Janice Hildreth

I am a sucker for happy endings which explains why my reading path curves towards romances and away from the Hunger Games. I’m the reader who turns to the last page of a mystery to make sure it will have a happy ending. Why waste hours on a book that’s not going to end well? I especially enjoy inspirational romance. I grew up reading Grace Livingston Hill and as an adult have enjoyed the growth of Christian romance by the new crop of Christian writers. One of those writers is Idaho native, Robin Lee Hatcher.

I recently discovered one of her newer series, the Sisters of Bethlehem Springs. The first book in the series, A Vote of Confidence, is set in the early twentieth century in a fictitious Idaho town called Bethlehem Springs. Guinevere Arlington has moved to Idaho to build a relationship with her father and the twin she never knew. And while Idaho is quite a change from her wealthy east coast upbringing she discovers an affinity for her new rural life. As she becomes involved with the town’s citizens, she is made aware of the corruption in the current town government and decides to run for mayor. Opposing her for the position is Morgan McKinley, an attractive entrepreneur who is building a health resort. When she and Morgan fall in love, Gwen is forced to decide whether her desire to help her town is worth the chance of losing the man she loves.

Robin Hatcher creates strong Christian characters who face their battles with courage and the conviction that God directs their steps trusting Him to bring good out of every situation. If I have an on-going problem with inspirational romance it is the feeling that sometimes I’m being hit over the head with a 50-pound Bible and Robin portrayed Gwen and Morgan’s spiritual life without preachiness. She followed St. Francis of Assisi’s advice of “Preach the gospel at all times — If necessary, use words.” Robin Lee Hatcher understands that her characters need to demonstrate their faith not preach it.

I am a self-published author, publishing through an independent book publisher, and experience discrimination in a multitude of ways. To the professional writing world, because I fall into the defamatory category of a Vanity Press, I am less than acceptable.  RWA and ACFW’s tunnel vision focuses only on writers who are published by mainstream publishing companies. One site clearly states they wish “to prepare novelists for success in traditional publishing, helping our members strive for excellence in the craft and develop skills that will help their books attract the attention of … publishers…”. And still another professional site states they are interested in helping “serious writers.”

Interesting.

Serious writers? The question that comes to me is Who is more serious? A writer who’s desire and drive to write propels her to find a window when traditional doors are closed? Or a writer who waits for validation from traditional publishers because she doesn’t feel her talent has any legitimacy until someone else says it does?

The professional organizations’ are double-minded. On the one hand they allow me to join their organizations, but only as a substandard member. As a self-publisher, I am not given the same rights and privileges of other writers.  For example, I cannot take advantage of their contests or be listed as a published author.

Writing contests are important for a multitude of reasons. They give you professional feedback that helps improve your writing. They give you exposure to traditional agents and publishing houses which up your odds of being offered a contract. They give your writing professional affirmation. But because, in their estimation, I’m not a published author, these opportunities are closed to me.

Ah well. So goes life. It’s not the first time I’ve faced rejection, won’t be the last. One of many positive results of growing old is that others’ opinions don’t matter as much as doing what you know you were created to do and forging on despite opposition.

For an interesting discussion on the discrimination from professional writing groups towards those of us who self-publish check out this blog: http://debsanders.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/rwa-does-not-represent-all-romance-writers/

And in the meantime, instead of waiting and hoping for a nod from an agent or publisher, I will revel in the satisfaction of a job well done when I see three of my books already sitting on bookstore shelves and read the great reviews on the web for Sunday’s Promise, Monday’s New Beginning, and Tuesday’s Child then begin again the fascinating process of plotting the fourth book, Wednesday’s Wild Ride.

Good times.

I am in the unenviable, well-known position of being a small publisher trying to do her own marketing.  And the learning curve is about to do me in.  So many of the venues open to large publishers are either simply closed to us or priced out of our budget, so we must rely on creativity and free publicity. This is a lot harder than it even sounds.

Amazon is one such small example.  I’m not even going to go into my frustration over my hard copy books on Amazon.  They have been listed since last July and STILL say “available for shipping within three months.”  All my emails, phone calls, yelling has netted me only a break with the former distributor (who did nothing); and now left me trying to get Amazon to realize that I sent the books and they are already in their warehouse so the “available for shipping within three months” can now be changed to “shipping with 24 hours.”

So, don’t give up hope, keep checking up on Sunday’s Promise and Monday’s New Beginning and hopefully Amazon will ship them to before Christmas.

People often look at me oddly when I mention that I have read some of my favorite books hundreds of times.  Probably the same look I bestow on movie buffs who state they have watched Titanic twenty times.  Both being looks of incomprehension.

I don’t read books for the end of the story.  As a matter of fact, I usually turn to the last page of a mystery to see who it is I have to distrust during the book.  Just to make sure.  I don’t want to become attached to the villain.

