You have ordered or purchased a copy of The Writer’s Workout for yourself and five for each of your closest writer buddies already, I’m sure.

But in case you have not, check these early reviews out:

From: Jeff Ayers, author and book reviewer for multiple media outlets

One of the best writing teachers in the country is Christina Katz.  An expert in building an author’s platform, she has taken her unparalleled advice and spread it out over a calendar year (if you can pace yourself to read one a day) in The Writer’s Workout: 366 Tips, Tasks, & Techniques From Your Writing Career Coach.  (Writer’s Digest, $19.99).  She helps focus the author on the quality and voice of their work.  This is a mandatory addition to any writer’s bookshelf.

From: Robin Mizell, literary agent

Beyond mere freelance business strategy, The Writer’s Workout addresses the writer’s soul, strength, and stamina. In other words, its lessons are heartfelt. For a creative person without a supportive entourage, the one-a-day reminders that fill this book make a nice stand-in. What writer, no matter how successful and well connected, couldn’t use 366 pieces of encouragement and advice from an energetic and devoted writing coach?

From: Heidi S. Luedtke, journalist and psychology expert in an Amazon review

I found my expectations of the creative and publishing process changed (for the better) as a result of reading this book. For instance, Christina explains writers should expect to write 10 drafts. Sometimes I surely write more than 10, sometimes I surely need fewer. Either way, it helps to start the process with the expectation that there will be many opportunities for revision and improvement along the way. I was also reminded of the importance of putting pen to paper — or fingers to keys. Christina cautions against spending too much time on reading and quasi-conversation and not enough time in the trenches. “Deep thoughts come from deep processes,” she reminds.

From: Terry Whalin, editor, writer, book reviewer

Whether you are just beginning to write or have been writing for many years, everyone can find encouragement, inspiration and action steps. [The Writer's Workout is] a book every writer should own and carefully study.

From: Lela Davidson, author, essayist, and media maven

For writers like me, who do not lack for ideas, but sometimes need direction, Katz’ methods are priceless. She helps us harness all those ideas, choosing which ones will pay off now (or later), leverage our strengths, and manage the sometimes overwhelming world of platform.

Check out all the ways you can order or purchase The Writer’s Workout and start reading before the end of the year. In fact, your e-book purchase will arrive instantly. Doesn’t your writing career deserve it?

Do you know any parents whose children have been diagnosed with late-onset hearing loss?

Krysty, it sounds like you first realized that late-onset hearing loss might be a topic that other parents would want to learn more about when it started to happen in your family — twice. What was that like?

It really hit me completely off guard – both times! With my son I honestly thought he just had a speech delay, at the time I never made the connection between hearing loss and a speech delay. It of course seems so obvious now. With myself I knew I was having some difficulties hearing, I started noticing it shortly after the birth of my son, but again thought it would be no big deal.

In the beginning with my son it was pretty devastating – it’s just really difficult to have someone tell you that something is not right with your child’s development.

As you responded to your son’s and then your diagnosis, what stands out that you learned that you think other parents will want to learn more about?

The main thing that stands out is really that hearing loss can happen to anyone at anytime and that there shouldn’t be a stigma attached to wearing hearing aids, or other devices. It is estimated that there are about 29 million people in the United States who are deaf and/or hard of hearing. If people were made more aware of the importance of hearing then I think you would see more of them going for appropriate treatments and would see more assistive listening devices, such as hearing aids, being worn.

What’s typically the biggest dilemma for families after there has been a diagnosis in the family of late-onset hearing loss?

I am not really sure if you can call it a dilemma, but the biggest issue revolves around the family accepting the diagnosis and moving forward with getting their child the help they need – whether that road leads to hearing aids, cochlear implants, Baha devices, along with an intensive therapy program. Around 90 percent of children who are diagnosed with hearing loss are born to hearing parents. This means that those families often have not had any exposure to children and/or adults who have hearing loss. At the moment of diagnosis while there is some relief to understanding your child’s development there is also a feeling of complete devastation. This feeling is based in frustration and stems from simply knowing very little about hearing loss and how it will impact their child. I wrote my e-book to address this issue of frustration and helplessness and I really think it will help parents adjust to parenting a child with hearing loss.

