Five Years Ago to Now. . . .

When I opened up a Microsoft Word document five years ago to pen my first book, I had no idea of what I was getting into.  I thought that I could just write, and make sure the spelling is correct, the story flows well, nouns and verbs agree, and viola, here's my manscript.  Boy, nothing is further from the truth!  I came to realize that I hadn't even scratched the surface for crafting a manuscript for publishing.

I have spent years in a job where I edited and reworked manuals.  I spent five years writing portfolios for all the classes I took at Baker College to obtain my BA and MBA.  Basic grammar and creative writing had always been a part of my life since grade school.  But there is a world of difference between writing 'how to' and writing a romance novel.

I was ecstatic when Beachwalk Press Inc. contacted me with an offer for my romance story called Delayed Justice.  I am also nervous.  I've still a lot of work to do with the manuscript.  There are a lot more edits and tweaking that needs to be done with it.  I'm blessed that the publisher is working with me on this and I hope they don't decide to drop me.

This is all a new learning process for me now. 

Some things, I just didn't know.  In my writing career, which has spanned over twenty-five years, I never had a need to know this, or if I did, it's tucked away deep within this fifty something year old brain of mine.   Things such as one POV per scene, dialogue tags and when to use and not use them, action beats, pacing, using active versus passive verbs, a new paragraph for each dialogue, punctuation (although I did know the punctuation for the basic grammar, I didn't know how to use correct punctuation in dialogue and dialogue tags).

So, what I started out with five years ago, has basically morphed into something more complex and challenging. I have never backed down from a challenge, so I'm moving forward, charging from the gate, manuscript in tow.  Look out world, I'm coming through. . . . . .