Sneak Peek from the Sequel!!

I'm not sure what I ever imagined myself doing after I published my first novel back in March, but I'm pretty sure writing a sequel so soon afterward was not it. And yet, that's exactly what I've been doing. I have so enjoyed every message I've received from every single reader of Rose, On Her Own. I could have only dreamed of having people read and enjoy anything I'd ever written this much.

I'm quite certain that Rose will become a trilogy now, if not a series. It's all still in very rough form at the moment, but for anyone who might care...I thought I'd offer a little peek into the sequel Rose, On Her Way. It begins mid-conversation with Rose and Jeannie:

"You know, Frank even offered to shoot Trevor's wedding alone, Jeannie. And swore he would never tell you. But I love my job, and as torn as my heart was that day, I knew I had to go on. My camera is always my first love. I was true to that, and true to myself.”

“You know, Rose, even if you had not been able to attend the ceremony that night, and even if I had found out, I would have understood. You know that.”

“I know, Jeannie. I know. But I held myself to a higher standard. My career had to come first. I couldn't let those feelings get in the way.”

“My dear Rose. Those weren't merely feelings. Those where emotions that defined your life at that moment in time. And take this however you choose, but I've seen the pictures from that night and they were nothing short of remarkable. I don’t know how you did it, but you did. If you remember, I told you when I gave you the assignment that the last wedding would be your best work, and I was right. And now, knowing how much you had been through that day, it’s a true credit to your talent that you were still able to produce such beautiful photographs. And let me add this much…I know I’m older than you, and I’m from a big city, but even a fool could see there’s something special about Trevor. I can’t put my finger on it, but he’s unique. A small town guy for sure…every small town has one that stands out. But he’s wonderful on the eyes, and adorable. I understand you more than you know, Rose. And I understand why you fell.”

Rose knew every word Jeannie spoke was true. Being reminded of how easy on the eyes Trevor was definitely a fact no one needed to remind her of. And even though Rose was apprehensive to open up to Jeannie, again, she knew it was for the best. Jeannie understood so much about her. Even things Frank couldn't understand. They had a wonderful bond and Rose always felt as though life made so much more sense after Rose a discussion with her. Rose had confessed some extremely personal situations to her in the past few months, and knowing she had Jeannie’s support was something she counted on. She felt it a wonderful thing to have this woman as her confidant.

“I appreciate that, Jeannie. He really is a special person. I’ll never really know what came over me that made me do the things I did with him, but I can’t really say I regret it. Does that make me terrible?”

“Not at all, Rose. Not at all. Let me ask you one thing. Did you get anything positive from the experience? I’m assuming you did, otherwise you would regret it. I've told you before, I've had affairs. Sometimes they end well, and sometimes they don’t. But if you’re lucky, you learn something from it all. You seem to have emerged from this different somehow. Like you've been refined…through the fire and all that. I like it, Rose. You may feel guilty or remorseful, but I like what I see in you since all these events transpired.”

“You see all that in me, Jeannie?”

“Yes, Rose. I do. But I have to be honest with you. Though I see lessons learned and decisions made, I also still see some confusion in your eyes. I know you love Frank, but you haven’t yet convinced me that you have Trevor completely behind you. Am I right? Just tell me if I’m not and I won’t ever bring it up again.”

Rose stared down at the table again. There was no point in lying to this perfectly wonderful friend. And even if she had, Jeannie would have known the difference. 

TO BE CONTINUED... :)  I hope to publish the sequel by late summer 2013

Feel free to visit my  new website (still in the developmental stages) at www.michelependleton.com

The book Rose, On Her Own is available at amazon.com in print and for the Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Her-Own-Michele-Pendleton/product-reviews/1482569167/

Also for the Nook:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rose-on-her-own-michele-pendleton/1114922420?ean=2940016190150&itm=1&usri=2940016190150

For the Love of Writing

That's why I did it. That's why I self-published my book. Because I love to write. It's that simple.

Did I ever think I'd make a million dollars at it? No. Never. I've never cared about money except to have enough to pay bills and take care of my family. Even if I was a millionaire I'd still shop at thrift stores. Money is best spent on family and friends and out of love.

