Things I Learned When I Took a Leap of Faith:

 How a Category Romance Author Found Her Way  While Writing her First Single Title Book

by Guest Alison Stone

When my agent called to tell me that Waterfall Press, the inspirational imprint of Amazon Publishing, was offering me a contract on my first single-title book, Pointe and Shoot, I was equal parts elated and terrified. I was elated because they offered me this contract based on a proposal, which is “author-speak” for the first three chapters and the synopsis. I was terrified because I had never actually written a book longer than 55K words, the length of my Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense books.

Eek.

Let me give you a little backstory. I have a degree in engineering and well, I approach things a certain way. When I got the idea to write novel-length fiction back in the late 90s, I studied the market.  I discovered that the romance genre dominated the market. Then I learned of Harlequin’s dominance within the romance genre. So, I approached my new adventure, like I approached everything: very methodically. I read across all the lines at Harlequin and decided I really enjoyed their romantic suspense lines. After much trial and error, I finally landed a contract with Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense and have written nine books for them so far.

I enjoy writing for Harlequin, but a few years ago, an idea came to mind that wouldn’t leave me. This idea would not fit into the Love Inspired Suspense line.

Then, serendipitously, I was in NYC for the RWA conference in 2015 and my agent mentioned Waterfall Press, a new imprint of Amazon Publishing was actively looking for new authors. Bam! I had to write my new idea and submit it to them. So, I went home and furiously wrote the first three chapters for what I affectionately like to call my Dance Moms meets Blue Bloods book and e-mailed it to my agent. Things moved surprisingly fast from there and by October, I had sold Pointe and Shoot on proposal.

Eek.

That’s when the fear set in. What had I gotten myself into? Over the years, I had honed my skills as a category writer. Although I read single titles voraciously, I had never written one.

Gulp.

So, I prayed and got to work. Along the way, I learned a few things:

(1) Don’t fix what’s not broken.

Pointe and Shoot is my twelfth contracted book. I know how to do this writing gig, right? Just sit down and write like I’ve always done. This book is longer, but I can still use the same methods I’ve always used. Jot down some notes about the characters, the big plot points (that I know) and start to write. Stop about three chapters in, re-read, revise and then keep writing. Stop about half way through. Lather, rinse, repeat. I don’t ever know the full story until I reach the end. Once I’m there, I go back and revise and layer the story to make sure it all makes sense. I’ve learned that no matter how much I want to plot an entire book, I can’t seem to. My best ideas come during the process of writing. So, I sat down and wrote Pointe and Shoot with the same method that I wrote all my previous books.

Helpful hint: I love the book Take Off Your Pants!: Outline Your Books for Faster, Better Writing: By Libbie Hawker. I don’t plot all the way through, but her book is great for keeping me on track. (I could probably write an entire post on all the ways this book has helped me, but for now you’ll have to trust me. Pick it up. It’s a quick read and full of useful information.

(2) Try New Things  

Since this book was “bigger,” it gave me the opportunity to try different things. Love Inspired Suspense has certain reader expectations which is a great thing because readers who like these books flock to the line over and over again. However, those reader expectations must be met by the writer.

 In my newly contracted book, I had the chance to try different things. For one, I could play around with viewpoints. I had a lot of fun writing through the eyes of the villain. I may have even written in the point of view of one of the victims.

(3) Explore subplots

In Pointe and Shoot, I was also able to explore subplots more in depth, including one in which the heroine has to care for her ailing mother.

(Media image © Unsplash via Canva.com)

(4) Let go of perfectionism

My job is to write the best possible book that I can write at this moment. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Oh, this was huge for me. I’ve always been a perfectionist. (But far from perfect.) Through the process of writing a different kind of book, I’ve learned that the only way I could finish this book in a timely manner was to get out of my own way. I had to stop listening to the doubts crowding my mind and just write the book.

(5) Editors are there for a reason

We’re not alone. Whether you self publish or are traditionally published, there are editors available to help us along the way. Waterfall Press paired me with a wonderful developmental editor who really “got” my book. Her suggestions for changes were spot on. So, instead of getting writer’s block because you’re worried you’re going to do it wrong, do the best you can at this moment, and then send it off to your editor. The editor’s fresh perspective will let you know if you’re on the right track.

(6) You need to jump

While I was mulling over this post, as I tend to do, I came across a video of Steve Harvey, a comedian, TV host, and actor. In the video he talks about jumping. About taking risks. He says that God has given us each a gift and the only way we’re going to soar is if we have enough faith to jump. Sure, we might get bruised as we fall, there’s certainly a chance for that, but we have to trust God. We have to trust that our parachute will open. On the flip side, you can always play it safe—and be sure to never get hurt—but if you never jump, your parachute will certainly never open.

