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The funny thing is, when I sat down to write, it wasn’t the chore I
thought it would be, but rather more of an organic process. Just the very act of typing and writing
fueled my creativity and the words just seemed to flow.
What’s it like getting my first novel Dueling Divas(An Avondale Story) published:
I felt very lucky having the first novel I’d ever submitted to
Dreamspinner Press accepted. Getting the
e-mail from them saying they wanted my novel touched me more profoundly and
deeply than I ever would’ve thought it would.
There was such a sense of having achieved something, that was recognized
as being worthwhile, that was unlike anything else I’d ever felt in my life.
The nitty-gritty of getting ready to be published:
The editing process can be excruciating for a newbie. My editors were all very nice, but the first
time someone suggested a change in a story or word, I learned just how attached
I was to my work. You learn a lot about
yourself when dealing with criticism and you also learn how much of yourself is
actually in the story. It’s definitely a
growing process and you’re not just a better writer, but a better person by the
end of it.
It can also be a fun experience. I
thoroughly enjoyed working with cover artist Reese Dante.
Surprises:
The biggest surprise to me happened during the editing process. My story went through a couple of editors
before I submitted it, and after I submitted it, which meant I was constantly
rereading it. As the writer I thought
for sure there would be a point where I’d start getting tired of reading the
story over and over. Funnily enough, I
never got to that point. There were
times it felt like I was reading a story written by someone else and I’d be
completely drawn into it. One moment I’d
be laughing at something a character said and at times I would feel a tear or
two roll down from my eyes. That’s when
I remembered something we’d discussed in my college literature class years
ago. A good story can be read many times
and each time you read it you can find something new and interesting.
Things I learned during the writing process:
I learned that a writer collects characters that have surrounded him or
her their entire life. Bits and pieces
of people we know well or those we meet and know for a brief moment in time
combine to add the flavors of real life into our stories. As a writer, the things I’ve seen and felt
passionate about make their way into my stories and because they were
meaningful to me; others have found them meaningful as well. And, I was surprised by the people who came
to me, interested in what I had to say as a writer. It’s never who you think it will be.
There was another surprising thing I learned during the writing
process. I learned just how fun and
satisfying it can be to play God. You
other writers, know what I mean. It’s
when you realize that a character’s fate lies solely in your hands, and their
happiness or sadness all depends on you.
An editor reading one of the stories I’m currently working on was
shocked by the fate of one of my characters.
The joy I felt in surprising the person, whose opinion I valued, was
immense.
Having stated the above, I also have to take a step back and say that
sometimes the characters in a story lead you where they want to go. In one
story I decided on a name for a female character but every time I typed it I
would accidentally use a different name.
It was clear she wanted the second name and eventually I gave in to
her. Sounds crazy, I know, but it
happens. In another story I had planned
for one couple to be together at the end, but was actually surprised when one
of the men ended up with someone else.
Sometimes your characters surprise you, even though you’re the writer.
My advice for would-be-writers:
Follow your dreams and don’t be afraid to go for it. Before I submitted my novel I submitted two
short stories (thinking that route would be easier) and both were rejected for different
reasons. But I didn’t quit, instead I
realized that my ideas worked better as full-length novels and I decided to
just go for the big one and submit a novel.
Dueling Divas (an Avondale Story):
I think it’s a great story and I believe that a writer needs to like
their work and feel good about it before anyone else can. First and foremost, I want my stories to be
about the characters above all else.
There have to be characters for people to root for, who they want to see
succeed and be happy. And like real life
there also have to be the villains or the odd sort that you just don’t like.
Also like real, life Dueling Divas reflects the joys, sorrows and strange
relationships that exist in our day to day lives. But, it also thrusts people out of their
comfort zones into new worlds to discover new things. Dueling Divas is at times fun and campy, then
at other points tragic and maybe even a little scary and of course sometimes in
the middle of all that —true love rears its head demanding to be heard and
acknowledged.
An excerpt, exclusive to this blog,
from Dueling Divas (an Avondale story)
In this scene one of the main characters named Bobby is helping take care
of his nephews and niece while his sister Stacey shops for groceries. Then out of nowhere something happens:
Excerpt from Dueling Divas chapter five:
They finished breakfast
and loaded everyone into the van. Stacey
thought about how nice it was having Bobby to keep the children occupied with
his clownish antics. “I swear, Bobby,
sometimes I think you’re just an overgrown kid, but I appreciate you,” Stacey
said.
“Just because we get
older doesn’t mean we have to act older,” Bobby said. “Just call me Peter Pan.”
Outside of Publix,
Bobby put Meggy and the other kids in one of the large shopping carts made to
look like cars.
“Not too wild now,”
Stacey said.
“Oh, come on, sis,”
Bobby said before making car noises with his mouth and speeding off with the
cart and kids into the grocery store.
They went down one aisle and then the other with Bobby swerving and
turning fast with the cart much to the kid’s delight.
“Faster, Uncle
Bobby! Faster!”
“Vroom! Vroom!” Bobby said as he picked up speed.
The kids were laughing
as Bobby raced through the store. As
they turned a corner in front of the freezer section, something caught Bobby’s
eye. At the center of the aisle was “the
perfect ass”, belonging to the man who was bent over putting up stock. I’m in
love, he thought.
“Wow!” Bobby said loud
enough for Meggy to hear.
“Wow what, Uncle
Bobby? Wow what?” Meggy said.
“Don’t worry about it,”
Bobby said as he looked back at that ass and then promptly crashed his cart
into the stocker’s cart in front of him, knocking some of the supplies over.
“Oops, sorry,” Bobby
said back toward the stocker as he bent over to pick up the boxes of frozen
vegetables.
When Bobby looked up, a
gorgeous Mediterranean-looking man standing over six feet tall and brushing a
dark curl away from his eye was looking down at him. It was all he could do to keep his tongue
from hanging out. Here was the man of
his dreams made flesh. And here he was
running through every clichéd phrase he’d ever known from every cliché romance
ever created. The crazy thing was
suddenly they all made sense to him and felt very real. God, he was even getting weak in the
knees. Seeing the man smiling at him
made him feel like a complete idiot.
Then came his nervous laugh which he hoped didn’t come across more like
a giggle. He tried to regain control of
the situation. The one thing he never
liked was the idea of not being in control.
“Again, so sorry. I’ve got to
watch who… I mean what I’m doing.” He
laughed again embarrassed by his blunder.
“That’s alright, Sir.”
“Wow,” Meggy said.
Stacey had caught up
with them by then. “I had a feeling that crashing sound I heard would have
something to do with you, Bobby,” she said.
The stocker stared at
Stacey for a minute before exclaiming, “You!”
“Excuse me,” Stacey
said.
“It’s you,” Nash said.
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Link to novel Dueling
Divas, (An Avondale Story) by Antonio on Dreamspinner site: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3649
Link to Dueling Divas
e-book by Antonio on Dreamspinner Press site:
Thank you and enjoy!
Antonio
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