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| C. Kevin Thompson |
After my incident with the unscrupulous agent (Part 1 of my
story can be found here),
I was left a little gun shy. To be perfectly honest, a little ticked, too. No
one likes to be taken advantage of, and this embarrassing event forced me to
learn what good agents do and don’t do.
Along the way, I also learned the business of writing novels
was evolving. The pool of agents, who were touted as “agents who desire to see
new authors’ works” by reputable magazines and Sally Stuart’s yearly reference
work, seemed to be drying up. Instead, rejection letters stating interest in
manuscripts from “already established authors” or “references from the
aforementioned already established authors” seemed to be the trend. Despite my
efforts at attempting to land an agent, it appeared the only thing I was
accomplishing was helping to keep the United States Postal Service solvent.
Then, another evolutionary turn took place. Snail mail was
replaced with email queries and submissions. This helped the budget, mind you,
but it did little in way of encouragement.
Sometime later, I had read (or maybe I heard it) that the
way to go was to attend writers conferences. There, at one of these forays, you
could meet editors and agents face-to-face and “pitch” your work. This concept,
I have to admit, turned me off for quite some time. I probably postponed my
career about two years while I doggedly defied the better part of wisdom and
held out from attending a conference while I kept submitting email queries.
My belief was (and don’t laugh, please) that writers
conferences were just another step the Christian world had taken down the path
of its secular counterpart. “Why do we always have to copy what the world
does?”became my mantra. “And do I want to be a part of that?” My answer, for over
two years, was, “Negative.” So, I started looking into self-publishing. I mean,
if it was good enough for Mark Twain, it was good enough for me, right?
Now, remember, this was in the day when Author House wasn’t
Author House. It was 1st Books. CreateSpace had not been invented by Amazon yet
because Amazon had just been founded in 1994. All the other self-publishing
venues were either in their infancy or still a twinkle in the eyes of their
developers. I had some serious dialogue with 1st Books about A Case of Déjà Vu (my very first
manuscript) and the ins and outs of publishing it with them. However, I had
this feeling in my gut that this wasn’t the right path, either. This feeling
was based on what I was seeing published by self-publishing houses. Let’s face
it, in the early years, it wasn’t very good. That’s not to say that all the
books that come through the traditional publishing routes and houses are all
stellar. I’ve read some real groaners and wondered how many favors that editor
must have paid off, cashed in, or collected with that one. However, my overall
feelings about self-publishing, at that time, were ones of hesitancy. I always
wondered if the $1,000-$2,000 I would have to spend to get my manuscript in
print would be money well spent. This thought, coming on the heels of just
being snookered by the bad agent, was one I was willing to think about for
awhile longer.
Take
out a loan for my book? Do I believe in it that much? Those
were the questions of the day.
Moral
of Part 2: Despite all the struggles, disappointments, frustrations,
and pity parties, as a Christian writer, you have to keep your eyes on the One
who called you to write in the first place. If you are not writing for Him,
then you probably shouldn’t be writing (Colossians 3:23-24).
Something
ominous lurks under the waters.
Dr.
Evelyn Sims, a brilliant marine biologist, is being watched. Her husband's
mysterious death at sea—with the only survivor of the Greenback telling a
shocking, unbelievable tale—has thrown her personal life into chaos. Her
scientific views are being scrutinized. Her husband's office and their home are
investigated. Called in by the FBI to help solve the mystery, Evelyn is thrust
into her toughest research project ever...and forced into a maze of deception
and betrayal.
Micah
Gregson, the Coast Guard captain who rescued the Greenback, is determined to
find out why a special unit at the FBI—the one assigned to cryptozoological
cases—is involved.
Together
Evelyn and Micah will uncover a plot more deadly than anything the ocean could
ever produce. One that will either save Evelyn's life and redeem her career, or
destroy everything she—and myriad others—stand for.
C.
KEVIN THOMPSON is an ordained minister with a B.A. In Bible
(Houghton College, Houghton, NY), an M.A. in Christian Studies (Wesley Biblical
Seminary, Jackson, MS), and a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (National-Louis
University, Wheeling, IL). He presently works as an assistant principal in a
middle school. He also has several years experience as an administrator at the
high school level.
A former Language Arts teacher, Kevin decided to put his
money where his mouth was and write, fiction mostly. Now, years later, Kevin is
a member of the Christian Authors Network (CAN), American Christian Fictions
Writers (ACFW), and Word Weavers International. He is the Chapter President of
Word Weavers-Lake County (FL), and his published works include two
award-winning novels, The Serpent’s Grasp
(Winner of the 2013 Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference Selah
Award for First Fiction) and 30 Days Hath
Revenge - A Blake Meyer Thriller: Book 1, as well as articles in The Wesleyan Advocate, The Preacher, Vista, The Des Moines Register
and The Ocala Star-Banner.
Kevin is a huge fan of the TV series 24, The Blacklist, Blue
Bloods, and Criminal Minds, loves
anything to do with Star Trek, and is
a Sherlock Holmes fanatic, too.
Facebook: C. Kevin Thompson – Author Fan Page
Twitter: @CKevinThompson
Goodreads: C. Kevin Thompson
