Road to Publication~Gayle Ann Williams

Every writer's journey to "the call" winds through different paths. Today, I've invited debut author Gayle Ann Williams to share her travels with us. Welcome, Gayle. My blog is yours.

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Hi Emily,

And can I say how nice it is to be here today? Thank you so much for having me.

My name is Gayle Ann Williams, and I live on a small island off the coast of Washington State, approximately sixty air miles from Seattle, WA. I originally lived as we say, “East of the Mountains,” in cowboy country, but I traded my spurs for a sea kayak and moved to the wet, but oh so beautiful Pacific Northwest coast.

Today I’d like to talk about my publishing journey, because for me, before I got “The Call,” I was (and still am) always fascinated how people achieved their dream of becoming a published author.

For me the road led to a win in a contest; the Dorchester Shomi Fiction contest. I was currently writing Paranormal and Urban Fantasy, and I liked the edginess of the Shomi line and the stories that were being written there. When I saw the contest, and that the winning manuscript would be awarded a publishing contract, complete with advance and royalties, I knew I wanted to try. And I’m so glad I did. The result for me was a dream: a publishing contract for TSUNAMI BLUE, my post-apocalyptic, paranormal romance that debuts from Dorchester Publishing tomorrow. And yes! I’m so excited.

Here is how I approached my entry. First, I based the idea of TSUNAMI BLUE on a personal experience. On Christmas night, in 2004 I boarded a plane out of Seattle and flew right into the Southeast Asia Tsunami. In the air when the deadly wave hit, I knew that if I had arrived earlier, I might have been a statistic. As I traveled around the region, I listened and observed, hugged and cried, and all along, the writer in me asked, what if? Little did I know a few years later those amazing memories would be the basis for my novel, TSUNAMI BLUE.

Second, I took elements of my personal life (the old adage of write what you know), and incorporated them into my story. For example, I’ve lived on a sailboat, I’m an avid poker player, and I placed the story in my home setting, the beautiful San Juan Islands of Washington State. I even wrote my favorite rain boots into the story. Curious? You can see them here. http://www.gayleannwilliams.com/FunStuff.html

Next, I mixed in my imagination, writing what I didn’t know. What would a world be like decimated by deadly tsunami waves? What if there was no infrastructure and society was ruled by “Runners,” modern day pirates? And what if Kathryn “Blue” O’Malley, my heroine, known as Tsunami Blue, held the paranormal ability of knowing when the next wave will hit? As a writer, I can’t encourage you enough to keep asking, “what if?”

And third, and perhaps most important, I did my homework. I read the Shomi books. Not one. Many. I understood the tone, the edge, the feel. I asked myself, is this the kind of story I wanted to write? Was I excited about it? Was it for me? The answer? A resounding yes. The result? TSUNAMI BLUE, the winning entry of the Shomi Fiction Contest.

Dorchester Publishing still continues to publish, exciting, cutting edge books of this type, and I would encourage you, if these are your kind of stories, to look for them.

And in closing I would like to share a review from RT Book Reviews Magazine in the April edition for TSUNAMI BLUE. I was thrilled to be rewarded with 4 1/2 stars.

"This original romance starts quietly enough, like a calm blue ocean, and gradually builds until you're holding on for dear life, hit with page after page of creative, taut action. You'll be left grinning, grateful for the ride, thanks to original characters, a fantastic story and action that will keep you up late, turning pages. Can't wait to see what Williams has in store next!"
RT Book Reviews Magazine April, issue
4 1/2 Stars HOT - (Fantastic-Keeper)

It has been a whirlwind year as I prepared to bring TSUNAMI BLUE to the readers. I signed with my dream agent in the process, and I’m so happy to announce that as of last week a second book in the Tsunami World has been sold. And all this for me, through a contest.

Happy reading to all and the best of luck to those of you who are writers. I hope my story is helpful. And again, a big thank you to Emily for inviting me to share my story.

My pleasure, Gayle! What an interesting path to publication. Great advice to those who are trudging along the way. And here's the link, so YOU can buy your own copy of Tsunami Blue.



Leave a comment or question for Gayle and you'll be entered in the drawing to win a copy of TSUNAMI BLUE. She's picking 2 winners today!

Ruling Eden by Michelle Picard

I belong to several writers groups ~ Eastside RWA in Seattle where I got my start, Ozarks Romance Authors in MO where I hope someday to return, WISRWA my online chapter just to keep me grounded in my Midwestern roots, and NECRWA the local New England chapter where I attend regular meetings. Writing is a solitary activity and it helps to spend a little time with others who are also engaged in this cocooned lifestyle.