Media image ©Marketplace Designers via Canva.com

(7) I can handle far more than I thought I could

When I was blessed with the Waterfall contract, I was also in the middle of a three-book contract with Harlequin. Yes, I agree, it was a wonderful problem to have especially after how long it took me to finally get published. However, remember how I mentioned that I’m very methodical? I’m also very linear in my thinking. I like to start something and finish it to completion. However, now with multiple deadlines, I learned that I can write more than one book at a time. Sometimes this meant working on Pointe and Shoot in the morning and Plain Sanctuary in the afternoon. Other times, it meant working on one book for days when approaching a deadline, then switching back to the other book when I was done. My parachute opened! So, don’t define yourself by what you’ve always done. You might surprise yourself. Or maybe you might realize it’s not your thing. But at least you tried and you’re not left standing on the edge wondering, what if I had jumped?

Thank you for inviting me to visit Seekerville again, Missy Tippens. It was very fortuitous that this month was “Face Your Fears.” I’ve faced mine – in writing out of my comfort zone—and I hope you’ll face yours too.  Have you ever tried writing in a different genre or out of your comfort zone? If you’re not a writer, have you ever made the leap to try something new and lived to tell the tale? If so, tell me about it. One random commenter will win a signed print copy of Pointe and Shoot.

Pointe and Shoot:

The dance world can be ruthless – even deadly.

Jayne Murphy has always put family first. That’s why she abandoned her dream of joining the police force to run her ailing mother’s dance studio.

When one of the studio’s most talented instructors dies in a car crash, Jayne isn’t convinced it was just an accident. Relentlessly pursuing her hunch, she teams up with Officer Danny Nolan, the best friend and partner of her brother Patrick, who died in the line of duty. Haunted by Patrick’s death, Danny has begun to question whether he should still be a cop at all.

As Jayne digs deeper, suspects emerge, including the victim’s clingy ex-boyfriend and a jealous foe from the cutthroat dance world. Her evolving insights into the case rekindle Jayne’s passion for police work. Danny, too, feels a renewed sense of purpose…and a definite attraction to his unofficial partner, which seems to be mutual. Now, if Jayne can only keep herself out of harm’s way, she and Danny both might get a second chance—with their careers and each other.

Bio:

Alison Stone left Buffalo, New York and headed a thousand miles south to earn an industrial engineering degree at Georgia Tech in Hotlanta. Go Yellow Jackets! She loved the South, but true love brought her back North.

After the birth of her second child, Alison left Corporate America for full-time motherhood. She credits an advertisement for writing children's books for sparking her interest in writing. She never did complete a children's book, but she did have success writing articles for local publications before finding her true calling, writing romantic suspense.

Alison lives in Western New York with her husband of twenty years and their four children where the summers are absolutely gorgeous and the winters are perfect for curling up with a good book—or writing one.

Besides writing, Alison keeps busy volunteering at her children's schools, driving her girls to dance, and watching her boys race motocross. 

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Will I ever feel like a “Real” Writer? with Alison Stone

Will I ever feel like a “Real” Writer?

By Alison Stone

This morning I went to the bank to make a deposit. The teller was finishing up the transaction when she squinted at her screen and said, “Oh, I need to update your profile. Where do you work?”

“I’m self-employed,” I answered, always feeling like it’s a trick question.

She looked up from her screen. “What do you do?”

For some inexplicable reason, my heart races in my ears every time someone asks me this question. Do I mumble something about having an engineering degree, but I’ve been home with the kids for 15 years and now I write? No, too long. I decide to go for the direct answer: “I’m an author.” Yet, the words feel funny on my lips.

Interest sparks in her eyes. “Really? What do you write?”

“I write romantic suspense for Harlequin.”

The teller angles her head and studies me. “Do you ever get writer’s block?” 

I glance behind me, sure the customers in line are growing impatient, but there is no one in line.

I shrug. “The worst problem is procrastination, like running to the bank when I’m supposed to be writing.”

She laughs. I’ve always been great with humor, but telling people I’m a writer. Not so much.

Why is that?

When I decided I wanted to become an engineer, I had no problem telling people I’m going to school for engineering. When I was a young professional, I told people I worked for General Motors without missing a beat. Was it because engineering and corporations are more concrete? People can relate to that? Everyone has a job, right? How many people sit at home in yoga pants writing novels?

Yet, when I do own up to my new career, people are inevitably fascinated. When I was an engineer, I never had a bank teller ask me eagerly how I conducted efficiency studies on the manufacturing floor. Yawn.

Is my hesitation to tell people I’m a writer due to my own insecurities?

For over ten years, I taught myself how to write a novel. (Can’t say I took any creative writing classes at Georgia Tech!) I was a closet writer. Only my husband and my close friends knew I wrote. Only my husband knew how much I wrote. I think my friends thought it was a hobby, like cross stich or putting together puzzles. By not sharing my writing, I think I was trying to protect myself from having to share what I thought would be my inevitable failure.

During this long journey, I’d look up the biographies of other writers and lament every time an author’s bio read something like this: I’ve been reading novels since age four and I penned my own at age eight. I have a degree in English and a Masters in Creative Writing.

Groan.  I wanted a Masters in Creative Writing. I didn’t even read novels for fun until after I graduated from college. (Shhh…don’t tell anyone.) How did I ever expect to be a writer when I took calculus, physics, and thermodynamics?  And we all know that writers are terrible at math. (I only say this because many seem to lament their math skills as much as I lament my lack of formal training for “authordom.”) See, I’m good at math.  Does this mean I’m a terrible writer? A fraud?

