The bumpy, long and winding road of a new author.

By A.K. Smith

“I didn’t know what I didn’t know.” It’s true for so many things in life, AND I still don’t know all the things I am about to experience on this new journey. My debut fiction novel, A Deep Thing by A. K. Smith just released, and I’m trying to follow the road signs---which there are many—and figure out my destination. It’s the journey that matters, right?

Up until my debut book being published, my writing expedition consisted of journaling, half-finished novels, and travel writing. My insatiable desire to see the world and touch every continent on Planet Earth led to querying travel magazines, newspaper and travel blogs.

I’ve published over 100 travel articles in various forms: magazines, on-line blogs and currently write a monthly column for an English newspaper published in Mexico and a blog www.wordstravelfilm.com. Sharing travel secrets with the world and exposing off the beaten path destinations excites me; but, the completion of my first novel has been a bucket list voyage I’ve dreamed of beginning. Now that I can hold the printed book in my hand and share it with the world, I wonder where’s the next layover.

What I believe is this: my first book is just a stop to fill up my tank. I learn by doing, and if I hadn't started this journey, I would never have learned (the little I know) about writing, publishing and promoting. My advice to those who are traveling down this road is to understand every trip has bumps along the way and lessons to be discovered. Ask questions, study the craft, learn from others but whatever you do, start the journey. If you’re not sure where to begin, join a writers group, attend a writers conference and follow a writing blog. Surround yourself with like-minded people and ask questions; don’t be afraid to plan the trip, make mistakes, and walk down the road.

If you would like to join in my journey, follow my blog at www.aksmithauthor.com.

A Deep Thing, published by The Wild Rose Press is a contemporary suspense novel with a love story woven throughout the pages. According to Marilyn Baron, author of Stumble Stones: A Novel, “A Deep Thing by A.K. Smith grabs you from the beginning and doesn’t let go. A roller coaster ride of romance, suspense, mystery and intrigue, this page turner surprises at every turn and offers a stunning ending you’ll never suspect.”

Amazonlink: https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Thing-K-Smith-ebook/dp/B01MG3FOXS

TheWildRosePresslink: http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/1372_ak-smith

A.K. Smith is the author of debut fiction novel, "A Deep Thing" (12-19-2016 from the Wild Rose Press). A.K has lived in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Arizona and abroad in London and Mexico.

She loves all things jungly, beachy and mysterious. Her mission is to write thrillers, suspense, and romance that have the power to make you stay up late.

A.K. loves seeing the world. Her goal is to step foot on every continent on Planet Earth (maybe even the moon)—she’s slowly getting there.  She treasures her family, friends, and kindness.

Email: aksmithbook@gmail.com

Website: http://www.wordstravelfilm.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aksmithbook
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/aksmithbook
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aksmith/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVkF60bSFzA
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15985813.A_K_Smith

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/aksmith

MARGARET TANNER'S UNSUNG HEROINE

ONLY THE STRONG WOULD SURVIVE

I have no portrait to post with this. There are no newspaper cuttings, no articles in magazines or books. Few even know this lady’s story.

Born in a family ravaged by the Great War (1914 -1918), her father had his lungs poisoned by mustard gas in France in 1917. He returned to his farm, but never recovered, thus dying young and leaving a widow with 8 children to struggle on alone. Where were the male relatives, the uncles and brothers who might have helped out? Sadly, the battlefields of France and Belgium had taken their lives or their health.

For years this lady and her older sister milked 40 cows in the morning before riding their bicycles 8 miles into the nearest town to work, and after they returned home in the evening, they milked 40 cows again and did other farm chores. Needless to say, they handed their weekly pay packets, unopened, to their mother.

Years passed, and when the younger siblings were old enough to help things became easier. The lady was able to enjoy a social life.

As the black clouds of World War II hovered overheard, she became engaged to a young man before he marched off to war. And she waited, like thousands of other women, for her man to return, stoically working in the munitions factory and helping with the war effort.  Soon the love letters stopped, her soldier was listed as Missing In Action, believed Prisoner Of War. For two years she didn’t know whether he was alive or dead, but finally the news came. He had escaped his captors.

On his return home they married, had three children and settled into suburbia. Money was tight, but having been trained at a young age to be frugal, she managed to keep things going, and all was well.

But fate had another cruel card to play. A slow moving muscle wasting disease. But did she give up? No. She enjoyed her children and grandchildren, took holidays with her husband and did charity work. All the while this hideous disease spread it’s ugly tentacles throughout her body, sapping her strength, but never breaking her spirit.

After her husband died, she stayed in her own home for a few more years.  The disease spread, hungry and evil, it could not be stopped.  Finally, when she could no longer walk, she bravely set about finding a suitable nursing home.

Thankfully, she died before she had to leave her beloved home and cherished memories.

How do I know all of this? The lady was my mother.

My message to everyone is – cherish your mother, because the world is a sad and lonely place without her.

 

Please raise your cyber glasses of champagne, and drink a toast to yet another unsung heroine.

 

http://www.margarettanner.com/

 

http://www.bookswelove.net/tanner.php

 

 

14 Years From Idea to Published Book



Rebecca J. Clark

My third book, Deliver the Moon, released yesterday from The Wild Rose Press. It only took 14 years or so to get from idea to published. Yes, I’m being sarcastic with the “only.”

I should explain.

First, you’ll need to know the backstory of this book. You’ve probably heard the statistic, that a high percentage of marriages in which a child dies ends in divorce. One tragedy is compounded by another. But it’s easy to see how it happens. Faced with overwhelming grief, all the little problems become huge, daunting problems. This is what happened to Gabe and Louisa, the couple in my story, after their infant son was killed in a car accident.

The problem for me? My own son was the age of the child in the story when I first started writing this book. That was a good and bad thing. Good, in that I could “easily” imagine the emotions my characters faced, even though I’d never experienced such a tragedy myself (thank God). Bad, in that it made the story too hard to write. Authors need to get so deep into our characters’ heads, that their stories become our stories. Their experiences become our experiences. By immersing myself into characters who had lost their toddler...it was just too real for me. I couldn’t do it. I got about halfway into the story and had to put it aside for a while, until my son grew up a bit and was no longer the age of the fictional child.

Finally, many boxes of tissues later, I did finish the book. It made the finals in some big contests, and made it all the way to marketing with Harlequin Superromance before being rejected.

That was 1999. So...why the long delay in publishing this? The first reason was my naivety. I was still fairly new to the writing industry, and not very active in any writing groups at the time. So when my book was rejected, I was rejected. I took it personally, because I didn’t know any different. If they didn’t like that book, they didn’t like me. If they didn’t like me, they wouldn’t like anything else I submitted to them.

Sigh. If only we could press a “do-over” button in life, eh?

The second reason for the delay was lack of options. Back then, if you wrote an 80,000-word book meant for the category romance market, there was really only one place to submit it. Harlequin. If they rejected it, that story went under the proverbial bed, never to be seen or heard from again.

But now it’s 2012 and we authors have many more options for our books. I’d always loved this story, so I pulled it out, updated it and rewrote many parts (I’m a stronger writer now...I think. I hope.), and sent it to my publisher, The Wild Rose Press. They loved it, offered me a contract for it, and it is now available for everyone to read.

Website: http://rebeccajclark.com

Blog: http://rebeccajclark.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter @RebeccaJClark

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/rebeccajclark.author