If you were sitting down face-to-face with parents of a child who had just been diagnosed with late-onset hearing loss, what would you say to them?

First of all I would tell them to grieve, that it’s okay. That is what they need to do, to experience their feelings and emotions. Then I would tell them that it is going to be okay. That there are strengths within both themselves and their child that they don’t even know about yet and the important thing is to get their child the therapy and assistive listening devices that they need to be successful.

Which part of spreading a helpful message about late-onset hearing loss is your favorite part of the process?

My favorite part of the process is when I get the chance to help clear away some of the myths about hearing loss. There is absolutely no shame in losing your hearing – it’s just life. Hearing loss can happen at any age. In my opinion, the wearing of hearing aids or cochlear implants to correct your hearing loss is no different than wearing glasses to correct your vision loss.

Have there been any silver linings in your journey in dealing with late-onset hearing loss as a family?

The first silver lining has been watching my son blossom. There were many times, both pre-diagnosis and in the early stages after his diagnosis, when I honestly wondered if I would ever really know anything about my son. How could I access his thoughts if he wasn’t able to speak? But today, I am so thankful that he is now able to share his wicked sense of humor and his daily observations of his world with us. The second silver lining is the fact that we have really been given an opportunity to help educate those who are not familiar with issues of hearing loss.

You can learn more about Krysty’s helpful, comforting book, What To Do When Your Child Is Diagnosed With Late-Onset Hearing Loss: A Parent’s Perspective at her website, Krystyann Krywko, Ed. D.

Thanks for helping me support Krysty’s e-book launch. I’d love it if you’d help spread the word about What To Do When Your Child Is Diagnosed With Late-Onset Hearing Loss: A Parent’s Perspective.

While we were attending the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference earlier this year, I challenged Jane Friedman to write a book on the future of publishing. Much to my surprise, she took me up on it.

On April Fool’s Eve, I posted an interview with Jane just prior to the unveiling of “The Future of Publishing: Enigma Variations” on April Fool’s Day.

I thought readers would be interested in hearing first-hand what it’s like to self-publish a short, smart, humor e-book, so I asked Jane for another interview this time with a behind-the-scenes look at the e-book creation process. I hope you enjoy it.

Christina Katz: Okay, so I challenged you to write an e-book and you agreed. Why in the world did you say, “Yes”?

Jane Friedman: Ha! My first thought was: No one cares what I think about the future of publishing, and I’m personally and professionally tired of speculation.

But then it occurred to me that I might have fun with the topic. I do know the issues inside and out, so once I decided to engage in a little satire, I got excited about the idea.

I also came up with a strict framework. Having a structure to play off of was important to idea generation and my enthusiasm. In this case, the framework was “14 variations on the future,” inspired by Elgar’s work, “Enigma Variations.”

I was also curious to see if an online (and real world) following would translate into people who’d pay money to read my writing. At this point, people can read most of my advice online for free. They may have to pay to hear me speak, but the writing itself is delivered free of charge, with the exception of the Beginning Writers’ Answer Book from 2006.

Christina Katz: But writing an e-book that is high-enough quality to charge money for is not an easy undertaking. You must have had some concerns at the outset. Would you be willing to share some of them?

Jane Friedman: Yes, I had 3 primary concerns.

1.     Even if by reading the entire work you had a better understanding of the issues at play in the publishing industry, I was still writing humor. Humor is not something people often pay for, no matter how high quality it is.

2.     People will pay good money for information that benefits them. But they rarely pay for speculation—at least in the publishing field! And since I was writing about the future of publishing, what else could my e-book be called except pure speculation?

3.     I knew the work would be quite short, especially given the fast turn-around time. It ended up being 40 pages, and that’s with images and a generous design. (Still, though, it probably takes 20-30 minutes to read.)

