It is my pleasure to share a guest post by author M.C. Bunn, who answers my question...
What was the most difficult thing to overcome on
your path to becoming a published author and how did you conquer it?
MCB: Multiple
difficulties face aspiring writers. Getting published is only one of them. My
breakthrough was a combination of factors, the most important of which was
finding the right reader.
I
began to write Where Your Treasure Is in 2011 while I was teaching high
school and helping my mother, so an immediate challenge was time management. I
rose early and stayed up late. Because I wrote for pleasure, this wasn’t a
chore. Nights when my husband worked, I rushed from my mother’s house to my
manuscript, as eager for the next installment of Winifred and Court’s romance and
adventures as I had been for episodes of Masterpiece Theatre or Mystery
when I was a girl. It was only after I’d finished the draft and a few people
read it that I realized it might have potential. The manuscript was far from
being in shape, so I set it aside and began another book.
I
also began investigating online writing journals, and was overwhelmed by the
abundant advice. I continued writing—for six more years and several more books,
only dipping into the swiftly-changing currents of publishing from time to time.
On the one hand I wrote for myself, and on the other, tried to incorporate what
I’d learned about genres and marketing without letting all of that derail what
I wanted to express.
Almost
no one knew I wrote, but a friend who did introduced me to a writer who agreed
to read Treasure, which was by then on its third draft. After contacting
many editors, I realized it was a long book for a first-time author. Could I
cut it in half and make two books? In publishing’s early days, novels were
often released in multiple volumes (think of Little Women), but I knew
this wouldn’t work for Treasure’s plot. The editors hadn’t read my
manuscript. They made their suggestion based on the page-by-page cost of
reading and putting a long book through various editorial stages. They were
trying to help me save money.
Cost
is an issue all writers must consider. Many first-time authors with Big 5
publishers will have to finance and implement at least part of their publicity
campaigns. Writers part ways with publishers and are sometimes dropped. Books
may not sell enough copies to make it to the back lists and go out of print. Small
and hybrid presses (such as Bellastoria), self-publishing—all these
options require writers’ time and money. Publishing always has.
Two
instances may provide comfort: Samuel Richardson and Jane Austen. Richardson, a
master printer, self-published Clarissa (970,000 words; two volumes) in
1747. It became an international best-seller and one of the most influential
novels of all time. Austen used her limited funds to pay for Sense and
Sensibility to be published on commission. She would share the profits if
it sold and bear the loss if it didn’t. You know the rest of that story!
The
wonderful part of current publishing is the variety of ways to print. Someone
wants to read your manuscript, perhaps for pay, but maybe for free. Decide why
you write; define your goals; then think about your audience. Investigate
the expense and plan for it. Most of all, work at your craft and share it. Writing’s
your gift, and there’s someone out there who will treasure your words.
by
M.C. Bunn
Publisher: Bellastoria Press
Publication Date: April 23, 2021
Print Length: 466 pages
Genre: Historical Romance
Blurb:
Feisty,
independent heiress Winifred de la Coeur has never wanted to live
according to someone else’s rules—but even she didn’t plan on falling in
love with a bank robber.
Winifred
is a wealthy, nontraditional beauty who bridles against the strict
rules and conventions of Victorian London society. When she gets caught
up in the chaos of a bungled bank robbery, she is thrust unwillingly
into an encounter with Court Furor, a reluctant getaway driver and
prizefighter. In the bitter cold of a bleak London winter, sparks fly.
Winifred
and Court are two misfits in their own circumscribed worlds—the
fashionable beau monde with its rigorously upheld rules, and the gritty
demimonde, where survival often means life-or-death choices.
Despite
their conflicting backgrounds, they fall desperately in love while
acknowledging the impossibility of remaining together. Returning to
their own worlds, they try to make peace with their lives until a moment
of unrestrained honesty and defiance threatens to topple the deceptions
they have carefully constructed to protect each other.
A
story of the overlapping entanglements of Victorian London’s social
classes, the strength of family bonds and true friendship, and the power
of love to heal a broken spirit.
Excerpt:
Note from ELF: I had technical difficulties earlier, so I have changed the excerpt while I was updating the post, because several of the other stops on the tour presented that one and I wanted to provide more variety to potential fans of this story. Sorry for any confusion.
Chapter 2
A Fool and His Money Are Soon Parted
Approaching the right turn that would take him to Swift
Street and the Royal Empire Bank, Court Furor concentrated on traffic. Cold bit
his cheeks and hunger gnawed his belly, but he ignored both through force of
habit. The soles of his boots were thin and his gloves pointless…No point
worrying about what the day would bring, never mind the next one…He was a man
of no prospects and no property but preferred to think of it as freedom from
responsibility…It was no secret he fancied himself a bit of a lad though he
wasn’t overly tempted by long, romantic entanglements. An hour or two with a
willing girl would suit…
He directed the horse to a slow walk, trying to secure a
place in the queue for the curb. In the gleaming brougham beside him sat a
woman, her face hidden under an enormous, bright green hat trimmed with black
ostrich feathers. Her driver signaled, and Court tugged his reins…Though a
thick veil covered her face, Court caught a glimpse of golden hair, coiled in
heavy masses on her shoulders. The wind lifted the edge of her mantle, and he
was briefly amazed by the brilliant green of her dress…She’d obviously never
missed a meal in her life.
********
Suddenly Geoff and a woman appeared at the bottom of the
stairs…Their progress was impeded by the woman’s wildly kicking little boots.
Her struggles and the flashes of her bright green and purple silks made her
look like an exotic bird thrashing in Geoff’s arms….
Geoff…thrust the woman at him…the woman struggled and
kicked…and cried for help. Involuntarily, he clapped his hand over her mouth.
She only screamed louder.
“Shut up, you fat sow!” Geoff swatted her across the
temple….
The woman’s eyes rolled and she went limp.
Court howled in
dismay and caught her… In his arms, she was a mountain of soft cashmere and
folds of velvet. Her mantle fell open, and her scent hit him. Lilies and some
dark, exotic spice. It was so unexpected and heavenly that the alley and the
hackney disappeared. Even his panic was gone.
“…We can’t take ’er!”
Geoff clicked off the safety and waved the pistol under
Court’s nose. When Court did not let go of the woman, he pointed the pistol at
her head. “I ain’t arguin’! Drive!” He slammed the cab door…
His heart hammering, his head whirling, Court untied the
horse, swung up onto the box, and grabbed the reins. As he turned the cab into
the street behind the bank, yet another fire truck raced past. Jesus, Mary, and
Joseph! They were in for it now.
***********************
Author info and links:
M.
C. Bunn is a writer of Victorian romance and historical romance novels,
a singer (in the indie rock band Mister Felix), and a songwriter. She
holds an English degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a master’s in English
from North Carolina State University.
"I've always loved writing. It's a joy to do what makes me happy and to share it.
“My
father was a great story-teller. He read to us at the dinner table and
passed on his love of history. He’d haul me out of bed in the middle of
the night if there was a great old movie on the late show, and family
trips always included visits to historic sites. His father was born in
1888, and I have Granddaddy's letters to his bride-to-be in my dresser.
I'm working on the story of Daddy's first ancestor in America. It's set
in Jamestown, 1690. My mother's grandmother was placed in an orphanage
after the Civil War because her father died on the way home, so I always
felt that connection to and had a curiosity about the past. Both of my
parents read to me before I could walk. Daddy gave me Dickens, Twain,
and Stevenson. Mama put the dictionary in my hands and let me watch I, Claudius and Shoulder to Shoulder when they first aired on Masterpiece Theatre. She told me I'd be a writer one day.”
Acting
was another girlhood passion. “I wanted to play all the characters in
the books I'd read, or in the stories I made up, like Dickens and Louisa
May Alcott did. I also wanted to be an archaeologist because we knew
one who worked on digs in Israel. There was never a time when I wasn't
making up a story, and it was always set 'a long time ago.' What I
really wished for was the car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, so I could fly back in time and see what it was actually like for women in Victorian and Edwardian England.”
When she's not writing, she loves reading long old books. "I love Anthony Trollope's series, and Anna Karenina. Of more recent vintage, I really enjoyed The Forsyte Saga and The Raj Quartet."
Her
idea of a well-appointed room includes multiple bookshelves, a full pot
of coffee, and a place to lie down and read. To feed her soul, she
takes a walk or makes music with friends. "I try to remember to look up
at the sky and take some time each day to be thankful."
She lives in North Carolina with her husband and their dog. Where Your Treasure Is is her first published novel.
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