The Test of Time,

 But That Was Yesterday

by Kathleen Eagle

The popularity of e-books has given multi-published authors the chance to offer their best previously-published books to readers in a medium that wasn’t available when the book first came out. Wow! It’s a whole new century, new millennium, new technology . . .

But is it a new ball game? Readers tell me that they love the portability, the convenience of storing a whole library in a gadget that fits in a pocket or purse. I celebrate the chance to make improvements before the book goes into the gadget.

Every writer who’s experienced the thrill of getting that box in the mail knows the feeling. The box contains the story she’s lived with for months in physical book form. She’s poured sweat and tears into this baby. Blood? Metaphorically, maybe. But definitely sweat and tears. Writing is hard work. And here’s the reward. It’s a real book. She takes a copy out of the box, pets the cover as if it might return her affection at last with some kind of contented sound, turns back the cover, and joins in the act of conjuring up images from the words on the page.

Wait a minute. Did I write that? I love it. I can’t believe it came from me. It has its own life. It belongs to readers now. It’s on its own. And it’s good. It draws me in. It’s as if . . .

Wait a minute. Did I write that? Can I grab it back one more time and change a few words? Right here, it’s just one sentence too many. Or too few. I can do better.

So the e-book—the whole new medium—that’s my chance. I’ve written many books since I finished But That Was Yesterday, and even though I won praise and awards for the book years ago, I know I’m technically a much better writer now. Am I a better storyteller?

I write from character, and I love the characters in this story. Sage Parker still breaks my heart and then puts the pieces back together. I love the story—the setting, the plot, the themes—all still there. I remember doing the research on how to build roads—Sage’s job. The wonderful friend who worked for the ND Department Of Transportation has since passed away, but the inspiration he gave me lives on in a book that I’ve revised more for style than for story. I didn’t change the setting. Every story is a moment in some time, lives lived in some place.

When the storyteller brings the audience to that time and place, the game isn’t new. It’s timeless.

But That Was Yesterday is on sale for $1.99 until January 31st!

A Long Time Coming

by Eve Gaddy

Some books are a long time coming.

I had the original idea for Cry Love in 1999.  I found the file not too long ago.  It was a one line description that I had saved in my idea file, many computers ago.  But it was a very different idea and at the time I was writing for Harlequin.  There was no way this book would fit what they wanted.  Since I am one of those writers who does best in total immersion, I filed the idea and kept writing other things.

I am also one of those writers who periodically experiences burnout.  I think it has something to do with being so obsessive.  (What, me obsessive?)

Anyway, every once in a while, especially when I was feeling burned out and battered by the business, I would pull the idea out and play with it.  I went to see the movie Hurricane and found it and Denzel Washington, who plays Hurricane Carter, very inspiring.  My husband and I were the only people in the theatre and it seemed as if it was playing just for me.

Several years ago, maybe around 2003 or 2004, I wrote the first scene.  I was at a conference and laid down to rest and the scene came to me.   A year or so later, I worked on the plot during an endless drive back from Savannah to Tyler with my daughter.  Then I put it aside again.

I couldn’t get going on it.  I would write random scenes occasionally but what I had in no way resembled a book.  I went on that way until I quit writing for about two years due to burnout, family death, twin grandbabies<g>, and life in general.  I played with my grandbabies, did a lot of needlework and didn’t write a word of fiction.  I decided if I never wrote anything else that was okay.  I’d published sixteen books and that was enough.

Then I talked to Debra Dixon, President of Belle Books, and a friend I’d known for many years.  The self-publishing boom had hit.  Although I thought I had retired, almost all my friends are writers and I was still a member of many writing communities.  I had the rights back to eight books and was toying with publishing them myself.  But I couldn’t figure out a number of things.  Formatting for one.  At the time I wrote in Word Perfect.  Everything now requires Word, which I loathe and use only when I absolutely must.

So I asked for help on one of my writers loops and Debra Dixon gave me some great advice.  She also mentioned I didn’t have to do this all on my own.  “I don’t?” I asked.  She said Belle Books was interested in reissuing my backlist.  I knew about Belle Books, of course.  I had always wanted to write for them, in fact.  But I hadn’t realized they had branched out from publishing only original southern fiction to more genres as well as reissues.  I was in heaven.  Belle Books bought my backlist in January 2011.  My first reissue, On Thin Ice, came out with Bell Bridge Books in August of 2011.  I love those books and it is such a pleasure to know they have a new life. I not only have a new publisher but I’m lucky enough to have a publisher and editors who are a dream to work with.

In one of our discussions about my backlist, Deb asked me if I had plans to write anything new.  She knew all about what had been going on with me and that I had mentioned retiring, but she let me know Belle Books would be interested in an original from me.  I said, “Well, I do have an idea for a book that’s unlike anything I’ve ever written.

That was what it took.  Not too long after I talked to Deb, I sent a synopsis of my new book to Belle Books. It was very vague and very short since I still had no idea exactly what I was doing, or even what exactly I was writing.  We decided I’d write the whole book and submit it.

Except I couldn’t write.  I had the synopsis but the book was so complex I couldn’t figure out how to write the thing.  I contacted the fabulous April Kihlstrom, published author and writing coach extraordinaire.  With her help I was able to begin seriously working on my book.  April was a lifesaver.  I truly doubt I’d have been able to write again without her help and encouragement.

My friends, many of whom I list in the acknowledgements, were essential to writing my Book of the Heart. I can’t tell you how many talks we had on every subject under the sun. Or how many times I’d call one of them up to try to hammer out a scene. Or email someone with a problem I couldn’t figure out. I’m pretty sure my friends were almost as glad as I was when I finished Cry Love. For that matter, so was my family. I might be just a tiny bit hard to live with when I’m writing.

Finally, nearly a year after I started writing it seriously, I typed THE END on Cry Love.  Thirteen years after the original idea occurred to me, I finished the book.  To call Cry Love a book of my heart doesn’t even approach how I feel about it.  This book was wrenched, sometimes agonizingly, from deep within my heart and soul.  I love this book.  I hope you will too.