My love for weaving stories started in childhood. It was a fantasy world that I easily wielded to ease my childish fears of the dark and right wrongs that were beyond my control. It was also a very private world. I never thought I’d share my stories with anyone.
While my girlfriends were taking their Barbies® to the beach or the market, my Barbie® (usually renamed Julia, Elizabeth, etc.) was being held captive in a medieval fortress while courageous knights fought off merciless invaders. Naturally, there was a love story intermixed with all the violence. I had discovered Shakespeare in fourth grade so my medieval phase lasted for years.
I discovered traditional Regency romances when I was seventeen. A friend’s older sister collected them so my friend used to bring them to school by the sackful. I fell wholly in love with the time period and the romance genre from that point on.
Even so, I did not entertain the notion of writing my own romance novel until my late twenties. Writing was still a very private pastime for me, and limited to short stories and poems. The turning point for me came when my eldest daughter turned one. By then, I was a stay-at-home mom and my creative muse was demanding that I do something. I baked homemade bread weekly (by hand, not with a bread machine), sewed clothes for my daughter, worked on my art, and read everything I could get my hands on.
The arrogant, persistent little imp still wasn’t satisfied.
Finally, I took a serious look at my writing. I was still spinning stories in my head to amuse myself. I rationalized privately that if I wanted to take on the challenge of writing a book, this was my chance.
However, the task I had undertaken wasn’t easy or quick. I wrote three chapters of a story and then promptly threw the pages in a drawer. Lesson learned: Outlining is a crucial tool for writing a novel. Nevertheless, I could not let such great characters go to waste. For those who have read A DESPERATE GAME, Bryson and Lis were the hero and heroine from that unfinished book.
I was better prepared for my second attempt at writing a book. I was fortunate enough to find an incredibly supportive online critique group to join so I was learning quite a bit about the business. Armed with an outline, character profiles, and research materials I went to work.
It was while I was pregnant with my second child that I wrote the first draft of A DESPERATE GAME. I was so proud to have finally finished the manuscript. My son was born, and of course, the manuscript was untouched for a year. I was too busy taking care of a new baby and a toddler to seriously fuss with it.
By the time my third child had arrived, I was already of the opinion that giving birth was much easier than trying to get my precious manuscript published—plus, they give you drugs for the pain. Those first rejection letters from faceless agents were certainly disheartening. I persevered, and eventually I found a wonderful agent who loved my story as much as I did. She sold the manuscript to Kensington three months later. From concept to being sold, my very casual stroll into the world of publishing took seven years.
Fortunately, my production pace has improved with subsequent books!
