The day has arrived. Beckoning Blood has launched and is now available to buy and start reading right now. I’m so excited to think of the people who pre-ordered the book and how it’s now available in their ereaders.
While they’ve only had to wait a month or less to read it, it’s been a longer road for me to get it to them. All up, it’s taken four and a half years to get the book to this stage.
I started writing it in November 2009 for NaNoWriMo. For those people not familiar with it, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and it’s where people all over the world commit to writing 50,000 words (a novel) in one month.
Though I’d studied creative writing in university, I hadn’t written much fiction since graduation. The sense of time running out grew over the years and I gave myself a stern talking to. Either I’d make a proper go of it, starting with NaNoWriMo, or I’d probably have to let the dream of becoming an author go (at least for the time being).
The idea for my twin brother vampires, Olivier and Thierry, emerged out of an earlier character and story idea. Their story started to form in my mind and, when November began, I got to work on the 50,000 word target. By the end of the month, I’d reached 50K but still had further to go. I finished the first full draft by Christmas and then in January, undeterred by the work ahead, began editing.
Over the next couple of years, I rewrote chapters (and a whole third of the book) and polished it and polished it. I submitted it to five publishers in total and one agent. While there were positive noises from some, it wasn’t until submitting to Escape Publishing in 2012 that I got a bite.
Initially, Kate from Escape said no but provided feedback and said she’d look at it again with changes. I set to work, rewriting the opening chapters, and then resubmitted it. And what do you know? Kate asked for the full and in August I received an email to say it had been accepted and a contract was on the way.
I was in Quebec City at the time, on holiday with my partner, and woke up to this most exciting news. There wasn’t much getting back to sleep after that.
The final few yards to publication have been smooth sailing. My edits were light compared to what I thought I’d get. The cover has turned out wonderfully. And now, here we are: release day.
Of course, this is really just the beginning. One book does not a career make, so once the giddiness of this day passes, I’ll be on to the next book. And the one after that. And the one after that.
Exciting times ahead. And I hope you’ll be there to share the highs and lows with me.
Ebook available from: Escape Publishing | Kindle | iBooks | Kobo | Nook
To celebrate the release of Beckoning Blood, I’m running a giveaway for the month of May. The grand prize is a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of Beckoning Blood. I’m also offering two runner-up prizes of a copy of the book each. Enter below. Competition closes 31 May 2014.
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