Did I care? Not in the slightest. This isn't about money for me. I've written for myself for free for years. I wrote for the college newspaper for free, and I loved every second of it. I've always made sacrifices for my love of writing. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to.

Did I think everyone would enjoy it? Not at all. No more than I think every person enjoys the same food or clothing or car or anything else in life where we all have different personalities that cause us to make different and unique choices.

Do I think it's literary genius? No, but I do think it's well-written, well-edited, and what my heart wanted to say. If people like it, then fine. If not, then that's fine, too. But I take my writing seriously, and I always have. It's sacred to me.

Did I think I might offend some people?  Well, yes. But it wasn't intentional, because I merely wrote my heart. I just have a very diverse group of friends who range from very conservative to very liberal, and I love them all. I never once thought my book was a global target that would please or impress everyone. Such an achievement isn't even possible.

Why did I do it then? For the love of writing. Seriously. And because deep down, I just wanted to share my words and have even one person say they were moved by it. If I had only sold one book and someone loved it, that would have been complete validation for me. But I have sold more than one, and I do believe most people have enjoyed it. Some have been more moved by it than others, I'm certain. But I'm literally thrilled that anyone related to it and was even momentarily engaged by it.

No, I didn't get picked up by a famous publishing house with an advance and a contract. But I'm quite easily intimidated. And admittedly, I don't deal with rejection well. I never even sent the manuscript off to anyone. I self-published because I just march to the beat of my own drum. I always have. I don't read instructions, I put something together based on the picture on the box. I don't follow recipes, I just add ingredients and mix and experiment. The same went for publishing. I just did it my way.

Am I proud of myself? Well, yes. And I'm one of the most humble and easily embarrassed people you can ever meet. But I am proud of myself. Not for publishing, not for selling more than one book, not for seeing my name in print or my words put between a book cover. I'm proud of myself for getting the guts to finally do something I didn't think I would ever do. I was always too shy to put my work out there. But you never know until you try. My brother died at 32 without living out all his dreams. I did it for me and for him because he never can now.

Short and sweet...I have too many words in my heart for just one person, and I've kept them inside for far too long. And that's why I did this. For the love of writing.

http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Her-Own-Michele-Pendleton/dp/1482569167

From Rose and the color pink, to Leanna and the color purple...

Since wrapping up my book on Rose and finally publishing this week, I've wondered what to focus on next. I could take a break from writing, but I'd rather not. I ventured into the world of publishing later than I meant to, and I want to write as much as I can while I still have the chance.

Rose taught me many things...about life, about myself, about others. She helped me look at life and people differently. And so, while I am finished with her story (for now, at least) she will continue to be a part of me in my next venture. My main character's name for the next book is Leanna. The title of the book, unless I ultimately feel compelled to change it, will be The Silver Platter. And an important element of the story is a purple ribbon...I promise it will make more sense later.

Leanna works in an antique store, assisting it's elderly owner with many errands and responsibilities he can no longer take care of himself. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I started this story in 1989 and worked on it again in 2010. And honestly, I'm not sure which one is more difficult...starting a story from scratch, or attempting to complete and fill in gaps on a story that's 3/4 done. Leanna is waiting on me though, so I will tackle this with excitement.

The last time I worked on this story, I made a point of surrounding myself with antiques in order to really get into the feel of the plot. I would go to antique stores and just walk around for hours. It's something I love anyhow, truth be told, but it certainly helped me in my writing. I look forward to doing that once again.

Is Leanna a similar character to Rose? Well, I write from the heart, and a little bit of me goes into every one of my main characters. So there may be some resemblance between the two, but Leanna is unmistakably different in many ways.

And sidetracking me from Leanna is the cemetery book which still yearns for my attention to its completion, as well as a part II to Leanna's story which is at least 1/2 written, and a working title with a few thousand words for Rose part II. I find myself moving back and forth...I do that a lot. I'm desperately trying to do one thing at a time though. Each project is like a child, all begging for me to look at them and listen to them. And since I raised four kids, maybe that's why I can move back and forth between each project without a lot of difficulty.  Maybe waiting until I was older to finally publish gave me a chance for life lessons that make it all the sweeter now.

