ELSIE PARK: On Publication Challenges

A SHADOWS OF VALOR Blog Tour Post

Please welcome Elsie Park, newly published author, to the blog! Her debut novel, Shadows of Valor, was published by Jolly Fish Press earlier this week on September 7th! She's here to talk about publication challenges today.

Congratulations and welcome, Elsie! I'll let you take it from here. :)

Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog, Brenda! I’m glad to be here and happy to share whatever I’ve got to give *smiling*.

Is this a fab cover, or what?

The topic you asked me to write on, "Five challenges on the road to publication, and how I met them head on", is certainly a good one. When I read the topic, I thought, “Sheesh, I can only pick FIVE challenges on the road to publication? – LOL. Sometimes it seems like there are a gazillion. But, I managed to come up with five that are at the top of my personal list. For some they may seem miniscule, for others, daunting. Everyone picks and chooses their battles, and these were mine:

1) Taking that first step - Many people say, “Oh, I cold NEVER write a novel!” But I’m evidence that ANYONE can write a novel. As my father likes to remind me: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” The thought of a full length novel was daunting to me, so I started out with a few scattered scenes. I simply typed them out in no particular order, on a word document and entitled it something to the effect of “Story Idea.” I then pieced them together in a tentative plot. Then I put in a few more scenes here and there. Then I let my mother read it and give me feed back, resulting in her suggesting some more things she’d like to hear about in the story. So I added more scenes. Little by little, the story grew in pages and before I knew it, I had a full-length novel on my hands.

2) Finding the time to write and placing it on your list of priorities - Learning to utilize the time given to me between children, household, school, church, groceries, cleaning, you name it, was a big challenge (and still is). I had to balance my time between my little ones and my writing. This often led to staying up late to type, losing sleep and feeling very tired the next day. But I’d eventually catch up on my sleep and feel that the work I’d accomplished on my novel was worth the fatigue. I didn’t meet this challenge head on, though. Sometimes I actually dodged it, which is why it took me about 6 years to get my final draft done and published. I had set the manuscript aside for months at a time, because of newborns in the house, not having enough money in the budget to send my manuscript to any more publishers and agents, being so tired after a day of being a mother that I didn’t have the energy to stay up late or get up early and write. I’m happy to say that I manage my time a little better now.

3) Rewriting – Paying attention to good and correct grammar is essential in lessening the number of rewrites and for not getting burned out over the entire process. Every time people read the manuscript and have “plenty” to say about it results in yet another rewrite. The thought of doing so causes literal headaches, chocolate fetishes and difficulties in finding ways to get motivated again. The hardest thing for an author to hear is “constructive” (or “destructive”) criticism about their writing. Criticism ruffles a writer’s feathers like nothing else – LOL! BUT, in the end, we admit that many who gave their opinions presented good points, great ideas to think about and wonderful lessons in humility to learn. A smart writer will listen to the readers with an open mind and humble pen. I revised my manuscript probably 15+ times over the six years I worked on it. Each time I revised I wanted to cry that I had to spend days and days changing something I thought had been perfect, but in the end I realized that each version ended up better than the last thanks to all the blood, sweat and tears put into it.

4) Making a good first impression with a great query letter – A publisher or an agent usually doesn’t know you from Adam, so your first impression could very well be your last if it’s not done with professional precision. I think I spent just as much time on my query letters as on my manuscript. If a query looks bad, is sloppy, not typed, has bad spelling and grammar, is printed on hot pink paper and doesn’t follow the guidelines set by that particular agency, then it will get tossed more often than not. The publisher doesn’t have the time to give your unprofessional-looking query the time of day. Make yourself stand out with your good writing, good grammar, and obvious ability to follow directions is the way to get noticed.

5) Not getting discouraged – A key to meeting this challenge head on is drawing strength from yourself, your loved ones and your true friends who give you confidence and support. Also, going to writer’s conferences helps immensely as you meet with authors, both published and unpublished, who share the same goals and challenges and give each other strength and encouragement. Every speaker at a conference is there to help advance your work, and you leave feeling buoyed up and ready to try again. Believing in yourself is key. Believing that you’ve written something that needs to be shared and that people would love to read is essential to getting over discouragement.

I hope these things were helpful and encouraging to readers.

Thanks so much for having me here on your blog, Brenda!

 

Anytime, Elsie! I wish you all the best with your debut!

A little background info...

SHADOWS OF VALOR overview: Taking place in 1300 A.D. England, The Shadow (aka Sir Calan), a knight-spy working under the direction of King Edward I, hunts down and arrests smugglers who defy the law and evade paying their taxes. The Shadow’s duty is fueled by vengeance from a childhood experience against smugglers. Dealing with society at its worst, The Shadow becomes cynical and struggles to reign in his desire to execute lethal justice before turning the perpetrators over to local authorities. He feels his soul turning black with hate in his continual fight against evil. A childhood acquaintance, Lady Elsbeth, enters his life years later, bringing light to his soul once again, but she has a story of her own, accompanied by physical and emotional scars. Calan feel he needs Elsbeth in his life, but in an effort to keep his identity and duty secret, he must deceive her. This creates distrust and uncertainty between them, as she accepts another man as her suitor. But Calan must ask the question: What’s worth fighting for more? His long-standing desire to avenge a childhood friend or the woman who may be his salvation? What entails is a glorious tale full of deceit, greed, inner struggles, betrayal, and most of all—love.

