Lisa Logue Books

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Guest post by Melynda Price- Her Journey!

I’ve been doing several interviews lately, and would like to take the time today to talk a little about my journey from unpublished to published author. Everyone has their own story to tell and I love hearing about other author’s success, but even more, I also want to hear about their failures. No, I’m not sadistic, lol, but I believe there’s a lot to be learned in these failures—my own and others. 


Patience, perseverance, and gratitude are a few qualities that have grown in me through rejection. So, today’s stop, I want to pay special attention to the unpublished authors and to those who are struggling in their career. I’d like to share something I’ve learned through my journey.
It only takes one “yes.”—five simple words, yet so profound. This little bit of advice and encouragement was given to me by my good friend and author, Laura Breck, and it will stay with me forever. It only takes one “yes” for your dreams to come true, so try to take each “no” as a learning and growing experience. Easier said than done, I know, I’ve been there and I still have those days.  
But this is what I’ve learned and truly believe: Often, the rejection to contract Until Darkness Comes was based solely on the query letter alone. When you have a project you’ve loved, nurtured and cherished, it’s hard not to take that rejection personally, but you can’t. A query letter isn’t your novel, and if it’s rejected, they’re not rejecting you or your work per say, but the query itself.
I rewrote my query letter numerous times, and by far I found it more difficult than writing the book itself. I knew I’d finally gotten it right when I started getting requests to submit my manuscript. At the time I signed Until Darkness Comes with 5Prince Publishing, I’d gotten two offers to contract this book. I took me a year of submitting, getting rejected, tweaking my query letter and re-submitting, before it all started coming together. I’ve talked to other authors who have said it took them as long as five years to get their first book contracted. In researching the dreaded query letter, I found a few helpful examples and included them on my website under “Writing Tips.” Feel free to check them out. I hope it helps. Thanks for stopping by today, and I wish you all the best in your literary journey.
Melynda Price





About My Book:



A guardian angel… A forbidden love… Eternal consequences… 
 
Olivia Norton was born with a gift—a gift heaven has sworn to protect, and hell is bound to destroy. Her perfect world is turned upside-down when two handsome strangers, Max and Liam, step into her life. Olivia soon discovers that her ‘Mr. Perfect’ is actually a perfect nightmare.
The rules of engagement have changed and Liam, Olivia’s guardian angel, is forced to cross dimensional borders or risk losing the woman he’s sworn to protect. Suddenly, thrust into a world unlike anything he’s ever known, Liam isn’t prepared to come face to face with the young woman whose life he holds in his hands.
But nothing is as it seems, and secrets abound that will ultimately force him to choose between two impossibilities. Max will stop at nothing to finish what he’s started, and Olivia is soon plunged into a battle between good and evil. Her very life hangs in the balance as two forces fight to win her heart.







Until Darkness Comes Excerpt ~ First kiss...
Olivia took a brave step closer to Liam and cupped the side of his cheek, forcing him to look at her. “Then who are you? Surely you can tell me that. And don’t you dare lie to me, because I know you’re not normal. I’ve never met anyone like you before. Normal guys don’t act like you. Normal guys don’t look like you, and if they do, they’re usually more like…”
 

“More like what?” His eyebrow arched curiously.
 

“More like Max, I guess.”
 

“Well, I can promise you that I am nothing like Max. More like the exact opposite, to tell you the truth.”
 

“Why do you hate him so much? At first, I thought it was because he was my boyfriend, and that you were just jealous or something. But it’s more than that, isn't it?”
 

“There’s a darkness in him, Olivia. Can’t you feel it?”
 

“I’m not sure how I feel when I’m with Max anymore. I used to feel…carefree—wild and reckless, you know? But lately, I’m starting to just feel…afraid. Like I’m walking on a tightrope and I’m about ready to fall.”
 

“I’ll catch you,” he whispered, slowly trailing his fingers down the side of her neck.
 

Her pulse beat erratically beneath his touch; she opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. Instead, she moistened her bottom lip with the tip of her tongue. His heated gaze fell to her lips and she felt Liam’s resolve snap. A wave of desire blasted into her and a soft groan of defeat rumbled in his chest as he lowered his head, capturing her lips in a tender embrace. His kiss tore through her like fire. What started out as tentative and sweet, quickly escalated to urgent and demanding as a rush of adrenaline flooded her veins. She melted into his arms, her lips fitting perfectly against his, like she was made just for him.
 

He tasted exactly like he smelled—faintly of cloves, delicious. She parted her lips, aching for more and instinctively he responded to her request as if she’d spoken it. Drawing the kiss deeper, his tongue brushed against hers. The more he kissed her, the hungrier she became, fueling an insatiable fire deep in her core.
 

Olivia wound her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She’d never felt more starved and yet completely satisfied as she did at that very moment. He tightened his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, as if he couldn't get close enough. Her feet left the ground as he molded her to his lean, powerful body.
 

Time momentarily ceased. She had no idea how long they stood there in each other’s arms as the floor of the boat rocked beneath his feet. The captain’s voice crackled over the speaker, announcing the end of their tour. A reluctant groan escaped Liam’s lips as he broke their kiss and slowly released her. Olivia stumbled when her feet touched ground and his hand shot out to steady her...

1 comment:

  1. Hi, Melynda! Thanks for sharing a bit about your publishing journey!

    ReplyDelete

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