All posts by NewEngland_Muse

I'm a traditionally and self published author. I write in the genre of children and YA at the moment but working my way up to adults. I'm a sports loving, photo taking gal who loves to sing/dance to my own enjoyment. I love to laugh even at myself. I am also owned by 8 birds and 2 hamsters, and yes they know it. :)
Publishing Houses, Query Letters, Submissions

Just One Yes

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2013-03-28 09.15.55

My mantra for the last year or so has remained the same.

“All I need is one yes, just one.”

In fact the picture above is a photo of my mantra that I typed out and taped to my computer so I could see this every day when I sat down at my desk.  I know it can get discouraging when one submits to publishing houses. It is a crap shoot let’s be honest. You are trying to find someone who loves your MS as much as you do. A person who believes in it and the potential it has as you do.

One person is a small number compared to all the publishing houses that are out there. I however did not see it as that. I was not looking for 50. I was not looking for 25. I certainly was not looking for 10. All I was looking for was one person in a sea of faces, names, and companies who would say yes. I just had to find that one person.

It takes time absolutely. But your mind-set has to be where you stick to your guns and keep going. Don’t let up for that person is out there. I know I look at it differently from the fellow writers I hang out with. But they gotten so use to me repeating my mantra now some of them are saying it as well.

Thanks to Melanie from FBP she is my one yes. The one person who said yes I want to ride this journey with you. Let’s do it.  To get to this one yes took some effort but man oh man it was worth it. The day she said we want to publish your MS is a day I will never forget. And trust me I have a bad memory but this has been seared into my brain.

People keep at it and keep trying. You are not trying to climb a mountain of names. What you are trying to do is find one person in that mountain. If you stop you may never find it. But if you keep going what do you have to lose but really just time. And who knows you may find your own personal yes.

Author, Book Cover, Stacey Jaine McIntosh

Book Cover Release: Stacey Jaine McIntosh

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Solstice Final2

Today I want to share with you Stacey Jaine McIntosh’s new book cover for her book that is about to be released. This is a coming out party so to speak. I wish her all the best. Personally I think it looks pretty amazing.

About “Solstice”:
The High Queen was dead and Advent Mor is in the throes of being divided up piecemeal between her six children, while in the woods not far away a Faery in exile seeks to reclaim the throne of Aisling that was taken from her at birth and Dragons toy with the lives of mortals.

About Stacey
Stacey Jaine McIntosh was born in Perth, Western Australia. She has a Diploma in Spatial Services and once toyed with being a Cartographer.

At twenty-nine, her first love has always been writing and she now has three short stories; “Freya”, “Blood Sacrifice” and “Fallen Angel” published in various anthologies, along with a few more in the works. Two of her novels “The Winter Princess” and “Queen-in-Waiting” are available for free on Smashwords.com.

Stacey still resides in her home town of Perth, Western Australia, with her husband and four children. Her eldest of which began reading at age three and devours books in just the same manner as his mum.

When she isn’t spending time with her family or writing, Stacey enjoys photography, graphic design, and the occult.

You can find Stacey here:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/StaceyJaineMcIntosh
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/RhiannonBrid
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5575229.Stacey_Jaine_McIntosh

This book will be available for purchase 12 May 2013 from Smashwords.com and Amazon.com (and anywhere else Smashwords distributes out to)

Amazon Parrot, Author, Manuscript

Falling in love with your MS again

6 Comments

2012-08-21 09.50.10

Have you ever picked up a MS that has been laying dormant and fall in love with it all over again? I use to think when I did that perhaps I was being conceited. That was until I wrote this on my author page on FB and learned that was not the case.  In fact one person wrote, “If you don’t love your work who will?”

And that solidified it. Working on Vol 2 of my Jasper, Amazon Parrot series I realized it would be a good idea to reread the first one so I could bridge the two together. Sitting down on the couch I got my Pepsi and started to read. It had been a while since I had done this and I fell in love all over again. I laughed at the same spots, I smirked at the reactions of some of the characters and just truly enjoyed the read.  There has been an occasion where a friend had read this MS out loud to me so I could catch anything that would need to be fixed. Instead I ended up laughing and then out of the blue it hit me. I wrote this, me.

I truly love this book. I have lived and breathed this MS for a few years now. I think as authors we need to fall in love all over again with our works. Not just a few times but down the road pick it up and enjoy the words you wrote. Enjoy the adventure that falls off the page.  If you don’t, like that comment suggested, who else will? We have to enjoy what we do and trust me it will show on the pages whether the words are works of love or just a task that was done.

Case in point is another MS that I will be submitting soon, “Squirrel Mafia”which is a true story of the war between the squirrels in my back yard versus me. It makes me giggle and I hope it will make others laugh out loud for that was the point of the book. This is my first attempt at true humor. But most important it was a labor of time, effort and love over a topic that was just so much fun to write about.

I truly hope my fellow writers and bloggers that when you put words down that you are having a good time, enjoying what you are doing and absolutely having fun. It makes all the difference in the world. And if you can do that the words will shine through to others.