About Elsie:

Growing up in a small mountain town outside of Yosemite National Park, California, U.S.A., Elsie enjoyed playing soccer, playing piano, reading, writing, art and spending time with family and friends. Years ago she spent 18 months in Italy teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Seeing the castles and old Roman cities only added to her fascination for ancient and medieval culture. In college she studied zoology, botany and criminal justice. She’s worked as a wildland firefighter, security guard and a police officer, but she is currently a stay-at-home mom, spending time with her children and husband. She loves thinking up new ideas for interesting stories and musical compositions to go with them.

Want more information? Want to by Elsie's book? Look here:

E-mail: elsie_rees@hotmail.com

Blog: http://www.elsiepark.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @elsiepark1

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorelsiepark

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadows-of-valor-elsie-park/1114940696?ean=9781939967077

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18216270-shadows-of-valor

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/

Military Monday: Separation and Reunion (Kathy Gaudet)

I'd like to welcome a very special person to the blog today: my sister, Kathy (Corey) Gaudet. Kathy has a special perspective to bring to the blog. She spent 9 years as a medic in the military, met her first husband (who also wore the uniform) there, and went through the pain and dark days of a difficult divorce. She persevered, reconnected with Bob, an old military friend, and they married a few years later.

Kathy and Bob know first hand the challenges of military family life, and over the past few years they have dealt with deployments and other separations, moves, retirement and the nasty echoes of post traumatic stress disorder.

Kathy has graciously offered to discuss a few topics with us over the next few months, and today she's talking about separation, and the problems that result from long periods of living apart. I'll let her tell it her way...

My sister! Kathy (Corey) Gaudet

The Hard Stuff (by Kathy Gaudet)

No one every said it would be easy being a military wife and it wasn’t.  I understood that my husband would be away frequently, but I never anticipated raising 3 kids on my own for a majority of the time.  I know that may military wives have similar stories, but this is mine.

For me, there was always a distancing period prior to my husband leaving for any tasking, course, or deployment. It wasn’t intentional, but instinctual. I started planning what I had to do and prepared myself for the task ahead.  I wanted to spend as much time as I could with my best friend, but there would be discussions and arguments about how things should work while he was away.  Planning if and when he would be coming home.  When leaving for a deployment, there was always fear that he would not return....

While he was away, it always took about a week for things to start running smoothly.  I became Mom and Dad.  We generally did not get posted close to family, so we were on our own.  I hope that I could rely on my friends if anything happened that put me out of commission for a few days.  I made sure there was a list of emergency phone numbers for family by the phone.

I learned to wait patiently by the phone in hopes of hearing my husband’s voice, even if only for a few short minutes.  I counted the days on a calendar down to the minute when I would see him again.  I prayed daily for his safety and that I wouldn’t have a Padre show up on my door step, which is never good.  Many nights I would cry myself to sleep, just wanting it all to be over.

Reunions were bittersweet.  With my husband being constantly away, there were the constant transition periods--the days when he did make it home on the weekends after being away.  There was always tension when he got home and some days you could cut the air with a knife. Should he be helping more, because I was so tired of doing everything?  While he was away, I did everything from making sure the kids got to school, working, my schooling, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, transporting kids to activities, paying bills, mowing the lawn, repairing the toilet, and so on. 

I was so used to running everything my way, I would become angry when he didn't do it the way I did.  I would fold and put laundry away in a certain spot, when he folded clothes, nothing fit in the drawer the way it normally did.  Not putting his dishes in the dishwasher just about drove me crazy, it meant more work for me.  It may sound trivial to get mad about that, but what was wrong with the way I was doing it? I don’t want another person to pick up after! 

Kathy and her husband, Bob Gaudet

When disciplining the children, I would ground them and stick to the punishment.  When dad got home, the kids always asked him if they could go out, they new he would generally say “Yes.”  He didn’t know they were grounded or had restrictions for reasons, because we hadn’t spoken about it due to time restraints. Or he wanted to be the good-time dad because he was leaving again in a few days and wanted to see the kids happy.

It was difficult for the kids, not knowing how to deal with discipline from two parents and at times they would play us against each other.  I would be lenient in some areas, as I just didn’t have the time or energy to fight with the kids over minor things.  I loved it when the kids were invited over somewhere for a night.   I could also be very strict, and I worried more than the average mom about their safety. I didn’t need more things to occupy my mind. 

As for my husband, he wanted to have some rest and relaxation, stay at home doing nothing. I wanted to get out and go do things--things normal couples do, like dress up, going out for dinner, and just have some adult time.   While living apart due to work, my husband stayed in hotels or under canvas (in tents).  He would eat military food or meals from restaurants almost every night.  When he came home he wanted a home-cooked meal, wanted to sit in his chair, have a beverage, and spend time with his family.

Hope this gives you a small glimpse into what it is like for a military mom.

 

Thank you, Kathy! Living apart is never easy, and the weeks after military spouses return from a deployment or other military duty are often incredibly stressful. Thank you for your honest account of how difficult it can be. I'm sure many of my readers can relate.