Machelle Hanleigh

 

Inhabitants at the Center of the Universe Series

I first “penned” this story in 2001. It started out with a single question I wanted to answer and tried to discover in the telling of the story that came to me at the time. Over the years I fell into the trap of write, rewrite, write, rewrite, etc. I sent out the various versions to publishers/agents in the traditional publishing world. The responses grew better over time, but still no one stepped forward to invest in an upcoming author.

To be honest, I had difficulties getting the story that lived inside me to the pages in front of me. There was always something missing. I could see and feel the characters, the story and the direction that I was being drawn towards, but I couldn’t quite get it out. The story stopped at a place that I couldn’t see past. It didn’t feel like the ending, but no matter how hard I tried the curtain would not part for me to see what lay beyond that ending.

Life continued. I raised my two daughters and obtained a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Psychology. Then in 2016 I moved my youngest daughter to the other side of the country for college. I returned home to an empty house. The story never left me. It has always lived inside me and still does. I gathered all the manuscripts and research. I spent a day staring at it, reading everything and thinking, what now? I had helped my daughters step on to their paths to their dreams. Now, it was my turn.
I decided to take everything I learned about writing research papers from my time in college and applied it to my writing process. I had read every “how to” I could find in the past, but nothing ever really helped or made since to me. I realized on that day I needed to create a writing process tailored to how my mind works. Stories play out in my mind like a movie with the addition of feeling the reality of each situation as if I am living it. I also realized my story was two dimensional on paper and I needed it to be three dimensional to bring it to life for my readers.

I started by first creating a research document. That document grew to become 160 pages and gave birth to an encyclopedia for the series. Since I see the story as a movie, I decided to create a story board in the same way that movies do, but with words. Suddenly, the curtain parted, and I could finally see the entire story, but that wasn’t all. I could now see beyond that first story into the future of an entire franchise.

The other day, I posted some advice and was inspired to tell about my path in learning my craft and developing my story as a writer/author. Previous posts have talked about some of this before, but I am retelling in hopes that other struggling authors might find hope in the sharing of my path.

The book that will be published very soon was first written over 20 years ago. Back then and even until just recently I thought that the only way I could make a decent living at writing was to be traditionally published. So, I wrote the story, I sent it out, I made revisions, I sent out, I made more revisions, I sent it out, I set it aside, I gave up hope, I discovered new hope, I made revisions, I sent it out, and every time I was rejected or my story was rejected, but it felt like a personal rejection each and every time and each and every time I took a break and stopped writing until I again grew strong enough to try again.

Part of the trying is that the story and characters wouldn’t leave me alone for long.

Along the way I let a few individuals read my story. The one thing that I was most interested in knowing was what they thought the story was about and did it resonate with them the way it did me. What I learned through that process is that often times the story I thought I was writing never quite made it to the “paper” version. In the later years I saw that my readers’ version of what the story was about, and my synopsis came into alignment, not perfect alignment, but that is only because of the surprises that I have held back for later books in the series.

In 2016, I moved my youngest to college and came back to an empty house. Part of the reason that writing and finding time for me to write over the years is that I am a single parent of two beautiful daughters and I took time to get a BA and MA in Psychology to have what I needed to increase my income. Writing is and has been for a very long time my passion, but passion alone does not put food on the table or a roof over the head. What I have learned is that pursuing money alone is not fulfilling, and money can follow passion with the right game plan; otherwise known as a business plan.

In 2016, I started over. I realized that none of the “how to write” worked for me. I developed a knew style of writing that matches how my story plays out in my mind. I have a photographic mind and my story play as if I am watching a movie. I approached a new process for me of researching and building a research document like I did when I was in college. From that I built a story board as one would when making a movie. My story board is 60 pages in itself, but it mapped the story and nuances in a way that I was never able to do before. Now, my first book is complete in that I am now in the editing and cover design stages.

I did send this version out to agents in hopes that is would finally be worthy. What I learned is that I do have a powerful story that elicited some encouraging responses, but the project is too big for them to represent in the traditional publishing world. At first, my hopes were dashed, but not for very long. I knew that I not only have a powerful story, but through my process I have a powerful franchise to introduce to the world. I have at present almost 30 stories mapped for future publication and unlimited side stories.

I knew I had to find another way, so I started researching how to be successful as a self-published author. I found Self Publishing Formula and for the first time I see a path to becoming a very successful indie author. The road is not easy, and it definitely will not be an “overnight” success even when it explodes in popularity as I find those readers out there that will be future super fans. It’s hard work and takes planning. This is a business that my partner and I are building together. So, for all of those struggling authors out there. I hope this inspires you to continue to believe and search for your path to success. The world is huge, and every story has readers that want to read that story; we, as authors, just have to take the time and money to find them.

#Fantasy #Romance #DruidessEntanglement #InhabitantsAtCenterOfUniverse #MachelleHanleigh #FantasyRomance

In my pursuit of publication, I am taking the indie author route as I have mentioned in past posts. Finding the Self Publishing Formula has been invaluable. I can’t believe how much information has been shared. Now, I am excited and believe that self publishing really is the best route for me. Truly mind blowing.

I will continue to share my journey here to publication and beyond. There are so many exciting stories on the horizon to be shared. I can’t wait until I have gathered the skills necessary to finally and truly launch my career. Stay tuned! Exciting shares are coming.