Christina Katz: How many folks helped you with the e-book production process and what roles did they play?

Jane Friedman: The only help I needed was editing. I had two very good friends—who I later treated to a celebratory launch-day dinner!—help me with the content development, punch lines, and line editing. I did the design and production work myself, which was not difficult. I’ve been doing that kind of work for 15 years.

Christina Katz: Can you give us a quick thumbnail overview of the phases you had to take the e-book through to go from zero to published in just a couple of short months?

Jane Friedman: This is how I’d describe the stages:

• Inspiration and planning stage. I came up with the structure and started outlining what I would write.
• Draft stage. In one sitting, I wrote the entire work longhand. (Not typical for me, but that’s how it worked out.)
• Revision stage. When I typed out my longhand manuscript, I also revised and added content as I went.
• Editing stage. I sent my manuscript to two trusted friends (who are also editors, yay!), who turned it around in less than a week.
• Production stage. While my friends edited the manuscript, I set up the design templates and created the front and back matter. I also created the images at this stage.
• Final production stage. After I had all the edits back, I incorporated them into the final manuscript, dumped the copy into my design template, and took care of all layout/design issues. Then I proofread a printed copy with a friend in one evening, made final corrections in the file, and outputted a PDF that I made available for sale within minutes on Scribd.

Christina Katz: Which part of the e-book creation process was your favorite? Which part was your least favorite?

Jane Friedman: The transition from production stage to final production stage was nerve-wracking. I had a deadline to meet that wasn’t negotiable in my mind (April Fool’s Day), but I was depending on the good graces of my friends to serve as editors (for free), and I was reluctant to start selling without their feedback. Lucky for me, they finished up in time to go live April 1.

My favorite part—as it is with every project—was the idea generation stage. I love coming up with the premise and structure. Ideas are always lovely. Once you make them concrete, you have to struggle through making them live up to the ideal that’s in your head.

Christina Katz: You are pretty tech-savvy, which technologies did you make use of to create the e-book and how user-friendly were they?

Jane Friedman: I used Adobe InDesign to design and layout the book, and to export the PDF file. InDesign is a program that I used for many years while working in traditional publishing, so there was no learning curve. But it’s expensive software for a writer to buy, and not easy to learn without formal instruction.

I used no other technology to create the e-book, aside from taking pictures with my iPhone and adjusting them in Apple’s Preview, a very elementary photo-editing software.

Christina Katz: Any pros vs. cons to approaching the short-form e-book vs. the long-form book? Which do you think you prefer?

Jane Friedman: I don’t think I prefer either at this point, speaking as an author.

However …

Projects that extend over a period of many months or years do have a tendency to get boring for me. It’s probably why I’ve stuck with blogging for so long. It’s fast-paced, there’s lots of fun and value in it, it gives me a writing outlet, but I don’t have to keep revisiting the same material again and again. I get to vary the topics/issues and suit some of my own whims.

On the other hand, I like building things of solid quality and substance. And a long-form book does that. So I still look forward to those projects as well—it just requires me to be disciplined and passionate about what I take on.

Christina Katz: Are you hooked? Will you write more e-books? Or will you be too busy following through with this one for a while?

Jane Friedman: This e-book project gave me a tight deadline, and it kept my interest. And while I’ll spend a bit more time nurturing it—producing a Kindle edition, for instance—I consider myself through.

I am indeed considering what new e-book project might be next. I’m sure I’ll attempt another, but something more information-driven—not humor or speculation.

Probably the No. 1 topic that I’m asked about is online and social media. So perhaps I’ll do a full-length e-book addressing that. That said, if I’m contracted to write a long-form book for Writer’s Digest, all bets are off.

Jane’s Bio:

As the former publisher and editorial director of Writer’s Digest, Jane Friedman is an industry authority on commercial, literary, and emerging forms of publishing. She has spoken at more than 200 writing events since 2001, and is known within the publishing industry as an innovator, cited by sources such as Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, PBS, and Mr. Media. She has been a speaker at BookExpo America, an adviser to Digital Book World, and recently served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, to review 2011 grants in literature.