And now, I must go...for Leanna is calling my name...

What Dreams Did Come...

It was difficult to sleep last night. No one wants to say goodnight to a day where they saw a dream come true. You see, yesterday, I saw a dream materialize that I'd had since childhood. I saw my the first tangible copy of my first novel. After far too long of waiting and wondering, postponing and pushing it all to the side, I finally decided to publish. Was it easy? Not at all. Will I do it again? Absolutely.

I have to do it. It's everything I am and everything I've ever wanted to be. Even when I didn't understand why I had to write, I did. And I've saved almost every scrap of notebook paper, stationery, journal, and post it note that I've ever written a poem or started a short story on. From the time I was around nine years old. I have stacks and stacks.

So why did it take me so long to make my dreams come true? Well, there's not any one certain reason. Mostly, I suppose I didn't believe in myself. It still shocks me that people would want to read what I write. I've always wanted to share, but after college, I became apprehensive again. I assumed it might be some childhood fantasy that would eventually disappear. But it never did. I moved on with my life, had children, moved to another city and took on a couple more children, and settled into domesticated life. And as much as I love and always have loved my family, there was always a nagging feeling inside of me that I was missing something.

It was finally around four years ago when I told a friend that I wrote, and he asked to see some examples. There might have only been a handful of people that had ever seen my work. I hid it all. And I reluctantly took some examples to him, and to my surprise, he really enjoyed reading them. It made me wonder if I might actually ever find my way back one day...to writing, and maybe...maybe...even sharing it. I wrote a few poems and notes and blogs, but not much else. Until I discovered NaNoWriMo in November 2010.

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writer's Month. The challenge is to write a minimum of 50,000 words in the form of a novel within the 30 days of November. I didn't think I would make it that first year, but I did. With a story idea I had in 1989. Still sitting in a folder. I had the idea at work one day and wrote it down to save it. So I made my 50,000 word goal that month, saved the document, and went on with my life. Again.

Then came November 2011, and I decided to try again. Although by this time I had a couple of obstacles. I had tried to start writing a journal of visiting different cemeteries. Almost as soon as I started that in July 2011, I collapsed one day in the middle of Huntsville's most beautiful cemetery, Maple Hill. I was told to walk with a cane until my knee replacement a few months later. I was a bit depressed, and felt uninspired to participate in NaNoWriMo that year, but still made my goal of 50,000 words. And when I was done, I saved the document, and went on with my life. Again.

The year 2012 brought many events and activities. Some I expected, some I didn't. I had a knee replacement in March. My youngest of four children graduated high school in May. And I traveled to as many cemeteries as I could in different states to continue my dream of publishing my cemetery book. My knee was, and still is, a challenge to deal with. But I am stubborn. So I kept going. Then it was sometime around late August when something changed.

I had an idea. I wrote down a few words and tucked them away safely. And in those words lived a young woman who I decided to name Rose. I thought of what a book cover would look like, and what Rose might actually look like, and all the things she might encounter. And on November 1, 2012, I began to write. But this NaNoWriMo was different. The words begin to flow, and unlike the past two years where it took me the entire month to meet my word goal, I met it just over halfway into November. And rather than saving the document and moving on with my life, again, I kept writing. And I kept writing. And then, there was Rose, in her entirety. I finished writing the story just before the end of the year. And 2013 brought the challenge of editing it to publish.

There was something, thank goodness, about Rose that made me realize it was time. Time to stop waiting. Time to share the words. Time to make my dreams come true. So many friends and family have died without realizing their own dreams. I just wanted to fight to see if it could happen to me before my time here is up. And so, Rose was born.

So, what's next? Well, there's all those stacks of papers I've been saving for years. They hold ideas I've had and secrets I've forgotten, and they all have the possibilities of yielding characters for future works. And that novel idea from 1989 that I used for NaNoWriMo 2010? Well, I'm editing it now and I hope to publish it in a few months. I may have hidden all those stacks of papers away for too long, but at least I didn't lose them or throw them away. They've always been, and will always remain, some of my most valuable possessions.

Rose will always be special to me though, because she changed me. She gave me courage, and a voice, so I gave her wings. Whatever else I write, I will always owe to Rose. On her own.