This week my guest blogger is Adele Jones. Adele lives in Queensland, Australia. Her writing is inspired by a passion for family, faith, friends, music and science – and her broad ranging imagination.
A strong believer in embracing life’s journey, Adele delights in sharing that adventure with others, be that through the pages of a story or engaging in a social or professional context. Through her broad personal and professional interests, she has welcomed diverse engagement opportunities, including science based student experience sessions, conference presentations, literary readings and musical exploits.
With a long standing interest in historical fiction, Adele based her Master’s dissertation on this topic and is currently anticipating release of her first novel in this genre, A Devil’s Ransom (www.roseandcrownbooks.com). She has also had a variety of poems, short stories, inspirational meditations, devotions and magazine articles published. Her first YA novel, Integrate, was awarded the 2013 Caleb Prize for unpublished manuscript and is due to for release in September 2014.
Perez. Okay, it’s a little abstract, but that’s how I would best describe the publication journey of my first novel. Well, novels. Those who know the peculiar circumstances surrounding this Biblical account would remember the story of Judah and Tamar’s twins. The baby who seemed to be on the way first was pushed aside by the one expected to be born second.
You see, I’ve been expecting a book release for a while. A Devil’s Ransom, a historical maritime romance, was due sometime ago, but extraneous circumstances required the original release date be delayed. I understand this can happen in the publishing world, so while awaiting movement on that novel, I decided to write a science based young adult manuscript in a month. Midway through my goal, it was announced an unpublished manuscript prize was, that year, accepting children’s and YA fiction with a word limit of what I was aiming for.
Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.
Madly I tapped out words around a hectic work schedule, edited in snippets of time the following month, and submitted Integrate for the award. It was so different from the methodical construction of A Devil’s Ransom. That work had developed from a dream over a period of fifteen years involving much research, writing, rewriting, more research, developing my writing skills through further study and of course, more rewriting and associated research. After a period in the writing wilderness of disappointment and releasing my dreams to the ultimate dream maker, I was offered a contract. Finally, my first novel would be published.
Then, just like Perez breaking through the expected birth order, Integrate was awarded the CALEB unpublished manuscript prize and a whirlwind dash towards publication ensued! Now its release is imminent with the novels already printed – before the official release of my first ‘baby’ A Devil’s Ransom.
In a way I feel Integrate’s journey is fitting, given the amazing, live-life-to-the-max young adults the story has been written for. I’m also a great believer in timing – a lesson I’ve had to learn over and again as a writer. My first novel twins are certainly at polar ends of the personality spectrum, but with their different strengths I’m convinced they will each bring their own unique message to their readers – in due time.
I love the analogy of the twins Adele. Having witnessed the last few years of that journey, I’m feeling like maybe one of the godparents? It’s great to see all of your hard work pay off. Integrate may have been a relatively quick ride, but you never gave up during all those years when A Devil’s Ransom was having trouble finding a suitable midwife. I hope they both do really well and that the journey for both lots of sequels will be a dizzy whirl of excitement 🙂
Finding a suitable midwife – what a great way to put it, Nola! 🙂 And you probably do have unofficial ‘godparent’ status after some of my manuscript related requests over the years. (Does that mean I can call you in the middle of the night if they won’t settle?) Seriously, I’ve really appreciated the support more than I can say (and I can say a lot at times!). Thank you.
It can certainly happen like that, Adele. Getting published is a journey all by itself. When I had finished writing my first novel and been the manuscript had been accepted for publishing I was told by my editor that the hard work was just beginning. In the ensuing few months I was to find out exactly what she meant by that. Your journey and the results are an inspiring account of what persistence looks like and I’m so excited for you. Well done and may these and future writing endeavours produce great results for you.
Thank you for your encouraging comments, Lesley. Agreed, there is a great deal of effort that goes into transforming a manuscript into a book and getting it known in the market. Definitely requires a great deal of persistence – something no author can be without (as I’m sure you know firsthand 🙂 ).
Hi Adele
I love the analogy you draw with the inpatient twin 🙂 And well done on having your first two books published. Both sound interesting and worth reading 🙂
Thank you, Jeanette. It’s been quite a surreal experience in many ways – everything coming together at once. They really are very different. I’ll be interested to gauge people’s responses once they’re both released to the wild. 🙂
Hi Adele,
I love the Perez analogy too, showing how unpredictable the world of publishing can be. Those two books look so different from each other! You must be so happy to see them both on the horizon, although not in the order you expected.
Unpredictable. That’s a good word for it, Paula. 🙂 Mentally it’s a bit like shifting gears when I go between the two. When I was doing final revisions on ‘Integrate’ I had a little joke with the publisher that I’d have to be careful I didn’t send Blaine off on a ship! (But hey, what a twist!)
Terrific analogy! Such a great picture of the unpredictable world of publishing. What a busy month or two you are entering! All the best.
Thanks, Andrea. It will be a busy couple of months – but for a good cause. 🙂