alternate scene ideas for my book for the rewrite, but I also have started to create a new blog, (to be revealed very soon), and have been doing researching for my new book. It’s like I can’t stop!
So I should hear something this weekend from my editor Jen, who I think is a pretty amazing person. She has been so supportive with her ideas, and very patient with all my questions, answering each one in detail. I must admit, I’m pretty anxious.
I have been terrible in blogging these past months in a timely fashion, which I understand is NOT conducive to a successful following, but I am going to change that now that the book’s completion is near. I DID finish the first draft in full and edited it to the best of my ability before I submitted it to the editor. However, that’s what I’m paying her for. She’s making suggestions for it to be better.
The process of getting it to an agent follows once the manuscript is spotless. I will attempt to post once a week from this point forward. I have a goal to submit it to the agent by June. Fingers crossed!
I am hoping this finds each and every one of you happily anticipating this Spring of 2018. It’s starting out quite blustery, but I feel it’s going to be a marvelous year. Beauty is all around us and I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to live in California when I am surrounded with it’s splendor.
Count your blessings and thanks for reading.
