to begin

I wish I always began by thanking God for each day. Something to strive for.

I am going to borrow a tool from a friend in my critique group. She bought a book with exercises for writing and showed me the first one. It was simply to decode the words "thebegin" to get a person thinking outside the box. More specifically, to get a writer to open their mind to new ways of writing. The entire book looks fascinating, and once I get the title and author, I hope to purchase it myself.

I won't tell you the answer to "thebegin" except to say that it is quite simply a way to start.

For me, I am starting my first website simply as this blog. And I look forward to what is to come. I don't know the end of my story, like I know the end to the one I've written, but neither does anyone else. In college, I had dreams, and not only of becoming a published author. I wanted to marry and have a house. Those dreams have come true and I am truly blessed in the life I live. But as I've been reminded throughout my creative writing courses, and in many FWA (Florida Writers Association) events, the only person stopping me from the next step is me! I have to take it.

As a runner, that literal "step" can be torment. I completed my first marathon in January at Disney World a week before my wedding. I wouldn't recommend that kind of timing to anyone. About a million steps tortured me there, but each one was as important as the next. I would not have gotten to my goal--the finish line at Epcot--if I had not continued to take each and every step despite the pain. The best part was having my cousin with me. I had her encouraging words and her physical presence to keep me going. This translates well in the writing world. Sure, most people write alone, but it's important to connect with others for the process leading toward publication.

I am currently editing and re-editing a novel called Livinity that I began eight years ago. This is no exaggeration. My only comfort is that Tolkien spent fourteen years writing The Lord of the Rings, although that was three books. Maybe I shouldn't feel comforted.

Livinity is an epic fantasy novel, and only in the last year or so did I begin to see it is a YA (young adult) epic fantasy novel. I believe adults will enjoy the novel as well. The main character, Chloe, is twenty-three years old, and lives in a medieval world where humans and fairies (people, not pixies) struggle to coexist. Corrupt kings and lords hide terrible secrets that come to light as the story begins, unfolding throughout the novel in a web of subplots involving pirates, Magicians, knights, traitors and spies.

So far I have received one rejection from an agent and one from a publisher, and I look forward to many more. The more rejections I get out of the way, the sooner my manuscript will land on the lap of the agent/publisher who sends me an acceptance. At least that is the attitude I hope to adopt each time the answer is no. There is always another place to submit.

Back to re-editing.