A little bit about me

Well, I hope it is obvious, (or maybe not) that I am an aspiring novelist. Since I am writing this after the fact that I have already self published my first novel, I will fill you in on how this came about.

I began this journey about 8 or so years ago. My youngest sister and I were sharing a house together and we were just not getting along. (In both of our defence, two very independent women under one roof is never a good idea and we are the best of friends under any other circumstance.) However, being desperately unhappy in that situation, I found myself looking for outlets for my frustration. Since I couldn’t afford to return to my first love, painting, I chose to seek out my second which was writing. Thus was born “The Adventures of Bonny Blue and Rebbecca Wolf” which I later renamed, ”The Pirate’s Daughter And A King’s Ransom”.

When I began my first blog here on Blogger, I believed I was near to completing my book. I wanted to document in someway my journey and possibly solicit help in getting my work published. But…, as I began to let others read my manuscript, I discovered there was still a lot of work to be done on it before I could even think of getting it to print. My technical skills, for one, were sorely lacking. I have learned a lot along the way ; semi colons,( did I use it properly?), where to put the comma in dialogue and those three dots (…), I still can’t keep the name for them in my head. Unfortunately my spelling hasn’t improved much but if I get close enough there is spell check. I’ve even used google to find the spelling of a word and of course I have a Webster’s Dictionary from 1990 that I picked up from a thrift shop. I’ve learned things about writing, publishing and myself, particularly when I lost my biggest supporter to a sudden heart attack. I had relied on my friend Andy for his driving encouragement and it was a brutal blow to find that I would have to go the rest of the way without him. But, for what was taken from me, another came in his stead. A published writer himself, this new friend offered a helping hand, for which I am eternally grateful.

I still have much to figure out. But I do hope you will stay with me a while longer if for no other reason than to see how it all works out.

-K.L. Parry -

GO TO www.klparry.com or Blurb.com and check out “The Pirate’s Daughter And A King’s Ransom” a novel by K.L.Parry. A fictional, high seas tale of adventure. Suitable for readers of all ages. Order your copy now to ensure delivery by Christmas.

This is the Plan

Whew!! Busy couple of weeks with the holiday season beginning. Now that I have Thanksgiving under my belt I can focus on promoting the novel, at least for the next couple of weeks.

When I last checked, I had sold 25 copies of “The Pirate’s Daughter And A King’s Ransom, which is spelled incorrectly on the back of the book. (Shaking head in disbelief.) “Oh, well,” she says with a sigh. Will correct it in the next edition. I think I have pestered to death all my friends on Facebook so it’s time to look into other avenues for sales.

So, this is my plan. (At least for now.)

#1. Get everyone who bought a book to actually read it.

Believe it or not, most of my very wonderful friends have not yet found the time to read their books. PLEASE READ THEM! Then tell all your friends about it, providing you liked my book. If you didn’t, I’m sorry but no refunds.

Once I have made some seed money, on to the next phase.

#2. Find another publisher who will print in bulk.

At a lower wholesale cost than I’m getting from Blurb, I’ll be able then to buy, say 100 copies to give away to distributors, book clubs and the likes.

#3.

I know, it’s blank. I haven’t gotten that far in my thought processes.

But I do have a start and that’s the most important thing. So, wish me luck, read your books!

- K.L. Parry -

Also I have begun another blog on Word Press, “Gird Your Loins, The Holidays Are Here”. A light-hearted blog to get you in the spirit and help keep you there.

GO TO www.klparry.com or Blurb.com and check out “The Pirate’s Daughter And A King’s Ransom” a novel by K.L.Parry. A fictional, high seas tale of adventure. Suitable for readers of all ages. Order your copy now to ensure delivery by Christmas.

PUBLISHED!

(First posted Nov.5, 2010 at WordPress)

Wow! A lot has happened since my last post, 3 months ago. Did you miss me? Well let me begin with this; I did all the changes to bring my manuscript into past tense along with another complete edit. What an ordeal! It was worth it though. I chose Blurb.com using their Booksmart program to publish. It was free which was right down my alley, since I, like so many others, find myself extremely financially challenged these days. However, it took me over a month to set up the novel. One, because I set up each page individually, cutting and pasting images and text and numbering the pages manually, but the main reason that publishing was held up involved my oldest son. He was in a very serious motorcycle accident. Of course I dropped everything, as any parent would, to see to his care. I thank God he chose not to take my son that day and I thank God that my son will make a full recovery. And…, I thank God that after two long years and endless hours in front of the computer and the complete collapse of my social life, that I now have a published work of literature. Yeah!!!!! On to the next phase… marketing. Look out boys, here I come! -K.L. Parry -

Oh! Did I forget to mention the name of my novel? “The Pirate’s Daughter and A King’s Ransom” You should be able to find it in the Blurb Bookstore under Novels, Fiction. If you have any trouble let me know.

I’m so excited…I just can’t hide it…

GO TO www.klparry.com or Blurb.com and check out “The Pirate’s Daughter And A King’s Ransom” a novel by K.L.Parry. A fictional, high seas tale of adventure. Suitable for readers of all ages. Order your copy now to ensure delivery by Christmas.