I confess, it’s been a while since I have had time to read poetry. And when I say “a while” what I really mean is about a decade.

Maybe that’s why writer papa Guy LeCharles Gonzales new e-chapbook, “Handmade Memories,” was such a delightful surprise.

I told myself I was only going to give it a quick read, but that didn’t quite work out. I ended up flopping on the couch with my laptop, next to my nine-year-old, who was reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

I must have shushed my kid a dozen times, every time she jarred me out of the vivid world of Guy’s younger selves navigating his worlds in various degrees of defiance, fight-or-flight, and unflinching observation.

There were a couple of carefully chosen prose pieces in the chapbook, but, for me, they interrupted the pulsing voice of poetry that pulled me  in and kept me rapt all the way through 55 pages.

More poetry, please, Guy!

Here are a few of my favorite selections:

Years passed and
when he died
I arrived late for his wake
eyes and throat moist
from guilt and alcohol.

~ from “Sunday Mornings in the Kitchen with Gan’ganny”

The bartender
dresses for the crowd
in a shiny black bustier
and tight black polyester capris
long copper-dyed hair pulled
back into a poofy ponytail
flirts like Pollock attacking
a canvas, her artistic genius revealed
at the end of the night when
she counts her tips.

~ from “Old New York Love Story”

when he had three of us on his ten-speed
flying down the hill around the corner
him on the seat
Junior on that crossbar that dips
on a girl’s bike
and me, on the handlebars
navigating
never seeing that beer can in middle of the street
even after we hit it

flying through the air like some
dysfunctional acrobatic family…

Junior was temporarily blinded in one eye.

My father had amnesia and
sometimes
I suspect that he never fully recovered.

I got thirteen stitches
and an everlasting respect for manhole covers

~ from Prodigal Son

Christina Katz: What compelled you to share these collected works now?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez: When I was active on the poetry scene, I published three chapbooks and loved the process of creating them by hand and having them with me to sell at readings. Unfortunately, a chapbook’s reach becomes very limited when you’re not actively performing, and I’ve been off the scene for several years now. Plus, I’m pretty sure Burning Down the House is now out-of-print (or should be, at least!), so there’s really no way for anyone to read any of my work in one place these days, and most of what I wrote after 2000 has never been published.

I initially got the idea to publish my own e-book from Jane Friedman during the first Writer’s Digest Conference, back in 2009, and actually put together something really simple and posted it on Smashwords to test it out as a free e-book. I briefly promoted it on my blog and then pretty much forgot it about, checking in periodically, and when I deactivated it this past weekend, it had around 750 views/downloads and one very generous review.

With my recent job change, I decided to carve out some time for my own writing again (because writers write, right?), and the first thing on my list was publishing Handmade Memories, a bit of unfinished business I had to get off my plate for a sense of closure so I could move on the next project.

Christina Katz: This collection covers a lot of time and feels almost like a coming-of-age journey in poetry. How would you describe your writing journey as a coming-of-age journey?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez: I was 28 when I first started reading my poetry at the Nuyorican Poets Café in 1997 – single and childless – and, in a lot of ways, I was still an obnoxious kid. Reckless and self-destructive, I loved a good debate and I was always right! As far as my writing  went, I was still very immature, too, and it showed in a lot of my early poems, including a couple I put in Handmade Memories. “Prodigal Son” was actually the first poem I wrote that I was really proud of as a poem rather than a performance, in early ’98, and it heralded a gradual but permanent shift in my style, from the pugnacious energy of the hyper-competitive slam to a more narrative, storyteller approach. That shift enabled me to connect with myself, and over the years, my writing greatly improved.

By 2001, I was becoming known more for being the host and curator of my reading series, a little bit louder, than for my writing, as my output greatly decreased, but the little I did write over the past few years was far better than anything I wrote during my peak years on the scene. By the time I’d written three of my absolute favorites – “Old New York Love Story,” “Party Like a Rock Star,” and “Crazy White Devil” – I’d been absent from the scene for so long that most of the regulars at the series I founded (now called louderARTS), have no idea I ever wrote poetry!

