Alright, today isn’t really Lilliah’s birthday. The character’s birthday is in October, (although
today is the wedding anniversary of our friends Debbie and Gary after whom
Lilliah’s parents are named), but today is really the day Lilliah’s story gets
shared with the larger public. The book
has been available on the Create Space e-Store and on Amazon for about a week,
but today Jennifer is doing a local book signing and selling copies to friends
and family in the area who were supportive enough to pre-order copies sight
unseen.
The book went on sale online on December 8th, and it was
December 8th four years ago that Jennifer wrote the first
words. It has been a long journey from
that day. There have been lots of
Saturday writing days and late night edits.
Some highs and plenty of lows.
After each rejection or critical comment, Jennifer was sure she was
done. But in the process, I learned
something fantastic about my wife…She doesn’t give up. She felt like pursuing this book was the
right thing to do, so she kept with it.
After the tears were dried, she would get back to work and
make the story better. It was amazing
how well she took the criticism. Some people
would quit, and some would blind themselves to it, but Jennifer was driven to
make this story the very best that it could be.
She painstakingly researched, cut scenes, rewrote, changed phrases, and
became obsessive about commas. She read
her own work and others’ too so she could know the best way to say what she
wanted to say. So after four years of
downs and ups, here is Lilliah; but really, here is Jennifer. Jen, I love you. I’m proud of you. Thanks for letting me come along for the
ride, and thanks for letting me guest blog without knowing what I would
say.
We hope that the readers of The Scent of a Soul enjoy the story. Have a very Merry Christmas, a happy holiday
season, and a fantastic New Year.
Travis
