Sunday, July 15, 2012

Guest Post: B.F. Betty

Today, author B.F. Betty joins me to talk about her experience writing and publishing her first short story, The Apartment, recently released as part of the Summer Confections anthology from Renaissance Romance Publishing.

In the view of full disclosure, I am a co-owner in Renaissance Romance, with my two dear friends Lisa Bilbrey and Michele Richard. It has been our honor to get to know and work with this wonderfully talented author while she has set out on this journey.

Without further ado:



The Start of a New and Fantastic Journey

It feels odd to be sitting here, trying to explain my experience in writing The Apartment. There are a lot of emotions that could be used to describe the journey I went through, but the one that comes to mind the most is overwhelming. Of course that would a bit of an understatement. When I sat down to start writing, I had this little glimmer of an idea for what I wanted The Apartment to be about, but I wasn’t prepared for the rollercoaster of emotions that it took me on. 

Eve and Sebastian’s story literally poured from my fingertips in the span of ten days. I remember sitting at my laptop for hours. It wasn’t until my cell phone rang that I realized that I was holding my breath, waiting for what was going to happen next. Eve and Sebastian blindsided me, and I loved every moment of it. 

Of course, writing the manuscript was the easy part. Next came submitting it to Renaissance Romance Publishing and waiting to hear back on it they wanted it or not. I’ll admit it; I was terrified. I didn’t know these people and here I was asking them to judge my soul. Melodramatic? Perhaps, but I poured everything I had into The Apartment, and I’m damn proud of it. 

Luck was on my side, and Renaissance Romance Publishing accepted my manuscript and offered me a deal. I cried. I can admit it. All of my dreams were coming true. And they have, though my work was only just beginning. Next came editing and I will be honest, it scared the crap out of me. We’ve all heard the horror stories of editors sending back manuscript that are covered in red ink and demanding a full re-write. Well, the rewrite wasn’t ordered at least. 

Seriously, the editors at Renaissance Romance did a fabulous job of pointing out where I used ‘was’ too many times, or how I tend to repeat myself a bit. They weren’t ballbusters about it, and commented on the plot twists that I threw in. No, I’m not going to tell you what that was; you’ll just have to read The Apartment for yourself. Yes, yes; I’m a tease and proud of it.

After multiple rounds of editing, and a few more tears of doubt, my book was ready to be released. Michele Richard, Laura Braley, and Lisa Bilbrey held hand and promised me that it would be okay. Along with a fellow new author, Estelle Mars we managed to release our books without passing out. I’m proud that The Apartment was included in Summer Confections, Book Two of the Candy Collection. 

In the grand scheme of things, I’m thrilled to be a part of Renaissance Romance. They’ve become like a family to me, and I can’t wait to work with them again.

 
B.F. Betty
Biography—
B.F. Betty lives in a rural small town in Northern Texas.  Her passion for the written words led her to a lifetime of searching for the perfect character that would carry her away to her happily ever after. Instead of waiting for them to find her, B.F. decided to search them out. With each new book, she finds another piece of happiness and joy.

You can find out more about this talented author and what she has in store for the future through the following links:

Until next time, Smooches! 

Laura 

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for having me, Laura. I've been blessed to get to work with all of you!

    ReplyDelete