Christina Katz: I know you have been reading, reviewing, slamming, blogging, building communities, and being a literary social artist for years. Tell us about the work you are doing now.

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez: I joined Media Source, Inc. last month – publisher of Library Journal, School Library Journal, and The Horn Book – as Director, Content & Digital Product Development, and the short job description is that I’m now the guy I’ve fought with the most over the past 7 years of my career in publishing! My job is to develop our content strategy and introduce new digital products that serve our audience’s needs across a variety of mediums, while not forgetting that print is still an important channel that drives a lot of revenue. My first real job was at the Mt. Vernon Public Library, and I think librarians (along with teachers), are among our culture’s most unsung heroes, so being able to work with such an incredible community of people is an amazing opportunity.

During my job search in February, I had a few freelance and consulting opportunities present themselves that were rather interesting, and while it’s not something I want to do on a regular basis, I’ve launched a new initiative called Free Verse Media, where I plan to channel everything I’ve learned about storytelling, community building and marketing over the years into actionable forms; blog posts, conversations, presentations, and maybe even the occasional consulting gig when things settle down a bit.

Christina Katz: You’re a full-time working writer papa. What’s it like trying to juggle all you do literarily with making a living and raising a family today?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez: Honestly, it’s pretty difficult, but two things make it work: I have a VERY understanding wife, and I don’t sleep much! For the past several years, my “literary” pursuits have mostly been confined to blogging, and I typically write posts early in the morning before leaving to work, or late at night, after everyone’s in bed.

I first started blogging in 2003 out of curiosity and it eventually became my only real outlet for doing any writing, especially when I faded from the poetry scene in late 2003. It kept the juices flowing for years, and twice it actually transitioned into “jobs,” once with PopCultureShock.com (where I was paid in highly discounted comics!) and most recently with Digital Book World, where among many hats, I was also editor-in-chief and primary contributor. Interestingly, after years of believing I was a novelist-in-waiting, I recently had to acknowledge that I’ve been a non-fiction writer for years, and even the majority of my poetry could be categorized as creative non-fiction.

As I noted earlier, the recent job change gave me an opportunity to carve out some time for my own writing again, and while it still involves getting as little sleep as possible, I intend to make the most of it. And by “most,” I mean finally writing some fiction!

Christina Katz: Your portrait of yourself as a young man is rich, complex, and powerful. It takes guts to share such an intimate e-book. How did you get so brave and any suggestions for writers who might feel anxious about publicly sharing themselves in such a manner?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez: What actually gave me the courage to get on stage at the Nuyorican in the first place was a couple of acting workshops I took in college. My teacher was Annette Cardona, the original Cha-Cha from Grease, and she was intense and no-nonsense. I wasn’t a great actor by any stretch, but she was a closet psychiatrist and some of her acting exercises were all about stripping away all the layers and digging deep to connect with a character.

My personal breakthrough was an emotional scene from Michael V. Gazzo’s A Hatful of Rain; I was playing Johnny Pope, and he and Celia are arguing because she thinks he’s having an affair but he’s really hiding that he’s a junkie. The whole idea of letting a secret tear your life apart, and not letting the person you love and fear losing the most in on it because you’re ashamed was tough, but tapping into that emotion was incredibly freeing, too.

Also, on the poetry side, I’ve always responded most to very honest, personal work, and Charles Bukowski and Willie Perdomo are probably my two favorite poets of all, both tapping into the less-than-glamorous aspects of their own lives to tell compelling stories that are ultimately bigger than themselves. That’s the kind of work I always aspire to.

Christina Katz: What would you say to a dad, who feels like his creative energy is getting sapped by all of his daily responsibilities and commitments but wants to spend more time writing?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez: It’s a cliché, but it’s true: “Writers write. Period.” (And yes, they also have to carve out some time for marketing!) If we can find the time to go out drinking, to watch a football game, to sleep in late on the weekend, then, assuming it’s really a priority, we can find the time to write. And I say that as someone with zero self-discipline when it comes to my own writing!