One of my friends at NEC has a new release from Cresent Moon this month. Please welcome Michelle Picard to my blog. As usual when I have a guest, my words will be in bold and Michelle's will be in regular type.

Quick questions about your writing, Michelle ~ How long have you been at it?Who inspired you to go for publication? What helped you the most along that path?

I’ve been writing seriously for publication since spring 2005, but had started and stopped a dozen manuscripts since middle school. Actually, in middle school I completed my first fantasy novella, the last time one of my projects reached completion until I typed “The End” on Ruling Eden in winter of 2006. It was my close friend’s mother, Pat, who inspired me to go for publication as I wrote the manuscript. She had been a member of RWA, published several romances in the 80’s and was full of loads of advice about how to use RWA and my local chapter to go after my dream. Now I get to hang out with both my friend and his mom when our writing paths overlap.

As to who helped me most along this path to publication, that’s easy—my fellow writers. Particular kudos go to several critique groups I joined—The Quirky Ladies, Bay State Writers and the on-line critique group of the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal chapter of RWA. Each of these groups offered me something special during these first years. And nothing beats going out to party with The Quirky Ladies. They rock!

Tell us about the paranormal elements of Ruling Eden's special world?

I’ve been an avid fan of urban fantasy and paranormal romance for years. With a few exceptions, there were never concrete explanations for why these story worlds were filled with multiple fantastical creatures and paranormal races. Some explanations of their origins existed, but rarely with definitive answers. I thought, why not create a paranormal/fantasy universe where there’s a good reason for vampires, witches, shapeshifters, demons, angels, dragons and faeries to be populating Earth together. From this was born my creation myth for these races, the group of which I call the Kesayim.

It seems there was this Goddess, Lillith, likely an alien creature from another universe, who created our world as her experiment, fell in love with her first born progeny, human beings, and decided to concoct seven additional magical races to act as humanity’s protectors. These guys are supposed to work together to protect humans, but they are not all happy campers when locked in a room with one another. Creating the tension between them was loads of fun. Plus, I got to put my own twist on each of these paranormal types and justify how their exposure to humanity over millennia led to erroneous mythologies about them developing among human beings. In addition, there’s a wonderfully fun sentient garden featured in the story. Okay, I could go on ad infinitum, so if you want to know the full scoop, I think you’ll have to read my book.

Wow, that's inventive! What will we love most about your hero?

Let me tell you about him. His name is Gabriel and he’s half-angel, half-demon. Specifically Incubus demon. He’s my heroine’s personal guard and is thrown into her life immediately. I love that he’s the quiet, strong, deadly type. I love that he’s sexy beyond belief, but almost annoyingly noble and loyal. I love that he’s struggled his entire life as an outcast from both his peoples because they are absolute enemies and that he’s fought to find a place in a world that doesn’t want him. He’s all things bright and beautiful and all things dark, sexy and naughty at once.

Can you guess that I love heroes full of wonderfully delicious, complex contradictions? I hope you love these same things about him.

Sounds yummy. I especially love guys who are "annoyingly noble!" Readers like to know about writers. Can you tell us something you want your readers to know about your personal life and also where to learn more about you and where to buy your book!

My personal life? Well, I’ll throw out a few facts and you can make of them what you will. I have a wonderfully supportive family who are proud of my writing accomplishments. Truthfully, they were proud of me even before I wrote a book, so that’s nothing new. But my husband and two boys have been particular troopers as I’ve devoted hours to make my dream reality. In addition, I have another professional gig going on as a clinical social worker. Sometimes I marvel at how privileged I am to listen to the true stories, not always so happy, of my clients. No, I don’t use them as story fodder. But hearing about people’s constant struggle to make meaning of their lives definitely inspires me.

And last about my personal life, I LOVE to read. Big surprise there (grin).

To learn more about me and buy my book, there are a few places you can go. A no brainer is to visit my website at www.michellepicard.com. My blog, The Portal Playground, is at www.michellepicardblog.wordpress.com. You can go on-line to my publisher’s website, Crescent Moon Press to buy my book in e-format. It will available as an ebook very soon. In about a month it will be available in print version for order through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. The buy links directly to those sites will also be available on my website and the Crescent Moon site. My group blogsite, The Quirky Ladies, is always a blast to visit. I also hang around Facebook and Goodreads, so please friend me there.

And a random commenter to this blog interview will win a print copy of my book when it’s available in that format. Eden rules, hence RULING EDEN.

Thanks for being here today, Michelle and congrats on your new release.

PS. Be sure to pop by to enter my MERRY CHRISTMAS BALL CONTEST. The drawing for the $100 B&N gift card will be held on December 1st, so be sure to toss your name into the pot!