Why do I think I can be a writer? This was the constant refrain running through my head on my long journey to publication. These doubts slowed my progress. It was easier to talk myself into taking a night off from writing if I didn’t think I was going to be successful anyway.

Finally, finally in 2011, I sold two sweet romantic suspense novels to Samhain Publishing. A year later I sold my first book to Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense. To date, I have four books contracted by Harlequin. Yet, I still don’t feel like a “real writer.”

I get nervous when a fellow writer asks me to critique her work. Does she really value my opinion? I sweated it out when the wonderful Missy Tippens invited me to stop by Seekerville. How can I write a better post on the topic of plotting, or creating villains, or layering my work when authors more knowledgeable than I have already done so?

Recently, a friend introduced me by saying, “This is my friend, the writer.”

I smiled and shrugged it off and she said, “You never tell people you’re a writer, so I have to tell them for you.”

Her words hit home.

I am a writer. Aren’t I?

Funny thing is, I’m not a wallflower. If you met me in person you’d consider me outgoing and as one friend once told me at an RWA conference, “Wow, you really know how to work a room!”

Just goes to show you that what’s on the inside doesn’t always match the outside.

If you’re experiencing similar doubts when it comes to your writing, here are some suggestions:

1)    Repeat this phrase over and over (and I apologize for paraphrasing): I wouldn’t have the desire to write if God hadn’t given me a talent to write. I truly believe this. When the seed of an idea to try my hand at writing was planted in my brain, it wouldn’t have taken root if God hadn’t already blessed me with some innate ability.  

2)    Educate yourself. I read a gazillion (there’s my math coming into play!) craft books and have taken numerous online workshops. Ask authors you respect what craft books or workshops they recommend. Check out the wonderful workshops advertised on this blog.

3)    Read. Read across genres. Decide what you like and what you don’t like and why? Sometimes knowing why you don’t like something goes a long way to improving your craft.

4)    Write. Writing is hard. Writing when you doubt you’re a real writer is even harder. But if you write, even if you never get published, you ARE A WRITER. The sense of accomplishment from tackling the blank page is awesome.

5)    Network. Whether it’s a local writers’ group or online writer friends. You won’t feel so lonely and it’s great to have someone who understands the crazy ups and downs we writers (yes, WE WRITERS) experience.

6)    Focus on what you can control. Whether you are published or on the journey toward publication, don’t get caught up in things that are out of your control. For example, shake off the bad review, the rejection, or the poor sales. Instead focus on what you can truly control: writing the next best book you can.

photo credit: Crestock/creatista

I share this story with you to reassure you that no matter where you are on your writing journey, it’s normal to have doubts and insecurities. But we must not let them stop us from writing.  Stop us from moving forward. Stop us from achieving our dreams.

While I was mulling this post over, a quote popped up on my Facebook feed. I believe we receive messages right when we need them most:

“The sign of intelligence is that you are constantly wondering. Idiots are always dead sure about every damn thing they are doing in their life.”― Jaggi Vasudev

Perhaps this fear, this uncertainty, this “wondering” is what drives up to keep improving. This doesn’t automatically change when you sign your first contract or self-publish your first book. It takes time.

How much time?

I’ll let you know.

Meanwhile, I’ll be writing the best book I know how.

Have you experienced similar feelings? How have you overcome them? I’d love to hear from you in the comment section. I’ll be giving away a digital copy (Amazon or Barnes and Noble / US only) of Plain Pursuit, my first Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense, to one random person who comments.

Thanks for stopping by! ~ Alison

Bio: Alison Stone left Buffalo, New York and headed a thousand miles south to earn an industrial engineering degree at Georgia Tech in Hotlanta. Go Yellow Jackets! She loved the South, but true love brought her back North.

After the birth of her second child, Alison left Corporate America for full-time motherhood. She credits an advertisement for writing children's books for sparking her interest in writing. She never did complete a children's book, but she did have success writing articles for local publications before finding her true calling, writing romantic suspense.

Alison lives in Western New York with her husband of twenty years and their four children where the summers are absolutely gorgeous and the winters are perfect for curling up with a good book—or writing one.

Besides writing, Alison keeps busy volunteering at her children's schools, driving her girls to dance, and watching her boys race motocross.

Alison can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AlisonStoneAuthor. Her website is www.AlisonStone.com. Her twitter handle is @Alison_Stone.

Latest release from Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense (inspirational fiction)

Critical Diagnosis Available July 2014:

HER PERSONAL PROTECTOR  

Researcher Dr. Lily McAllister has dedicated her life to finding a cure for a family disease and now, steps away from a promising new treatment, Lily is attacked. Only the training of army physician James O'Reilly can save her. As the would-be CEO of his family's pharmaceutical company, James's secret dream is to reenlist. But he can't leave Lily with a bull's-eye on her back. Nor can he stay and stop her from pursuing her goal. No one can, including the stalker who shadows her every move. Still, James has lost too many people he's loved—and this time he refuses to lose Lily.