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Monday, May 7, 2018

A WRITER'S JOURNEY BY ELIZABETH CLEMENTS





I lay in bed, trying to go back to sleep, but my mind was just too busy with what I should write for my first blog here. There are so many subjects to explore, comment on, and people much more knowledgeable than I, posting about many things. Yet, I kept coming back to the idea of a writer’s journey, and since I’m new here, perhaps the best starting point is the moment I threw that romance book against the wall and declared, “I can write better than that!”

Well, as it happened, I could…and I couldn’t. I was expecting twins at the time, and two years later my fourth son, therefore it was still another six years before a plot dropped into my thoughts in the middle of making breakfast eggs for my four little boys. The first chance I found, I scribbled down that plot. I did a lot of that, scribbling down scenes as one drifted across my thoughts. My dining room table was littered with scraps of scenes.

I went to the library and hauled home an armload of books about the Yukon gold rush and I researched voraciously. And wrote by the seat-of-my pants at times. But oddly enough, the sub-conscious is always at work in the background, like a computer, sifting, sorting, compiling, imagining. I had action scenes, and those prompted a reaction. Soon, I had lots of those, like a broken string of pearls. Gradually I strung a few together, and then more and my pearl necklace started taking shape. And then spring was suddenly upon me—blue skies, sweet sunshine and boys eager to play outdoors--and I just as eager to join them.

Months passed. Dust collected on those pages, but that internal computer must have still been at work. Because one day in early November I realized the end of the year wasn’t far away. And hadn’t I told myself months earlier I would write and finish a book by the end of the year?

Two weeks later on a Saturday morning, at approximately noon, I finished typing The End. What a glorious feeling. I sat at my dining room table, grinning like a fool at my IBM Selectric—only to hear a little voice declare, “Mommy, we’re hungry.” And there stood my four little guys, with their Dad standing behind them, on the other side of the wrought iron “gates” that separates the dining room from our big kitchen area. They all wore the most woebegone faces, hanging a real guilt trip on me. Of course Doug was quite capable of feeding them, too, but it was lunch time after all. And I believe it was also my hubby’s birthday…I think. By mid-December, after another edit and retype, I packaged up my manuscript and sent it to Harlequin.

The turnaround was two months, so when the third month went by, I started getting my hopes up. The day after my birthday, a large manila envelope protruded from the mailbox. My heart sank. I opened it, read the rejection letter, and bawled. Then half an hour later or so, I got angry. After all my hard work I had to right to know why. So, I phoned Harlequin and asked for the editor-in-chief who’d signed the letter—and I was actually put through to her. Unheard of these days. She advised she hadn’t personally read my manuscript, and was on her way to a meeting, but she would look it up upon her return. And she did. The fact that she bothered making a long-distance to a person they were not contracting, spoke volumes, but I was too inexperienced to know that. Apparently, my manuscript went through two reads; both readers deemed my story was old-fashioned and needed tightening up.

Well, silly me…I thought, okay, the hero and heroine can go to bed first and then get married. But what did the editor mean by tightening up? Many months later I was at a writers’ conference in Calgary and was introduced to an executive with Harlequin Toronto. I told him my little experience with that editor-in-chief and that’s when I learned how close I had been to getting a contract. Had I known that old-fashioned had nothing to do with sex, but rather too formal dialogue and narrative (perfect sentences with subject, verb and a clause drilled into me by my high school English teacher) and far too many adverbs, etc., I would have revised that manuscript and sent it right back to Toronto.

Instead, I made the biggest mistake of my writing life—I put that book away and started another. Finished it. Put it away and started another. While I was working on my second book, I was selected for a week-long writers’ retreat in Edmonton where I met Judith Duncan, a romance writer with Harlequin Superromances. Bless her dear heart, Judith saw something in my writing and I learned so much from her--but I still did not edit and submit for fear of being rejected.

However, I did begin entering contests. And encountered disappointments many times: two judges would love my story and the third judge nitpicked my entry to death. I learned a valuable lesson from that, but eventually stopped wasting my money entering contests. Failing to final in a contest was crushing, but the critiques from the published judges, who could get past style and see the big picture, helped me believe in myself. I just needed the right editor.

I found that editor when I submitted twenty pages of Beneath A Horse-Thief Moon for a romance writers conference in Calgary where it won the Readers Choice Award. It also won me recognition from a Kensington editor. I had an appointment with her Sunday morning and prayed she’d ask for two chapters. She blew me away by requesting both books. Six months went by and I was getting very hopeful until her letter arrived. It’s the best rejection letter I’ve ever received. Her words gave me the courage to believe in myself and in my writing.