I read books for the writing — for the manner in which the author intentionally and gently hooks words together to create a sentence, a paragraph and in the end a story. The same way a jeweler slides pearls on a chain to create a one-of-kind necklace.  Deliberately and with forethought.

I savor a particular adverb, a creative comparison, a boldly chosen adjective that makes the words around it sit up and take notice.  Just like Mark Twin said he could go four months on a good compliment; I can go about that long reflecting on a turn of phrase.

If the first rule of writing is Write What You Know, then an integral part of writing is always going to be research. Expanding your knowledge enriches your writing.
Research can become a natural part of your daily life if you’ll learn to ask the second question. Picture this: you’re standing at the counter at the grocery store, watching the clerk blip your food across the scanner. You exchange the obligatory “How are you, today?” (that is question number one), now take a moment and ask yourself what aspect of her job is unknown to you. For example, “What is the worst thing about your job?”
By asking the second question, you take advantage of a teachable moment for yourself, an opportunity to increase your knowledge. Make it one that is easily answered, so you won’t hold up the people behind you in line, but still specific. By asking the second question you are stepping over the day-to-day pool of common knowledge and gaining specialized information that will add depth of your writing. Writing is all in the details, so ask narrow questions that pinpoint a specific facet of their work.
Maybe you’ll discover, as I did, that the worst thing about being a clerk in a grocery store isn’t being on your feet for eight hours, as I had assumed, but rather watching the elderly carefully count out their money and in the end have to put back items in order to afford their groceries for the week.

Writing is a profession. As such it needs to be taken seriously, routinely, on a schedule, in a timely manner. If you are serious about supporting yourself as a writer, you have to employ every hard-work technique you’ve ever learned. With the understanding that even if you diligently apply yourself day in and day out, you may never arrive at a survivable level with your writing. Bummer.

So you must write because you are driven to do it. To survive emotionally. Because it answers a longing deep within yourself. Then, if someone else enjoys what you write and it ends up earning you money, so much the better.

One of my favorite quotes is from the movie Chariots’ of Fire, in which Eric Liddel says to his sister, “God has a purpose for me and that is to serve Him … , but God also made me to run fast and when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

For myself, when I write, I feel God’s pleasure and we both smile.

Anytime you mention that you’re a writer someone says “I should write a book…” and then proceeds to tell you why they have the perfect life, idea, plot, etc for a best-selling novel. And of course, that is great.
Creative outlets are to be encouraged and I wish them well.
However, if we really talk for any length of time, I usually give them my one-question quiz to pinpoint whether or not they truly wish to write. It is: Do you like to rewrite?
If you want to sit down in front of your Mac and write your Great American Novel, and feel that once it appears on the screen in written form that you are done you’d better not count on a contract with anyone anytime soon.
Just as success is 10% luck and 90% persperation, great writing is 10% innate talent and 90% editing … and editing and editing and editing.
If, however, you feel that putting something down on paper is simply a time-consuming exercise leading to the real fun of tearing into what’s written and you can spend hours and days happily rearranging sentences and rewording phrases — you’ve probably found your calling.

I won a radio trivia contest last year by answering: What is it that 98% of people say they want to do, but only 2% of them actually do it?
The answer was: write a book.
Are you part of the 98% and wish to be in the 2%?
I think everyone has a book in them; I know everyone has a story to tell, and maybe you should think about writing yours down.
Last year I began writing the story of my parents’ lives. My father died last summer at the age of 92 and my mother is still chugging along at 90. But pretty soon only we kids (who are no longer kids) will be left to pass on the heritage of who they were to us and what they taught us.
So I decided to write their story because I wanted my children to remember them.
Handing down your family’s story is an irreplaceable legacy.

Hello,

Welcome to my website, JaniceHildreth.com I am a writer of three published books and am almost finished with my fourth.
My first book, What Would the Bible Say? is my only non-fiction book. After finishing What Would the Bible Say?, I played around with several other non-fiction ideas, but none of them panned out.
Then about two years ago I decided to take the plunge and try writing a romance novel. The first one took almost a year to finish and is about a woman haunted by a tragedy in her past who moves to Idaho hoping to find a new beginning. It is called Sunday’s Promise.
Since there was a day of the week in the title I got very ambitious and decided it would be the first of a seven-book series named after the days of the week. Now I wish I had named it after a season of the year because a four-book series would certainly have been easier. But that’s what hindsight is for — to explain the mistakes that foresight would have avoided.
In my writers’ group, seasoned authors say that it takes about five books before you get a rhythm and method ironed out that works for you. If they are right, I should be an old pro by the time this series is finished.
You can find my books on Amazon or by contacting me directly.
I hope you will check back. If you are a writer or a wanna-be writer, let me know how you’re doing and what you’ve learned.
Janice