Being a Writer is the Best

I’m glad I’ve been revising KILLER EYES because it has kept me in Trent Smith’s universe and has kept me in the KILLER OF KILLERS mindset. Which is ideal since the edits for KILLER OF KILLERS will be coming in soon. And since I’ve been revising the sequel, I’ll be able to jet back to the prequel for the edits without a hitch.

And the whole time I have been working on KILLER EYES, I’m reminded that this is a great main character with great supporting characters, and a great setting and storyline.

I’ll never forget that first agent who read the full manuscript. It was the first time anyone in the publishing business had read it. He was one of the first literary agents I had queried, and he requested the full. And he responded by calling it a “terrific storyline.” Those were his words. But it was little more than a rough draft at the time. Like many first time authors, I had made the mistake of sending my manuscript out into the world before it was ready.

But as I’ve documented time and again on this blog, I kept at it. I revised it, and rewrote it, and revised it again. And again and again. I added scenes, and I added a subplot, all of which made the story ever better. And of course, I polished the prose every single time I read it through. How many times? I’ve lost count. The bottom line is that it was five years ago I began this manuscript. It was the summer of ’07. And now, five years later… five years of constant working, that is, it’s getting published by a real publisher.

OK, so it’s an independent publisher. But, hey, an independent publisher is still a real publisher. I promised myself I would never self-publish, and I kept that promise. No disrespect to those people who are self-published, but I had made my mind up that I would not go that route. No matter what. For me, it was a real publisher or nothing. And independent publishers qualify.

Sure, five years was a long wait, but according to Jack London, it takes five years to become a good enough writer to get published, and in my own personal experience I have found that he was absolutely right. Five years. And now I am a darn good writer. Good enough to be published by a real publisher. And I’ve got other books, too.

First on that list is THE VASE. That’s another one that has been polished to the point that it’s ready to go. In fact that one almost beat KILLER OF KILLERS into print. It’s been well-documented, as any reader of this blog knows. Yes, those five years not only got KILLER OF KILLERS polished, but they also produced four completed novels: two martial arts thrillers, one novel of suspense, and one of Historical Fiction.

Heck, this is fun. I’m glad I’m a writer, now. It beats playing and composing music, and even art. Yeah, I’ve spent most of my life making art. And teaching it. But being a novelist is the ultimate. Maybe I’ll end up teaching that, too. Wouldn’t that be cool.