On December 31st there was a knock at my door. It was our local courier delivering two boxes. Opening them was one of the most surreal moments of my life. Inside, fifty books with my name on them. I can still hardly believe it.
The idea for Sunset Bay came to me in 2012 when I took part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the second time. It’s an international contest where authors are challenged to write 50,000 words during the month of November. It’s an on your honour contest with the prize being a certificate you print off yourself. One of my ADHD characteristics is being a master procrastinator. I do some of my best work with a deadline looming – it’s worked for me all my life.
For me NaNoWriMo is a month of whining and complaining, countless cups of tea and snacks. Days where the words flowed and days where I was on the struggle bus. After crossing the 50,000 word finish line I put the manuscript in the filing cabinet and there it collected dust. Two manuscripts neither one of them close to being a book.
In 2020 during the Covid lockdown I dug out both manuscripts and read them. But instead of finishing one of the books and going through the process of finding an agent and a publisher I went about things ass backwards. Ask anyone who knows me and spontaneous is not a word they’d use to describe me. Launching myself off a cliff I signed up for a full publishing/marketing package with Tellwell Publishing. Paid in full up front.
Fast forward 2021, 2022 and 2023. I’d get random emails checking in to see how I was coming along. Then one of the scariest emails I’ve ever received. To tell me I had one year before my contract would expire and I’d lose the money. All the money. This my friends was a case of me not reading the fine print. NaNoWriMo to the rescue. One more time I hunkered down in my office and one more time finished the race. This time though I had to keep going. It was an exhilarating moment pressing the submit button.
Not the end however. It was a long and winding road of questionnaires to create the cover & back of the book, the intense editing process and now implementing marketing strategies to share Sunset Bay. To each and every one of you that has purchased a book online or in person – thank you !!
And stay tuned there’s a contest coming soon.