What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?

While writing, you’ll be presented with ample opportunities to give up and turn back. Don’t. A successful career is one marked by perseverance. The only difference between most published and unpublished writers is dogged persistence in the face of rejection.

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How long did you work on the book?

It’s always hard to answer this question with sequels, because I simmer them in my head for at least a year while working on the first book. But as far as actual drafting time, it took about three months to draft this book. That, of course, does not include the 12-15 weeks it takes to do revisions. And I did a ton of rewriting on this book. Deleted the first seventy pages, actually, and re-wrote them from scratch. (That was tough!!)

How long or hard was your road to publication? How many books did you write before this one, and how many never got published?

As of this moment, I have completed twelve books, nine of which are published. I wrote three books that were not published before I wrote Wings, and I hope to one day revisit them and do some mega re-writing now that I have more experience. So will those books never be published? Well, I wouldn’t say that. But certainly not in their present form!!! I spent about two years seriously writing for publication before I got an agent, and the another year (and another book) before I got a publisher. I think my journey is fairly average. Most people don’t hit it out of the park with their first, second, or even third attempt!

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