I’m fortunate enough to have been tagged in what is essentially a literary chain letter by the talented writer and IndieHeart.com book reviewer, Jill Nojack. To have my book, THE CANDIDATE’S DAUGHTER reviewed by Jill was an absolute thrill for me. She hit on the heart of the book in her review, and I cannot tell you how delighted I was. For the full review, you can see it here: THE CANDIDATE'S DAUGHTER.
So what is my writing process? I’ve now completed and published two thrillers, THE CANDIDATE’S DAUGHTER, and THE CONTESTANT, each quite different but for one aspect—they both involve at least one disabled character. I’ve been warned I’ll become known as “The author who writes about disability.” I could think of worse claims to fame.
The writing process for each was so different, I couldn’t say that either represents my actual process, but if there were one I’d like to follow, I’ve bullet-pointed it here:
Think of a theme
Develop characters through whom this theme can be examined
Write
Beta readers
Send to editor/proof reader Sara J. Henry. Her eye for story structure and characterisation is phenomenal. She can skim read a novel within twenty-four hours and tell you exactly where it’s falling down. The value of that is immeasurable.
Edit/Proof Read
After writing THE END on THE CANDIDATE’S DAUGHTER, I was pretty happy with the line editing. Each of my betas had done a line check, and a couple had picked up grammatical errors. So when I published and got a raft of reviews that made note of spelling and grammatical errors, I was floored. I subsequently sent it off to my dear, dear Editor/Proof Reading friend, Linda M. Au. She’s been at it twenty-five years, and it shows. The problems she picked up that no one else saw were amazing. THE CONTESTANT has also been through her hands. I love her to bits and would recommend her to anyone who wants a great job done.
Publishing is more than just hitting the Publish button on Amazon. Since commissioning my first book cover, I see now how much of a difference the right cover makes to a book. Same with the book description. Every book you buy or read on publishing will tell you the same thing—have a great cover, and a great book description. And if you manage your book like it’s a business, then you’ll reap the rewards.
I’d like to thank Jill for giving me this opportunity, and to pass the torch to three other authors I’m proud to know. The first is Jose Bogran, a terrific thriller writer from Honduras. His latest release FIREFALL is available on Amazon, but I'm sure he'll let you know all about that.
My second wonderful tag is Cat Connor, an incredible New Zealand writer who pens the Ellie Conway BYTE series, also available on Amazon.
My third, but not last, is the aforementioned Linda M. Au. Linda is one of the funniest, wittiest people I know. Her book A FORK IN THE ROAD is a must for anyone who needs a good belly laugh. And quite frankly, who doesn't?