To help authors market their books and and to help create greater awareness, we occasionally feature winning stories submitted to our 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading Awards Contest on this blog. The journey to success is often a long one. We hope the stories of successful authors will provide some encouragement and help others overcome the challenges they face. This story was submitted by Dana Lyons
Paranormal Romance author Dana Lyons
I’ve heard many authors answer this question. They often begin with extraneous factors like being enabled by a financial situation that coincides with time suddenly being available. Or they write fifteen minutes a day, squeezing writing in because they are determined.
Determination, time, funding, these are necessary elements, for writing takes a great deal of time and determination, which in turn requires a great deal of outside funding.
But the nitty gritty answer to the question, the answer so simple it takes less than a dozen words . . . is . . .
Wait for it . . .
Once they moved into my head, they wouldn’t let me alone.
“The stories, the characters, their names, fears and desires, plot structure, the scenes, the title, even the music–all took over my existence.”
This sense of possession, if you will, is the common denominator of all great writers who eclipse the crowd. They experience something–call it divine, or from the creator, or maybe it all came from the muse. But there is a true sense of ‘it’ coming–from without . . . or within, depends on your orientation.
And so it was for me (not to say I am a great writer, just that I am a possessed writer?). The truth is all the seminars and conventions, classes and ‘How To’ books cannot create a substitute for this possession. Because this possession results in material delivered right to your fingertips, material that makes you say again and again, “Wow! Wish I’d thought of that!” This connection cannot be learned. Perhaps receiving ideas and words from the muse is what constitutes ‘talent’. Some have it– and some do not.
So that is how it began.
All the activity that is part of writing a novel moved into my head. In the beginning it was one book at a time. But now I have about four books lined up in my head for future production in addition to the current WIP. The characters and the plot lines of those four books bubble along in the background with only a minimum of active participation on my part. When the story is worked out substantially, ‘the hopper’ as I call it, spits out the beginning scene and the ending scene. When I have those two markers locked down, I am officially ready to write that book.
I continue to write because I believe what I write, even though it is fiction, has value to whoever delves between the front and back covers of my novels. I like to say “Fiction: the little lie that tells the big truth.” Fiction, even paranormal fiction, may not be ‘real’, but the hopes and desires, the fears and goals of the characters are no different than yours or mine. Paranormal events may be out of this world, but the emotions and motivations of the people on those pages are as real as they get.
My readers have told me I give them something to think about. That small encouragement is enough to justify all these strangers living in my head. That encouragement, small as it may be, is also enough to keep ‘the hopper’ going.
Plus, I don’t know what would happen to ‘the hopper’ filled with all those stories if I were to try and shut it down.
Like all ‘pre-published’ writers I went through the standard progression of write, rewrite, polish, then submit the current manuscript to contests, editors, and agents. By accident I stumbled upon Black Lyon Publishing, and they quickly signed me for the first book I published, HEART OF THE DRUAE. That book opened a new line at the time for Black Lyon, Ancient Times Romance.
Being published is like winning a Nobel Prize, or the Super Bowl. It is elevating, making you grin and light up like a Halloween pumpkin. The next great excitement came when I walked into a bookstore right as the bookseller was describing HEART OF THE DRUAE to a prospective buyer. I’m pretty sure I escaped gravity for a few moments.
With one book under my belt, I gave ‘the hopper’ free reign. Next came a perfect story of reincarnation with A LOVE REBORN–a modern tale of ancient love, magic and betrayal. With this book I collected sixteen 5 star reviews on Amazon, another elevating moment to remember.
I have now, in 2015, four books published with Black Lyon Publishing, an independent publisher I am very happy to be with. First came HEART OF THE DRUAE, a time travel romance about Stonehenge, then another romance, A LOVE REBORN, about reincarnation and justice. With my last two books, THE ROSETTA COIN and THE ROAD TO BABYLON I crossed genres into paranormal adventure, or Romantic Adventure as my publisher calls it. My current WIP is a time travel romance, but the next book will be a contemporary adventure, no paranormal element. I like to keep my novels diverse and interesting.
My goal is to see my novels on the big screen. Because ‘the hopper’ displays the book scenes in my head like a movie, it was relatively easy to convert the story to a screenplay. I have THE ROSETTA COIN screenplay entered into three accredited contests currently, so we’ll see what happens when these contest scores are released. Hopefully, Rosetta will attract some attention.
THE ROSETTA COIN and THE ROAD TO BABYLON are very special to me. They represent my hope and belief that the human race has a tremendous potential within our grasp–a potential to eclipse time and space with our inherent and very human abilities. The story continues with Babylon where a suspenseful mix of ancient evil, ancient Egyptian history, ancient artifacts, crop circles, drones, and the Illuminati cross paths with a man not-of-this-world who has a destiny with humanity.
Writing is often associated with insanity. It requires an insane level of dedication that may, or may not, ever see satisfaction. Your competition is astronomical to say the least, making the bar, because of the numbers, insanely high for success. The financial rewards are likely insanely poor for all your effort . . .
And yet all it takes is that one story that catches someone’s eye–a celebrity is seen carrying your book, a producer reads your screenplay and smiles, an actor desires the part, a director is captured by your vision, and BAM! Your satisfaction level just went completely insane!!
Find out more about Dana’s books by visiting her website, http://www.paranormalromancebookauthor.com.