Welcome to my week-long author spotlight focusing on my fellow 4 authors of the Winter's Sweet Kiss anthology!
Each is going to share a bit about their own scribbling sojourn, and my guest today is Annabelle Blume!
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Everyone has a different idea of what the road to publishing will be like. Some envision rocketing to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list with the Great American Novel. Others prepare for a long, harrowing journey full of hard lessons and ego checks. I fell into the latter group.
When I wrote my first book, Frozen Heart, I did everything I could to prepare the manuscript for submission. My goal was to get picked up by a small to medium size publisher without an agent. I took self-editing classes from top professionals in the industry. I employed several critique partners to rip apart my story so I could piece it back together cleaner, better, and stronger. I fortified my hope within the parameters of what I believed to be a realistic set of expectations. Then, I sent it out to my first round picks: A conservative list of ten publishers, all of which specialized in romance ebooks. I anticipated exactly ten rejection letters to follow in the next few weeks.
At this point, the story played out in an entirely different way from how I expected or even allowed myself to hope.
Of course, within the first 48 hours I received two rejections. Those emails were invigorating. Rejections meant I was a real writer! I had finished a book and mustered the courage to submit it somewhere, anywhere. But then, one afternoon I opened my email to a long, personalized letter from an editor asking me to revise and resubmit. I thanked her and said I’d take the revisions under consideration. I wasn’t ready to change my story yet. My gut told me that those revisions, though sound and completely understandable, would change the entire direction of my story. I wasn’t interested in compromising the character arc I had created at that point. So, I waited to hear back from the remaining seven publishers.
That was when things got crazy. One request for full followed another and, in a fabulous twist of fate, I ended up with three offers as well as the first revise and resubmit. With careful consideration, and a bit of breathing into a paper bag, I eventually chose the house that I felt was right for my book.
I still look back on that time as something of a fairytale. Getting published was supposed to be something I spent years and years striving for, something that made me tear at my hair and gnash my teeth down to nubs. But reality turned out to be far better than my imagination had allowed.
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An Unexpected Wreath
By Annabelle Blume
Stella’s got everything she needs
in life: a great job, a beautiful house, and her independence. But on last
minute trip to the local Christmas tree lot she finds something, or rather
someone, she desperately wants - Grayson. An emergency trip to Target, an
unexpected wreath, and a little Christmas magic make the season much brighter.
Purchase Links:
Print Copies
Createspace (Print - Best Option)
Amazon (Print)
eBook Copies
Excerpt:
"It's great you paid attention to
your Stranger Danger lessons, but I'm not a serial killer."
"How do I know that?"
"Because I'm telling you I'm
not."
His lackadaisical drawl infuriated
her."Oh, and I suppose Ted Bundy passed out business cards listing his
profession as a psychopath?"
"Here.” He handed over his business
card. “See, not a psychopath or a killer. Just a guy who owns a Christmas tree
lot. Let's get this to your place before it grows roots, and I have to chop it
down to sell again next year."
The clean, white rectangle in her hand
listed one Grayson Harris, owner and CEO of Harris Enterprises, LTD, as well as
all pertinent contact information. She tucked it into her purse and resumed her
uptight attitude, for good measure.
"Fine, now if
they find me buried under the begonias in the spring, they'll know who did it.
I'm just off clemson Road. I drive fast. Keep up."
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About Annabelle Blume
Annabelle is a best selling Romance and New Adult
author, that is, when she's not checking homework or begrudgingly cooking
dinner. Wife, mother, and creator of alternate worlds, Annabelle has a penchant
for that which is outside the norm.
Her degree in Sociology has given her the ability to
construct worlds that exist only in her head and translate them passionately to
the page. The time spent studying individuals, interpersonal relationships, and
particularly, women, within the constraints of our society led to Annabelle's
unabashed ability to talk about sex as it fits into our modern lives.
She's also the author/personality of The Bombshell
Mommy at Vitacost.com where she helps modern Bombshells and their families live
“green”.
Read about
her adventures in writing at www.AnnabelleBlumeBooks.com.
Follow her
on Twitter @AnnabelleBlume and like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AnnabelleBlumeAuthor
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