Reasons Why This One Is - IT!

Let’s recap.

Over the course of the past nine years, I’ve written four novels and a half dozen short stories. Of the novels, two are Suspense/Mysteries for adults, one a YA Horror, and one a YA Suspense/Mystery. I’ve queried/pitched all four books, although I’ll openly admit that querying the first one was a HUGE mistake. The YA Horror book (MOVING FEAR) landed me an agent, but she was unable to sell it to a publisher and as it turns out she wasn’t a very good agent and has since left the business.

I was certain that the last one I wrote (PRICK – YA Suspense/Mystery) was going to be the one that I finally broke through with. It had a killer plot (personal opinion of course) that I felt was extremely marketable, it was prime for a trilogy, and all my CP’s and Beta readers said it was the best thing I had written so far. It garnered me plenty of FULLS when I queried/pitched it, and even some back-and-forth feedback from one high-profile agent, but ultimately it has gone nowhere.

While I was twiddling my thumbs waiting for feedback from the prospective agent, I began playing with an idea I’d come up with way back when I first started writing. It was an idea for a book that started out as a simple ghost story that morphed into much more than that, transitioning from the paranormal to straight-forward sci-fi. At the time I tucked the concept away because, to be frank, I didn’t feel like I could do the story justice. Although I put it on the shelf, it has always been there, marinating in the recesses of my mind. I’d occasionally bring it out to examine it -- but didn’t have the confidence to do anything more than that.

Now is the right time.

After tweaking the plot to be told from a YA POV, APOLLO’S GHOST started pouring out of me like blood from a head wound. I’m usually a heavy plotter, spending weeks outlining a manuscript before typing the first word, but this time I’m plotting and writing simultaneously, the urge to tell this story is so strong. The characters are so vivid to me and the story is both timely and relevant.

This is going to be IT!

How can I be so confident? Because one way or another, I’ve decided this will decide my fate as a writer.

If this book fails to get the attention I’ve struggled to achieve, then I will take that as a sign that mainstream publishing isn’t interested in my particular style of writing. Writing is a passion, no doubt, but it is also HARD WORK that consumes hours and hours of time, and I cannot afford to throw away what I have left on something that nobody, besides friends and family, is interested in.

“But DL” -- you are saying to yourself -- “if your writing is improving with every book, as you’d expect, then if you keep writing you’ll eventually reach a point where somebody will notice.” That probably is true, but with a full-time job and active family life, it is difficult to continue to steal time for a maybe. I figure ten years – which is what it will be by the time I find out if AG strikes a chord – will be enough to decide. “There are always indie publishers or self-publishing you can pursue.” I’ve queried the small publishers as well, with the same result, and self-publishing doesn’t really appeal to me.

Like I said, this is IT.

For those of you still following along…I’ll keep you updated.