It was at this time that life once again intervened, as it had several times before. My mother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and had, at the most, six months to live. There’s a Biblical saying I love about a time for everything, and this was the time to be with my mother. I spent every weekend with her and often left from work on Fridays to drive to my home town to be with her and leave early Monday morning to get to work. After she was gone, there was the worry of her home, packing everything up, trying to sell her house, worrying about it since I lived an hour away.

Then, when I finally found the interest to get back to my writing, a driver cut me off on the highway by swinging into my lane to make a wide turn left. I swerved around him, zigzagged across the highway and rolled my van while he blithely made his left turn and kept on going. I ended up in the hospital for eight days and lost all motivation to write.

Looking back on these years, I regret the wasted years of not writing. But are they really wasted? Yes, I wrote twelve books, on three different computers, and don’t even know if I can find the hard copies or disks for some of those books. But my internal computer still keeps on clicking away, researching, gathering information, learning and improving my writing. Characters start appearing, whispering in my ear. And dear, long-time internet friend, Jacquie Rogers, snapped her whip at my heels occasionally, never giving up on me until last year she goaded, actually flayed me to promise to do an edit and submit it to Prairie Rose Publications. As usual, I tried to procrastinate, but when I give my word—I cannot go back on it, so two days later I tackled editing three chapters and sent them to Cheryl Pierson. I could hardly believe my eyes when I read her e-mail, saying she loved it, wanted to read more and for me to submit the entire book. I sure didn’t need Jacquie’s whip after that, but hunkered down in the saddle and galloped through the rest of the chapters. And the rest is history.

I know I could have summarized this in one or two paragraphs, but I took the long-winded route in hopes that there’s someone like me out there who wants to write and submit but has self-doubts. Each writer’s journey is different, but every one of us has the same end result in mind. Getting published! There is no better time than the present for a writer to find help and information thanks to the wonderful Internet, which did not exist when I started out. There are so many free articles that one only has to type in a few key words and Google will give you a list of links. A writer can join on-line groups, find a critique partner, look up help instantly. Chat rooms are a fun place to hang out and befriend other writers and readers.

Whatever your dream, go for it, no matter how long it takes. Accept there will be stop signs and yield signs and potholes and rainy days but look for the rainbow in those misty skies. Do enter a few contests just to get the feedback (although I understand nowadays one just gets a score, and not much else from some of the contests), so enter only those where you will get scoresheets and comments back. And learn from the rejections, because sometimes there are some great nuggets of truth to guide you. Believe in yourself, because if you don’t, how can you expect anyone else to? I firmly believe we are all born with a special gift and it’s up to each of us to find out what it is and polish it till it gleams. Choose something that makes you happy. I did, and luckily, I’m now living my dream, thanks to the wonderful ladies at Prairie Rose Publications.

Elizabeth Clements
www.elizabethclements.com


https://www.amazon.com/Beneath-Horse-Thief-Moon-Prairie-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B07BHQNBDW/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=


22 comments:

  1. Elizabeth, I enjoyed reading this so much and learning about your "writing journey" that brought you to PRP! We're so glad to have you with us, and I absolutely LOVE Beneath a Horse-Thief Moon and can't wait for the next two books. You have me hooked, girl!

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    1. Thank you, Cheryl. Your words literally squeeze my heart. I'm ruled by my heart and am so happy to have found my writing home with PRP. I'll work hard to never disappoint you. Hugs.

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  2. What a journey you've been on. I love the fact you didn't give up, and I'm so happy Jacquie snapped that whip. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Yes, I stalled quite a few times, Livia, and at times the tank was pretty low, but I never quite ran out of fuel. I'm eternally grateful to Jacquie for urging me on. Those whips sting LOL.

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  3. Really quite inspiring. You really capture the journey to publication perfectly and show that determination and resilience are a must. I'm so glad you kept pushing on through all the challenges.

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    1. Thank you, that was my intent, to hopefully help another writer realize he/she is not alone, and to never give up on doing what one loves. Late is still better than never.

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  4. Your journey mirrors so many others, and it is wonderful that you have found a home and happy ending. Your story is an inspiration for so many who may be sitting on the fence about submitting, but, if this is what you want to do, then doing it is the only thing to do.

    I am so happy for you and those readers who will find your work and if they are inclined, be inspired by your journey. May it continue for a long time. Doris

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    1. We all need hope--hope is the rainbow that keeps us reaching for our dreams. I've always loved writing and although I've side-tracked myself a few times, I always had to come back to writing. Thank you for your kind words, Doris, and your generous spirit that makes me feel so welcome here.

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  5. The story behind the stories are fascinating to read. We all have our writing journeys. The more we share them with each other, the more commonalities we find and the closer we become as a human beings. *hugs*

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    1. You are absolutely right, Kaye. I love reading bios of authors whose books I love to read. They often inspire me. You are one of the kindest, most helpful people I've ever "met" and I hope one day we can meet in person so I can give you a big hug.

