And you’d think that with my twelfth published novel coming out on October 13th, I’d have this writer’s job down pat. But these last few weeks have proven me wrong.
In July, when I turned in Book 2 of my
Redemption’s Light series, I felt pretty pleased with myself. The book had
flowed well, I thought, and I’d finished it without the usual stress of a looming
deadline. Then about 4 weeks later, I got the Revision Letter from my
publisher. My last couple of revision letters weren’t that bad. This one,
however, had me paralyzed.
It looked like a major rewrite was needed, and I
had no idea where to begin. I started by doing more in-depth research. At the
end of that time, I still hadn’t even opened the manuscript. Somehow, I forced
myself to begin, telling myself that the original story would be intact no
matter what mess I created with the revisions. Painstakingly, I rearranged
chapters, which created a dominoes affect throughout the rest of the book. I
added new chapters, deleted old ones, went down several rabbit holes, then deleted
half of the new content. I ended up asking my publisher for an extension of the
deadline, which eased the pressure a great deal. And if it weren’t for my dear
friend and critique partner, I don’t know if I could have finished. She pointed
out a few glaring problems with some of my character’s actions that I’d been
stubbornly refusing to change, and I finally got it.
In the midst of these trials, big changes were
happening in my job as a church secretary, adding to my stress. Plus, I had a
new book releasing soon, and I needed to do some work promoting it. Finally at
ten p.m. on the day of my extended deadline, I was forced to stop trying to
make everything perfect and simply submit my revised manuscript. I had to “Let
go and let God.”
The moral of the story is that sometimes the most
daunting of tasks can only be overcome by taking one painful step at a time.
Secondly, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Lastly, in the end we have to trust that
God has us covered and that everything will work out. I had a lot of people
praying for me, and I know it helped. (I’ll let you know when I get the verdict
on my revised manuscript!)
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy “A Haven for Her
Heart”. Its message is near and dear to my heart – a story of true redemption
for my heroine, Olivia.
And I wish you good luck with whatever daunting
tasks you are facing!
God bless, Susan
~~~~~~
Susan Anne Mason’s debut historical novel, Irish Meadows, won the Fiction from the Heartland contest from the Mid-American Romance Authors Chapter of RWA. She is the author of the Courage to Dream series and the Canadian Crossings series. Also a member of ACFW, Susan lives outside of Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and two adult children. She loves wine and chocolate and isn’t partial to snow even though she’s Canadian. Learn more about Susan and her books at www.susanannemason.net.
Purchase Links for: A Haven for Her Heart by Susan Anne Mason
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yynbmyrj
Bethany House / Baker Publishing: https://tinyurl.com/y4lybd4q
Christianbook.com: https://tinyurl.com/y2p24cgb
