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Thursday, November 2, 2017

Gratitude, Good News, and Going in a New Direction

GRATITUDE:
It's been an interesting few weeks, to say the least. The response to my last blog post has been overwhelming! The outpouring of support has blown my mind--I've had so many people reach out to me to encourage me not to give up (which, for the record, I'm not!) and share their own stories with me. And it was all of these heartfelt messages that reminded me why I love the writing community so much. From the very bottom of my heart...




GOOD NEWS:
A year or so ago, I co-wrote a YA thriller that we pitched as LOST meets AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. We've been querying it on-and-off. Two days after my last blog post, two days after I made the decision to focus on writing YA, we got a partial request from an agent! I know. It's not an offer--not even close--and it ultimately ended in a very encouraging rejection, but you know what? It was the sign I needed that I'd made the right decision and that I'm on the right path. So, I'm counting this as a win.


About four years ago, I started a YA. Throughout the years, I worked on it here and there, but it was never my priority. Why? Because it was something just for me--a stress-free fun project I never had any intentions of sharing with anyone. I guess you could call it fan-fiction. (Any guesses on what book I love enough to write fan-fic?!?!) Over the years, the story has morphed into something different and unique, and it would be a stretch to call it fan-fic now.

Recently, I opened the doc and read it. And to my surprise, it was GOOD! And so I began to write a bit more of it--purely for fun. I'm both a bit shocked and super thrilled to say I'm enjoying it. A lot. Writing this doesn't feel like a chore or work--it's FUN! Right now, my plan is to stick with it until I run out of steam, but I have no plans or expectations for it.

GOING IN A NEW DIRECTION:
In addition to focusing on YA instead of romance, I'm doing some other new things...

1.) As you can see, I'm in the process of re-branding my website / blog to fit with my new direction. I know, it looks pretty bland right now--it's still a work in progress. I hope to have it all sparkly and new by the end of the year.

2.) I'm going to blog more. Now, before you laugh and remind me that I say this every single year, hear me out... I've been reading a lot more, and I've decided I'm going to blog about the books I'm reading. I'm also going to blog about my journey to finding a new agent and (hopefully) a new publishing deal.

3.) I'm toying with pen names. Should I wipe the slate clean and use a new one? Should I just write as Kara? Should I use my legal name? Which, by the way, is not very publishing friendly. What do you think?

Well,there you have it. I hope y'all will stick around during this new journey--I'm sure it's going to be a wild ride!




2 comments:

  1. Great news Kara! I've also got a YA in the back files of my computer lol. It's a complicated one. I'm glad you're not giving up and that you've found another genre to pursue!

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