Hey guys!
It’s release day! Thanks again to everyone at Morning Rain Publishing for helping get this book out into the world. Here’s what Morning Rain Publishing has to say today (you can buy Strangely, Incredibly Good at this link too).
I wanted to write something special for this day, but the fact that I woke up at 3 a.m. ! like a child on Christmas morning has left me with rather poor writing skills. I don’t like how my writing turns out when I’m tired. I can still try to offer you, my dear, loyal readers, a list of Top Ten Confessions about this novelist’s journey to getting Strangely, Incredibly Good published. Just please excuse any typos 🙂
10. Came up with the idea mid-2012 but then a few people (including me!) said it sounded kind of silly…and I stuffed the idea in a drawer. NEVER LET SELF DOUBT STOP YOUR GOOD INSTINCTS.
9. For years and years, I didn’t think I had a longer story in me. Then, after being inspired by the people mingling at a wonderful discussion board led by writer Aaron Sorkin, I penned an 18500 word screenplay. I was on my way. Thanks to The Undeletables for firing me up, and knowing how to get me out of that hole!
8. I have spent too much of the ’00s online, and not enough time writing. Don’t do this. It took until about 2012 for me to find true discipline and realize that if I want to write something, I can’t be online until at least lunch time. When I have a project I want to finish, I write early, and log on late.
7. I fuss about my hair too much. It’s amazing what going au naturel curly (letting it be air-dried) did for my writing! I’m serious! I had really bad hair days for months while writing Strangely, Incredibly Good, but hell, it got finished!
6. Working at home all day can be a lonely existence. I’m thankful for some wonderful neighbors, music, and the friends in my social networks. I hope I don’t become a crazy old novelist with four cats (we currently have three) ….but if I do maybe I’ll write some really weird and wonderful stuff? Laughing!
5. When I finished the manuscript in October 2013, I sent it to 50 literary agents with a really great (at least I thought so) cover letter. I heard back from ONE who said it wasn’t what they were looking for but someone else would absolutely love it. I’m thankful for that ONE agent as she convinced me to keep pushing this manuscript, and I started just sending queries to publishers that were looking for unsolicited manus. I never did need an agent, in the end, a wonderful Canadian publisher took me on without the help of an agent.
4. I thought I was writing a piece of crap about 60 percent of the time. I’m glad I listened to how I felt about the work the other 40 percent of the time – and I’m grateful to those who read it in its early stages and insisted I keep going.
3. We’re all just winging it. Every one of us.
2. I believe in magic.
1. I’d like Hugh Jackman cast as Gene, the genie. Who wouldn’t?!
Okay, maybe WITHOUT the turban and genie pants! But imagine Hugh as Gene in the tuxedo? Mmm.
Heather Grace Stewart 