Today, we have special guest Kristin Wallace, an inspirational author, stopping by discussing her author’s journey.
I was about 25 when I had the great epiphany that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. Specifically…novel writing. I don’t know 
why this notion didn’t occur to me earlier. I’d always been a voracious reader (which I blame entirely on my mother). I didn’t just play Barbie’s…those dolls endured soap opera-like sagas. I’d actually started writing stories as far back as high school. But I never connected that with an actual career. I didn’t major in something useful like English or Journalism in college. Instead, I was a theatre major.
After college I drifted for a long time, unsure what I wanted to do. Then this bolt of lightening struck and told me to be a writer. For the next few years I wrote and submitted….and I got absolutely nowhere. At the same time, I was still no closer to finding a career that would let me do important things…like buy food and pay rent. I needed something where I could write and be creative, but actually get paid.
So, I stumbled on another career that I’d never considered…advertising. Specifically, I wanted to be an advertising copywriter. So, I put the writing dream aside and went back to school for the next 2 years. Then I started working. At some point I started writing again. That’s when I had another “great epiphany”. One afternoon I was sitting at my computer working on an outline for a new book and I literally stopped with my hands on the keyboard –and said to myself. “You’ve been doing this writing thing for 10 years and it hasn’t gone away…that has to mean something.”
I knew I had to try again. I joined Romance Writers of America and my local chapter, Florida Romance Writers. I quickly discovered that I knew absolutely nothing about actual writing. I started to learn, though. One thing I learned is that the selling a book to an agent or editor starts with a pitch. You have to be able to describe your 300+ page book in one paragraph or less. Imagine my surprise when I realized that wrestling large, complicated subjects into a line and a paragraph of copy was exactly what I did every day for my day job. I also got into the game at a time when publishing was undergoing a radical change. Authors were doing more and more marketing for themselves. Then the advent of epublishers and self-publishing exploded. Both of those avenues are all about marketing, and I’d spent the last decade of my life learning all the skills I would need to sell…myself.
Of course, the awaited book contract still didn’t come right away. It took 6 more years and more “no’s” than I can count. But FINALLY…on May 10, 2013…I got a yes and sold my first book to Astraea Press.
Marry Me
A Covington Falls Chronicle
By Kristin Wallace
Marry Me is a contemporary inspirational romance set in the fictional, Southern town of Covington Falls.
Julia Richardson is no fan of weddings. A lifetime of watching her parents treat relationships like the flavor of the month has taught her that love is for fools. Then a crisis has Julia returning to the small Southern town she’s been avoiding for years. Before she knows it, Julia’s been pressed into service running her stepsister’s wedding planning business. Julia doesn’t know a garter from a garden hose, but now she must navigate couples along the bumpy path down the aisle. In the midst of it all, Julia makes the most unexpected discovery of all…love, with widowed minister, Seth Graham. Julia’s been running from love and everything spiritual for most of her life. It’s not until she finds the courage to stop running and learns to believe in the power of love, faith and family that she finds her own “I Do” moment.
Marry Me is available as an ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and AstraeaPress.com
Buy Links:
Barnes & Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/marry-me-kristin-wallace/1117237787?ean=2940148391678
Astraea Press:
http://astraeapress.com/#!/~/product/category=662245&id=29172320
About Kristin Wallace
Growing up Kristin devoured books like bags of Dove Dark Chocolate. Her first Golden Book led to Laura Ingalls Wilder, Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown, C.S. Lewis and the Sweet Valley High series. Later, she discovered romance novels and fell in love all over again. It’s no surprise then that Kristin would one day try her hand at writing them. She writes inspirational romance and women’s fiction filled with love, laughter and a leap of faith. When she’s not writing her next novel, Kristin works as an advertising copywriter for clients that have included the Miami Marlins, Discovery Networks, The Peabody Hotel, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises and Sea World. She also enjoys singing in her church choir and worship team and playing flute in a community orchestra. Kristin is a member of Florida Romance Writers where she has served as chapter president.
Connect with Kristin:
Website: http://KristinWallaceAuthor.com
Facebook – http://facebook.com/KristinWallaceAuthor
Twitter – http://twitter.com/KWallaceAuthor
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kristin-Wallace/e/B00G5KX80I
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7361414.Kristin_Wallace
