Six years ago I walked into the office of my first job. It was behind that pine desk that I began to write The Lost Day’s, although back then it was simply called, Disco Electric. I was inspired by a book on spirit communication that I had bought after a friend of mine had died. Im not sure why I bought it, as I knew I would never actually attempt communication, but it made for a very interesting read. In fact there was a chapter on spirit painting and how spirits actually communicate with artists and writers in such a way that they create works of art and even scrawls of writing that end up as novels. It was this that intrigued me enough for an idea to grow within me, and so the Valentines were born. It took me a year to write even half of my novel. A year which included a backpacking trip from Norway through Sweden and Denmark to England. It was in a youth hostel in London that my laptop which held countless hours of writing was stolen. I had no backups and so with a despondent heart I had to start all over again. The following year I could not find work and so I made a vow to myself that I would take the year off and finally finish my book. Of course, I had it in my mind that I would write something truly amazing that would be published before I turned twenty one, which as any practised writer knows is rarely the case. I finished that first draft and sent it to publishers and that was my mistake. I knew nothing about the industry. I sometimes feel as if I still don’t, but I can write a killer synopsis and I know all about proof reading, agents, rejection emails and tearing apart my manuscript. The whole experience has strengthened my resolve, as well as my writing technique and skill. The Lost Days has been complete for over a year now and I guess deep inside I neglected this moment. I had decided not to continue down the traditional publishing route with The Lost Days because writing your first novel is hard work. You often feel as if you should give up and throw it all away. I never did that mainly because I needed to finish telling this story. Your first novel holds a small piece of who you are inside of it and to have finally finished it and to be told it wasnt good enough, again, was something I could not face. It was this mind-set that had me stalling self-publication too because I did not want to face the negative reactions that come with every book. Even the most famous writers are berated and torn apart by people who have no idea just how much effort and work goes into finishing a novel. I know that as this is my first manuscript it wont be perfect but I have set a date now and so I can’t turn back. On the 31st of July the first book of The Lost Days will be published and despite my misgivings about finally sharing this with the world I am proud to have accomplished this and I hope that with time the story will get better and the next novels I publish will fall into the hands of those who can truly appreciate them. So if you are reading this thank you for the support. It is greatly appreciated. Charmingly, Ily.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 18:42:02 +0000
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