Today I am happy to welcome Debut author Joan Swan to the blog. Joan is the author of
Fever and is scheduled to release at the end of February and I can't wait. This book looks hot, hot, hot. So everyone please help me in welcoming the lovely
Joan Swan to the blog.
Hey everyone!
Danielle, thanks so much for inviting me over here to hang with you and your...would they be chickadees?
Some of you may already know me pretty well (condolences), but for those I’m meeting for the first time, don’t believe anything those others tell you. Unless its good stuff, then they’re right on the money.
I’m the debut author of
FEVER, a paranormal romantic suspense, which releases this spring from Kensington Brava. I’m very excited about this milestone, more so with each passing week.
Someone recently commented on one of my blogs that getting a book published is such a long process it must be a lot having a baby. I can’t quite equate the two, but then my babies were born so long ago, that could simply be memory problems. I do have to say one part of the two journeys that are similar is how after the fact you look at your results and say, “That wasn’t so bad. Look how beautiful this is. I hardly remember all the pain and suffering and worry and pain and suffering and…”
Of course, I’m in the midst of writing another novel, so the process turns over and over again, but for any one particular book, I often can’t remember the day-to-day trials and tribulations. Just as with pregnancy you don’t remember every back ache, every cramp that led to fleeting fear, every morning spent kneeling at the toilet – well, okay, maybe you do, but just go with me here – as an author, I don’t remember every revision, every plot block, every rejection letter – okay, maybe I do remember the rejection letters. (I mean, there were so many.) Over time, the hardships seem to congeal into that familiar burden you may hear voiced when two or more authors get together, the same way mothers lament about pregnancy and tell endless stories about childbirth.
Yep, it’s all fun and games until someone turns up pregnant…or in my case, turns up with a twisted plot and characters that won’t leave me the hell alone.
Honestly, throughout the lengthy process, now going on two years from the time I signed with my agent, I have to say that to date, this – being out here and actually connecting with readers who are excited about
FEVER’s release – is the best part of the trip. The other highs of the journey, signing with my agent, selling to my editor, and so many more, have been fabulous. But this is different. And very hard to explain. If I was to bring the analogy back around, it would be a little like looking at your new baby, thinking she is the most beautiful thing on earth, but fearing that when you bring her out into the world, others may not quite think she’s all that. And when you bring her into the grocery store for the first time, strangers’ exclamations of “Isn’t she beautiful?” and “What a sweet baby”, and “Precious”, are balms to a nervous soul.
Truly, I don’t think of my books as my babies. It really is just an analogy. I’ve worked in one creative capacity or another for decades and have long since learned to separate myself from my work after it is complete. I take the lessons I’ve learned from crafting the end result, hopefully grow and improve and move on to the next project with the intention of pushing the envelope.
So, this is a very long way of illustrating (or at least trying to) how much you, as readers, mean to us little people debut authors. I’ve gained more fluttery thrills from your simplest accolade than almost any other experience during the trip. You are that powerful. And deeply appreciated.
What are you deeply appreciative for?
I just finished Seven Nights and I loved it. I could not put it down and read it in one sitting. I just love second-chance at love stories and this one was really good.
