Lin Christie

Shadow Life, my debut novel, is on the way to press. The journey to this point, however, has been years in the making. I have been working on the story for nearly a decade. Ferris’ story started out very different from the final product. The manuscript has been written, read, rewritten, revised, re-rewritten, reviewed, rubbish canned, rested, retrieved from the rubbish can, rearranged, re-read, and finally resurrected and reformed into something resembling a readable book.

Like all novice writers, I started out enthusiastically. I was a genius! I was going to be a New York Times Best Selling Author by Christmas! And then I took the manuscript to my writers’ group and awaited their positive reviews. Well. That didn’t go as I thought it would. There’s a reason our group was called the Dorsal Fin Society.

But I didn’t give up. I took the criticism, kept the good ideas, threw out the stuff that didn’t serve my story, and kept working. After a little over a year, I felt like I had something good. The Dorsal Fins agreed it was much improved. I’m ready for the big time!

I started submitting my manuscript to agents. Mostly, I got the curt “Sorry. It’s not a good fit” reply. But I kept going. And one day, an agent asked to see the complete manuscript. One month passed with no news. Then two. No news is good news, right? Hope began to build. Every day, I opened my emails first thing in the morning. Three months. Four. On the day her email arrived, my hands were shaking as I pressed open. “Sorry,” it said. “It’s not a good fit.”

<sigh>

Get up. Dust off and repeat.

Undeterred, I submitted the first chapter to a large agency for their “New Voices” contest. The top prize was representation. I made the initial cut. The second cut. Only two more levels to the finals. Yes! Made the third cut. And that was it. I was crushed. Demoralized. I decided I was no writer after all. The manuscript was put in the trunk, never to be seen again.

It languished untouched while I worked on my craft. I attended workshops. I read “how to” books written by famous authors. I worked with the Dorsal Fin Society and the Central Arkansas Speculative Fiction Writers’ Group. I read dozens of books in a variety of genres: science fiction, high fantasy, urban fantasy, mainstream, mystery, and especially non-fiction. I didn’t understand it at the time, but non-fiction was helping me understand how to build a world that seemed real. Most importantly, though, I experimented with different writing styles. Through that experimentation, I found my voice.

One day, I was ready to pick up Ferris’ story again. I knew it was a good story. Unfortunately, a good story does not make a good book if the story is not told well. It was time to start killing some of my babies. No line or scene was safe. I edited with a chainsaw. Anything that didn’t contribute to characterization, world-building, or the heart of the story was under review and would likely be on the dust pile by the end of the day. And when I finished my first sweep, I sent it to my beta readers for critique. Then I did it again. And again. And again. After the third or fourth sweep, I finally saw what I think was the biggest problem: the chapters were in the wrong order. Deep breath, shake and bake, and resubmit to the betas. And finally, I got the thumbs up. But more importantly, I knew it was ready. In my bones, I knew it was ready. All in all, Shadow Life had been completely edited six times.

But now I had another problem. After my encounters with the agents, I was feeling gun shy. I knew Shadow Life was ready to be seen by someone in the business. But I also knew that after all that heart-wrenching work, the last thing I needed to hear was “Sorry. It’s not a good fit.” And I knew that might be enough to crush my spirit again. So I sat on my finished book. I did nothing. It was the safest thing.

After a long period of self-doubt, I finally realized that this book—this version of my book—was a completely different book than the one those agents had seen a couple years back. I took a deep breath, put on my brave girl armor, and decided to attend a writers’ conference where I could have an agent or an editor review the first ten pages. I studied the professionals’ bios, looking for someone who knew the genre I write in and, more importantly, someone I could see myself working with. Someone who had passion for the written word and a nurturing attitude toward writers.

Enter Micah Campbell of Anatolian Press. His kind and helpful critique of my first chapter made me realize Micah would be a perfect mentor. When he asked to see the complete manuscript, sending it was an easy decision. The rest, as they say, is history.

So here we are, embarking on a new voyage. Thanks for coming with me. The journey is always better with friends.