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| Janice Cantore |
Writers deal with a myriad fears. What happens if I don’t get an
agent? Or a contract? What if readers love my book? What’s going to be expected of me next?
Today, author Janice Cantore offers
encouraging words for writers wherever they are in their journey. ~ Dawn
Don’t
Quit When
Things Get Hard
“…Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your
words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” Eph 4:29 NLT
I just got back from a writer’s conference. I’ve been to
many over the years and for some reason this trip brought back memories of a
conference I attended when I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I didn’t
submit any manuscripts to editors because I didn’t feel ready. (I’d had a bad
experience at a previous conference) I roomed with a woman, I forget her name
now, who was a little more savvy than I was and who had submitted several
pieces to editors for review.
My roommate was bristling with anticipation, waiting for the
return of her manuscripts the day I met her. When she got them back, there were
a lot of reactions I expected, but not the one I got. She burst into tears.
After a minute she told me that an editor who was talking book contract accepted
her story. All of her dreams were coming true.
Why are you crying, I asked. She said it was because she
didn’t know how to handle everything she ever wanted coming true. She then
packed up her things and left the conference 2 days early. I don’t know if she
was published and lived happily ever after or not.
I too dreamed of a book contract and of being a published
author and I was certain I would not burst into tears and freak out if it ever
happened. A few years later I was certain my dream would never come true. I had
become a published author with a small print on demand publisher and I was
grateful. But I learned that selling a novel was way harder than writing one.
With no platform and no idea how to build one people were not exactly beating
down the door to buy my book.
One morning after my devotions I felt particularly defeated.
I remember sitting in a chair, head in hands, praying, “Lord, if not writing
what?” I was certain my writing career was over and I was ready to quit, to
stop banging my head against a wall. But, God is good. A few days later my
publisher called. She had an agent friend who read my POD book and wanted to
talk to me, was that okay? I figured I had nothing to lose, so I said yes. To
make a long story short, I signed with that agent and a month later we had a
three-book contract.
All my dreams came true! Did I burst into tears and freak
out? Nope, I thanked God and signed the contract, knowing full well that the
hard work was just beginning. This writing life is fun, frustrating, and what I
always wanted. I’ve known tremendous disappointments and soaring victories. I’m
glad I didn’t quit, and to anyone out there struggling, if this is your dream,
stick with it. And you can even freak out when you realize your dream, just don’t
quit because things are sometimes hard.
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Avenged
When Officer Carly Edwards finds three young gangbangers
shot execution style, she and her husband, Sergeant Nick Anderson, head of the
gang unit, fear Las Playas may be on the verge of a gang war. The Las Playas PD
is put on high alert as tensions escalate between rival gangs, especially after
Carly confiscates weapons from a gang leader and learns they were stolen from a
military base along with explosive devices.
But something isn’t adding up, and Carly suspects there
might be more going on. As she prepares to testify at a major trial, Carly’s
reputation is shredded by a reporter apparently trying to discredit her
professionally. Facing pressure on all fronts, Carly must rely on faith and
trust God in a deeper way during one of the biggest struggles of her career.
A retired Long Beach California police officer of 22 years
(16 in uniform and 6 as a non-career officer), Janice Cantore worked a variety of
assignments, patrol, administration, juvenile investigations and training.
During the course of her career in uniform Janice found that faith was
indispensable to every aspect of the job and published articles on faith at
work, one for a quarterly newspaper called “Cop and Christ”, and another for the
monthly magazine “Today’s Christian Woman”.
With retirement Janice began to write longer pieces and
several novels were born. Janice is excited and honored to now be a part of the
Tyndale Publishing House family. Accused,
the first installment in her new suspense offering, The Pacific Coast Justice
Series, was released February 1, 2012 and kicked off a brand new chapter in her
writing career. Abducted followed in
July 2012 and Avenged, the third
installment was released April 1, 2013. In addition to suspense and action, her
books feature strong female leads. Janice writes suspense novels designed to
keep you engrossed and leave you inspired.
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