I’m working on it, though. And publishing Handmade Memories was partly a way to clear the decks so I can focus on writing new work, and also a way to reconnect to a community I’d drifted away from. Finding a community of writers, whether in person or online, is essential.

Writing doesn’t have to be a solitary experience; the group of poets I ran with in my early days kept me going through the dry spells. We went to readings together, workshopped together, and inspired each other to keep writing and improving.  In this day and age, there’s absolutely no reason to go it alone. [End interview]

Thanks for purchasing a copy a of  “Handmade Memories” by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez. I think women should read it to better understand what it’s like to grow up male in this crazy country. And I think mamas should by it for their men. I know my husband is eager to read it now that I’ve told him about it. Let me know if you like it by leaving a comment or e-mail Guy.

Order Info: Purchase Handmade Memories

Guy’s Bio:

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez works in publishing by day, world domination by night. Over the years he’s lived in Staten Island and South Beach Miami; served in the Jehovah’s Witnesses, US Army, and Dennis Kucinich’s ’04 Presidential Campaign; won poetry slams, founded a reading series, co-authored a book of poetry and believes in the power of publishing as a community service. He prefers Pumpkin and India Pale Ales, Jim Beam, and Dona Paula Shiraz Malbec, and is a devout Mets and Jets fan from the Bronx now living in New Jersey with his beautiful wife and two amazing kids.

Recently, I enjoyed reading Eric Maisel’s A Writer’s Space, Make Room to Dream, to Work, to Write (Adams Media 2008).

Similar in pacing to my books Writer Mama and Get Known, A Writer’s Space is written in short, easy-to-absorb chapters that make it easier to squeeze into a busy schedule like mine.

Since we’ve recently moved into a new home, I was primed for a discussion of how a writer carves out a room of his or her own. But I was delighted to discover that this book covers the deeper implications of the topic of space, and not merely the challenges of arranging our physical world.

Of course it does, since A Writer’s Space is written by counselor, therapist, and coach Eric Maisel, whose other incredibly helpful books include A Life in the Arts and Toxic Criticism.

I think when Eric Maisel writes  on these kinds of topics, where he has clearly established a wealth of expertise based on many years of experience and study, he writes at his best. Like a true master, he is able to offer readers many thoughtful take-aways without ever seeming condescending or belying how many times he must have covered this same territory without becoming weary of it. In fact, many chapters on what might otherwise be dry topics are playfully literary in the hands of such a skillful writer in his own right.

If you have not had a chance to pick up, A Writer’s Space by Eric Maisel, PH.D., I highly recommend it, especially for the writer who is having difficulty establishing enough “space” to get his or her writing done in a way that is satisfying and fulfilling.

Enjoy!

[Order info]

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Did you read The Last Will of Moira Leahy?

You did? It was fantastic, wasn’t it?

Well, on Tuesday we are fortunate to have the author, Therese Walsh, swinging by to answer our questions about her debut novel.

Please post your questions below to join in!

And if you haven’t read The Last Will of Moira Leahy, you are really missing out on a special book. (If you dare, you can view my video review here.) I hope you will pick up a copy just as soon as you can. Why not ask your local library to add it to their collection?

Here’s some of my questions to kick things off:

Looking back on the entire journey of conceiving the novel, writing the novel, rewriting the novel, and promoting the novel…is there anything you would do differently?

At what point do you or did you feel ready to say goodbye to these characters and hello to the characters in your next book? Do you work on more than one project at a time?

Of all of the advice you’ve read and given novelists, what is the one, most crucial piece of advice for the as-of-yet unpublished writer?

Thanks, Therese!

Everyone else, feel free to chime in with your questions!

Q: What is The Last Will of Moira Leahy about?

TW: At its simplest, The Last Will is a women’s fiction novel about a professor of languages, Maeve Leahy, coming to terms with the loss of her twin, Moira.