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  6. Elizabeth,
    You've proved that it's never too late. Glad that you're getting your stories out there. Having faith in ourselves is definitely the hardest part of this industry!!

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    1. I so agree, Kristy, it's never too late. And the wait, for me, just makes the journey that much sweeter. I've made wonderful friends along the way and it's those friends that gave me the faith to believe in myself.

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  7. I almost scrapped my blog yesterday, but now I am so gratified by all the positive comments that I'm glad I didn't hit the delete button. The whole purpose of my story was to help someone else not give up. While giving my sunscreen time to protect, I worked on my blog and somehow got a bit of sunscreen in one eye. It wouldn't stop watering, no matter how many drops I put in. Then a few hours later y right eye got into the empathy act and tears wouldn't stop. It's now after midnight and I've only written a couple of paragraphs. I mustered through, then started doubting myself, wanted to scrap it, but it's really getting late, even for this night owl. Then I couldn't get my password to work to post this. Yahoo wasn't responding with a temporary password. More time passed. So I did the only option left. Messaged Cheryl my dilemma and then sent her my blog via e-mail. At 8:30, more panic...she hadn't messaged back. So, I threw fate to the winds, left another message and went back to bed and actually managed to go back to sleep. Hours later, I saw Cheryl had posted my blog and all your wonderful feedback was balm to my writer's heart--and my eyes are almost normal again. I apologize for my typos, because I can honestly admit I wrote in a blur. Have a wonderful day, everyone and God Bless. Hugs.

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  8. So many of us have a journey so similar to yours. I don't know any overnight success authors. We all work hard at improving and learning our craft. Even writing classes may not get a writer good enough to publish. Many writers fall along the wayside and give up, except for those passionate souls who are persistent, dedicated, and well, dang stubborn enough to go for the long haul.

    I was 13 when I submitted my first story and 41 when I finally became published. I gone through several publishers alone the way and finally found what I hope is my permanent home at Prairie Rose. Just being published is always enough; finding the RIGHT publisher is imperative for a happy career in writing.

    I worry about writing blogs so I understand how you wanted your first one to be especially meaningful, Elizabeth. It was a good one, too. Every writer has a journey to tell and I think it's helpful to hear what others have discovered on their way to publication. Welcome to the PRP blog. I'm glad you're here and look forward to more of your post. All the very best to your corner of the universe, Elizabeth.

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    1. Sarah, I thought I'd replied to you, but maybe it didn't publish, or perhaps it was a different blog? A person can get so wrapped up on FB, reading so many interesting things, that I lose track of things. I know I've said it before to you--you're very kind and supportive. I love being around people who's/whose??? values reflect my own. I love helping people and making them happy. And that begins in the home and trickles outward, like a pebble skipping across a clear, calm pond.

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  9. Great maiden voyage to the blogspot, Elizabeth!There's so much of your journey I can relate to, but calling Harlequin to ask them why they rejected your book! Oh, my! That's amazing. What I hear from your story is that you believed in yourself and preserved, and now here you are!Welcome!

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    1. Thank you, Patti. Yes, looking back, that was pretty nervy of me to phone that editor...chalk it up to being naive. But y'know, reflecting on that, it was probably one of the best things I've done in my long and lonely writing career. I'm so happy to be here at PRP amongst such wonderful writers and readers. Because writing is a lonely business, it's especially important to have a wonderful support group like we have here at PRP.

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  11. Wow! Wow! Wow! I can soooo relate to the fear of rejection. You put your heart and soul into a manuscript. It becomes your baby. You want to protect it. Then someone tells you it isn't good enough. At first you're hurt. You bawl like a baby. Then, like you said, you get angry. Finally when you've calmed down, you get a trusted author friend's opinion. One who will tell you the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts, but if you've chosen the right friend to critique, she/he will mention the good points and suggest changes where needed. Finally, it all comes together and your baby is birthed. I can still feel the birth pangs.

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    1. You are absolutely right, Laurean. And when I held my book for the first time, I had no words, just held it and stroked the cover with my fingers, like I caressed the cheek of my newborn. It was another exciting moment in my life and worth the long "wait". I'm sure every author can never forget that magical moment.

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  12. Congratulations again, Elizabeth. And hey, all those trials and tribulations were worth it because otherwise, you might not have found your way to PRP. Frankly, I'm convinced PRP is the best publisher around.

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    1. Thank you, JJ. There's a reason for everything and a time for everything. For some it comes sooner; for me later, but just as sweet because the dream came true. It was meant for me to find a home for my "baby" with PRP. I agree with you, PRP is the best publisher around. Thanks for everything. Hugs.

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