Part 7: The Sunshine Years (Present)
Writing is not for the fainthearted. If you’re not up for the constant rewrites, you should not even attempt it. Unless you’re a big fan of using AI, and I am not. I never use it for my writing.
When I told my husband that I wanted to pursue writing in earnest, he wasn’t sure I was up for the somewhat isolating nature of the craft. That was when we first got married. Once he saw me in action, disappearing into our room for HOURS, he adjusted his thinking. I LOVE to write. I love to disappear into a story for hours on end, noodling on character development, plot twists, and backstory. It is my favorite rabbit hole.
After working on my first draft for two years, I was blessed to secure an agent. We did two rounds of revisions together. He felt good about where the manuscript landed but wanted an editor to take a peek to make sure it was in shape for the middle-grade market, a much smaller part of the publishing pie than YA, for instance.
So, he found a gem of an editor, and when she finished there was good news and “interesting” news.
On the positive, she loved the writing style and the story, but more critically, she felt the protagonist was a bit passive at times, and the backstory came in too late. To be fair, my agent had the same feedback, but I kind of glossed over it where I could.
So, I had the choice, stick by what I’d done, or roll up my sleeves and completely rewrite my book.
I gave it a few months and decided to do the major rewrite. I love to write, right?
I took about four months to do the backstory development, really dig in deep. Then, I started writing. Six months later I presented it back to my agent for a read, made his final changes, got my editor’s seal of approval and… here we are!
I could not be more excited. This has been a labor of love, such an adventure. I’m so hopeful that this story of finding yourself in the midst of loss and supernatural obstacles – underpinned by a heavy dose of empathy, will find a home. Forever hopeful? Yes!