Cara

Today I uploaded my first novel to Kindle Direct Publishing. 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O9A9QV6

I started writing it shortly after graduating from University of Oregon in 1996. It was about a girl who returns to U of O after her mission, and she falls in love with someone who is not a member of the church.

It is obviously not based on my life, because I fell in love before my mission, not after, and we didn't end up together, but it was still close to my heart. I may have been doing customer service in the tech sector for income, but the plan had always been to write, and now I was really getting started.

Because it was LDS-themed that limited the market. I knew of three publishing houses to try, so I sent it to all of them, and they all said no.

That was disappointing, especially because I had started imagining all of these other love stories happening in between Portland and Eugene, and I thought I would write all of them, and then it was like, okay, that's not happening.

A few years later I was cleaning some files, and I found my rejection letters and re-read them. They had been better than I remembered. I guess what I had learned by then was that no matter how much publishers might think readers would enjoy reading your novel, they have to give even more weight to considering whether they can get anyone to buy your novel. I may think I write better love scenes than Jack Weyland, but I do not have his name recognition.

I felt better about my writing. These letters were complimentary, and the people whom I had let read it, which included at least one person who wasn't a member, had liked the book. At the same time, it seemed too late. For one thing, the book was now essentially recent historical fiction. There is one chapter that hinges on not getting a letter. People had cell phones when I was writing it, but they weren't very common. Now not only are they more frequently used than land lines, they have pretty much abolished long distance charges.

Also, I would think about all of these parts that were maybe too preachy, or trying too hard to tie it to Eugene, which would only be interesting for people who went there, and it felt like any attempt to go back to it wouldn't be worth it.

Fast forward to 2014, and I am trying once more, very hard, to break into writing, and I started remembering Cara. Something else I am going to work on soon will be set in 1994 and 1997, so that could be part of it, but I started thinking maybe I could put it up, just to see. I opened the file to take a look.

Okay, I did see where I used too many words, and that there were parts that were kind of clunky, but I forgot that there were things that really moved me too. There were things that were funny and touching and it was about people that I really liked. So I did go through and make a few improvements, but it is basically still what it was, and it is in the process of publishing and will soon be available to anyone who wants it for $2.99.

I'm not pinning a lot of hopes on it. There is still a limited market, I think, but I am giving it a chance as part of giving me a chance. And it's practice, because in November I am going to convert the Family Blood screenplay into a novel, and when I upload that I will have already had some experience with the process.

(And I have a better business plan here, because I intend to give the sequel away for free, and I believe that will drive interest in the first and third installments. Plus, vampires have a pretty wide audience.)

It's really just one more thing in a week where I am doing a lot of different things, but it feels good. It feels like things are happening. I'm ready for that.