HOW I CAME TO WRITE MY FIRST NOVEL

I have written since the age of nine, wrote a full length children’s adventure story book when I was eleven, put out a colouring book for a shopping mall, wrote a book about two little boys’ on an island, had many feature stories and articles published over the years, and kept trying to get my short stories published. However, it wasn’t until my short story “Love at Sunset” was published in the July 19th, 2013, "Summer Collector's Edition" of "The Lady" Magazine, London, England, that my fiction really started to take off and I decided to write a novel.

The Editor of “The Lady” described my short story “Love at Sunset” as “hugely popular”. A friend in the U.K. mentioned it was reminiscent of the popular British television series “Last Tango in Halifax” about a couple in their seventies rekindling a relationship. And some readers told me that they would love to know more about the protagonists, so at the end of May 2014, I decided to develop a romantic suspense novel out of the short story.

Once started, it was much easier than I thought it would be! I got caught up in the characters and their lives and became excited about the novel. I was so excited, I started writing the book at the beginning of June, and the first draft was finished by the end of July! I worked hard on redrafting and my novel was finally ready to send out to prospective literary agents and traditional publishers by October 2014.

So far, I’ve sent out over sixty queries and submissions. One agent wrote that she had read a big chunk of my book and she loved the characters, the settings and the storyline, but she offered some suggestions for improvement. I made the changes and sent the novel back to her again. Despite a couple of follow-ups I haven’t heard back from her! This agent had even offered to let one of her assistants contact me with a critique, but I didn’t hear from them either.

I had one encouraging reply from an American publisher, who emailed me that my query had been forwarded to their committee for review. Most other responses were kind and encouraging, but probably generic!

I am determined to get my novel published, if not traditionally, by the wonderful world of publishing that has opened up on the internet. So look out for an announcement on this site that my novel “Love at Sunset” is to be published!