Edit, Edit, Edit???

Grumble, grumble!!! Though, I know he's right, I am hating my editor right now. Who says my narrative can't be all in the present tense? Well, my editor for one and so does most every other article I've read on it, (as I was looking for a reason not to do it). Lol!
So, the last draft of my novel came back with the expected punctuation corrections. What I did not expect was the note telling me it would read better if I were to change my narrative to past tense. "Sure," I said to myself, "no big deal." I had no idea what I was getting myself into until I started changing things. Now, it's not like I can just replace the s's for ed's. Many of the sentences don't read properly if you do that. So here I am making another long, arduous and frustrating revision. Grumble, grumble....

Almost There

Happy to be back here to share with you, what progress I have made on getting my novel published. Strange to think that I am almost there. Almost ready to begin the publishing process. Almost ready to put my work out to the world. Ew..scary! Since I've last posted I have done another edit and am just waiting to receive it back, again, so that I can do the final revisions; mostly punctuation and grammar. Quite a surreal feeling. It's great that I have received so much good feed back and that encourages me even further. But, it seems that whenever something big is about to happen for me everything else goes crazy in my life. Work, finances, and a child moving back home because of the same. Now, I am not telling you this because I am looking for anyone's sympathy, on the contrary. Had this not happened I certainly would not have had the time to have moved so quickly on the novel. Though, it has been difficult and even painful, truly I have seen this turn not as misfortune but as a god-send. It's all about the perspective. A door may be closed but the window is open and it's sunny outside. But enough about that. I have decided, on the advice of a trusted friend to self publish through Blurb. Surprisingly, for as old as my computer is, I was able to down load the software with out any difficulty. The program did seem a bit daunting at first glance, but I believe I can figure it out within a few trial pages and hopefully in a couple of weeks, or less, I'll have a finished, tangible, book. The hardest part right now, is the waiting.

First Critique

Though I have several readers currently looking at my novel, it is this first critique that has had me concerned the most. I knew that my friend Michael, a published author himself, would be my toughest critic. Particularly after telling him to show no mercy with his opinion on my story. I wanted the cold, hard truth. I was so nervous about it, I could hardly wait for the "bad" news I knew was going to come. Knowing that he has so much more experience than myself and that his technical knowledge far exceeds my own, I was certain he would tear it apart into tiny little, itsy bitsy pieces. Really, the anticipation was torturing me. So, imagine my great relief when I received this e-mail. "I enjoyed reading it and think it is quite good!" His exact words. Thank you Lord!!! I must tell you, that had it gone the other way, I would never have looked at the words I'd written again. I would have put my writing ambitions to rest. Now, I really feel that I am, finally, on the right path. That I am doing what I was always meant to do. What an affimiration! Not to say that I don't still have some fixin' to do before the book is ready to publish, because I do. And I would have started immediatly if I could have only been able to open the file that he sent me. Oh... the dilemmas of working on an ancient computer. But that's OK. I should probably wait until I hear back from the others before I start to do any correcting.

Whoo! Hoo! I wanna sing, I wanna dance, I wanna jump up and down and pee my pants, (just a little). Well, we can skip that last part.

-K.L. Parry-

"Faith in others is easy. It is the faith in one's self that comes difficult."

The Pirate's Daughter-Following the Dream

Well, here I am. I have arrived at a place that I had only dreamed of reaching. Now, 6 years from conception, I am nearing the completion of my first novel. I can not express to you how happy, relieved, frighten and excited I am. I am happy to be nearly done after devoting, literally, every spare moment granted me for the last 2 years. Really, I can hardly remember the last time I spent a day off just relaxing, other than when I had the flue a couple of months ago. I am relieved because I can finally get back to my garden, see my friends and watch something on TV at it's actual airing time. I am frightened, even petrified, that those reading it now will tell me it's crap and that I have wasted the last two years of my life. And lastly, I am excited about the possibilities of what could happen for me should it become a sensation. Yes, wishful thinking, I know. But, it is not beyond the impossible. And that slight, smallest of chances is what has kept me going through the headaches, blocks and the widening of my backside. Honestly, I think even my health may have suffered from my self imposed confinement and the sedentary lifestyle I have adopted in order to complete this project. Not only did I gain weight, but during this last year I have caught every sniffle, cough and sore throat that has passed through the ranks. I've even had customers comment on how sickly I've been, even though I have been practically main lining "EMERGENCY". I have sacrificed much and I hope, pray that it wasn't for naught.

So now it is that I wait. Await the verdict of my peers. I wait for the all important words I long to hear. Dare I to speak them? I think not. I don't want to jinx it. But, I can promise you this, dear friends, you will be the second to know. Me first, of course and then those reading it..,I think they would actually be the first, but I'm not counting them. So cross your fingers, toes, not your eyes because they might get stuck that way, but do wish for me the best and with me we will ride this train.

-K.L.Parry-

"Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake"