Friday, July 25, 2014

Striking Gold

The second book I'm coming out with is titled, The Color of Ivy.  I wrote this book, many many years ago and is also a personal favorite.  However, I had made some revisions to the original manuscript that I felt improved the book and gave the characters more, well, character.  But somewhere along the way, I lost those revisions.  I was pretty bummed at the time and searched high and low to no avail.  Then the original manuscript went into storage along with all the others when I decided to hang my writer's hat up.  Let me clarify.  I didn't give up writing intentionally.  My desire to write just went away.  I suppose I needed to get on with my life and I felt my dreams of becoming a published writer were holding me back.

Anyway, fast forward to recently when I decided to pull the manuscripts out and self-publish them myself.  When I read The Color of Ivy, I was drawn in once again and still dearly loved the story though knew there was a better version out there somewhere, gone probably forever.  Yes, I could have attempted to rewrite it but it wouldn't have been the same revisions.  Having proofread Color of Ivy, I was getting ready to publish it but first needed a synopsis.  To my dismay I realized that all my notes, queries, research, synopsis, everything but the manuscript itself was gone.  They had all been deleted.

I was pretty upset about that but again went on a major search.  I pulled old PC's out of storage hoping by some miracle a version would be stored on them, but no such luck.  I found a old box of microdisks (remember those) and found one labeled The Color of Ivy.  I hit every used shop, every computer shop hoping to find an old PC with a 3 1/2 inch drive.  I was told the same thing.  No one looks for those old computers anymore so when they come in, they are immediately sent out to trash.  That news alone is pretty upsetting as I mentioned, I had a whole box of old manuscripts in that box of microdisks.  I will never be able to retrieve them again.

But I digress yet again.  When I was unable to locate an old computer, I began to give up and realized that I would actually have to write a new synopsis.  Literally, as I was opening a fresh page on my Word program, it struck me.  I had a drawer of old recordable DVD disks in my hall wardrobe.  Was it possible I backed up my work and put it on one of those.  Only one way to find out.  Start going through them.  All 567,900,732,418 of them.  Ok, I'm exaggerating but it sure felt that many.  There are at least a 100 if not more.

So while the kids were at their dad's and I had all the free time in the world, I started going through the disks.  I have to tell you, it was kind of fun.  I came across old resumes, essays, children's work, music, videos and photos and photos and photos.  I really hope DVD's never go out the way the microdisks did or I will loose so many memories.

But lo and behold, about 1/3 of the way through the disks, I found it.  A file with all my work.  All my manuscripts were on it including The Color of Ivy and it's synopsis.  And even better, the improved revisions!  I felt like I had struck gold.  I think I couldn't stop grinning all day as I reread the revisions and sighed with delight at the improvement in the story.  So, The Color of Ivy has been postponed and will be available in a couple weeks I'm hoping.  If not sooner.  Meanwhile, here's a sneak-peak at it's cover.


And because I have it, here is a very brief synopsis:

He was bringing her back dead or alive.  And if bounty hunter SAM MICHALSKI had anything to do with it, most definitely alive.  He wanted to ensure cold-blooded murderer, IVY MACGREGOR, had her day in the gallows.
Though she might not look anything like a cold-blooded killer with her pale complexion and soft eyes, Sam wasn’t so easily fooled.  Hadn’t his own mother taught him that lesson?  Right before she covered his five year-old face with a pillow?  He survived that attack only to learn a valuable lesson.  The darkest of souls could be disguised in the purest of creatures.

3 comments:

  1. Oo. Love the premise! So glad you found it! :)

    This post speaks to one of my greatest fears - losing my work. One time I read about an author whose laptop was stolen at Christmastime. All her flash drives were in the case. She lost EVERYTHING. I've been OCD about it ever since.

    I back my stuff up on flash drives, but I've also started backing it up in Dropbox, too. It only takes a few clicks of the mouse, and it isn't something tangible in or around my desk that someone could steal.

    As far as juggling social media, you just have to figure out your limitations and do what you can do. There's a ton of stuff out there (venues, bloghops, groups...). I've decided to pick a few things and do them well instead of trying to take part in everything I see.

    Thanks for visiting my blog. If you'd like me to mention your book this Friday (Promo Friday on my blog), send me the deets (cover image, blub, link to your blog or website, and buy links, if you have them, or link to your author page.) I'd be more than happy to include you. :)

    And, if your serious about diving into the writing community, consider participating in Follow Fest. It's fun and you'll meet a lot of nice people.

    IWSG #184 until Alex culls the list again.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Melissa and thanks for dropping by and going to so much trouble just to find my blog. I am working to clean up all my networking sites and have them linked so that no one else will have any problems finding me. You mentioned over on my Facebook page that you snagged the cover and blurb for my book but will forward to you just in case. And, yes, I'm definitely participating in your Follow Fest! I'm already working on my blog entry! Thanks again!

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  2. Ugh. I meant 'you're.'

    Oh, and it's melissamaygrove(at)gmail(dot)com. :)

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