It was at the beginning of 2012 that a thought for a novel came into my mind. I had just finished my first novel, Golden Haze, had it published and I thought it was time to expand my writing capabilities. I thought what is it like when a spouse dies? I have been married well over 40 years and I know if something happened to Lina I would be devastated.
That was my first thought of the novel. I was making it of a man from South Carolina and his wife would be killed in a car accident. He couldn't move on in his life and finally after three years he is visited by God. God knew that he had much life to live yet, so he sends Shane on a walking journey across America. Where was
he going? What would he find when he got there? How would his life change? Would he be safe on his journey? I had many things to consider as I wrote this novel.
In the summer of 2012 I became very ill and had to have an operation. It caused me to take about a three month absence from writing the novel. After feeling much better I got back to it. I wrote word after word,
paragraph after paragraph, and finally chapter after chapter. It was an image running through my brain. I could see what was happening as he walked on his journey. I could see what he found when he got to where he was going. I could see another tragedy in his life. It was running through my mind plain as day. It was unfolding into a story.
I wrote a couple of chapters that I didn't like so I deleted them and went on another idea of how I wanted the story of Shane Donaldson's life to continue. Finally the story of his life was finished in my mind. It was sent off to my proofreader who made corrections and changes to make my story better. That proof reader is my daughter. She is very good at what she does. I made all of those changes and, Walk to Love, was finally finished the way I wanted it to be.
I spent the next year contacting literary agents and kept getting some good feedback, but the rejections kept piling up. They got frustrating and heartbreaking. I didn't want to give up. The idea of traditional publishing was a dream. To much of a dream I guess so after a year and 83 rejections I came to reality and decided to self-publish again.
I did many searches on the Internet and checked out many self publishers. I didn't want to go with the one that I used for, Golden Haze, because I felt I was over charged. Finally I found a publisher that gave me a very good price. I went with e-booktime.com. It has been a couple of months dealing with them and as of last week, Walk to Love, is a reality. The cover was designed by my daughter. She is a graphic designer.
In a little less than three years it has taken me from my first thought to having the novel in print. It is a writer's dream to see their work in print. Nothing is like the thrill for a struggling writer than to hold a copy of the book in their hand. I haven't received that first copy yet because the novel was finalized only a few days ago.
Almost three years from start to finish. Many idea changes, many corrections, but the best things in life take time. I hope that everyone that reads, Walk to Love, enjoys it as much as I did writing it.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
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