But it’s never been that easy to explain. It taps into the magic of twins through a second narrative, called Out of Time, which introduces you to the girls when young, and eventually explains what happened to Moira and why Maeve changed as she did. It’s also about how Maeve’s present-day life is altered after winning a Javanese dagger called a keris one night at auction, and her journey—including a trip to Rome—to better understand both the blade and herself. So even though it has a women’s fiction heart, it borrows heavily from other genres, including psychological suspense, mystery, family saga, romance and mythical realism.

Q: What kind of research went into writing The Last Will?

TW: I have file folders—real and virtual—full of information on musical prodigies, foreign languages, twin phenomena, Maine, Rome, Trastevere, the keris, Javanese culture, wayang shadow puppets, empus, resident physicians, post-traumatic stress disorder, survival guilt, art, antiques, sailing, pop culture, university schedules, card tricks, cabbies, how to talk like a guy, and more! I have travel guides, maps, and plenty of books—including a few obscure ones, like Old Gypsy Madge’s Fortune Teller and the Witches Key to Lucky Dreams, published by M. Young in 1880, and The Keris and other Malay Weapons, published by the Council of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.

I traveled to Castine, Maine—a coastal community—to get a feel for the place, talk with the people who live there and ride on the Penobscot. I felt truly inspired by the story of the drummer boy ghost.

Rome was even more critical to the story, because specific aspects of the city shaped the plot and revealed character. I learned a lot about it by reading guidebooks, but the best information came from Adam Nixon at RomeBuddy.com. He was terrific, explaining obscure details of the city, including the types of happenings you’d find in Rome around the holidays.

Q: Can you give a synopsis of how you got your deal? Is it a good story?

TW: I’d been working on my manuscript since 2002, in one form or another. Last Will started as a traditional romance and then morphed into something Other—but not before I finished it and had it rejected as a romance, after two years worth of work. One agent, Deidre Knight, gave me some advice: “You should be writing women’s fiction.”

After much deep thought, I realized she was right, so in 2005, I started over. In 2006, after realizing I *still* hadn’t gotten it right, I scrapped most of a full third of the novel and began again.

I finished in early 2008, wrote my query and started submitting. A Big Time Agent asked for a partial, then rejected, but not before passing along the name of a coworker who might connect with the work. I queried her, and soon after was asked by her assistant for the full. And then, strangely, Big Time Agent contacted me again.

“You’ve made our assistant cry with your story,” he said. “I’m going to reconsider. Stay tuned.” Later we spoke on the phone. “I’m probably not going to tell you what you’re hoping for,” he said. “Really, I have a lot of questions.” The bottom line was that he just didn’t get certain aspects of the story, key components that I’d believed in wholeheartedly. But if I wanted to revise—drastically—he would look at it again.

If ever there was a time I wanted to quit trying, toss my manuscript in the trash and pretend I’d never dreamed a dream, it was then. But something inside me rebelled against his opinion. Big Time Agent was wrong. The book was ready. I believed it.

So I wrote a new query, printed a new synopsis, mailed a new submission to another agent—Elisabeth Weed. And she asked for the partial and then the full, and later called to tell me she loved the book. She became my agent, and sold my book to Random House a few weeks later in a preemptive two-book deal.

Q: This book took you years to finish. How did that lengthy writing process affect the story? And what kept you sticking with the story for such a long time?

TW: The story became richer and revealed more of itself with every draft, even during the final edit once the deal came through with Shaye Areheart Books. Over time, I understood more about writing and became more confident in my abilities.

Little things kept me going over the years. A rejection letter was taped beside my desk for the longest time. Other snippets from other positive rejections were there, too:

You’re a luscious writer, with loads of vivid details and language.
There is something about your prose that it unique and captivating.
You have great potential.

When you’re an unpublished writer, not sure if you’re “wasting” your time or not on your work, it’s important to hang on to all the positives, even to surround yourself with them as I did. But I think the most important thing that kept me committed to this story was the story itself; it just wouldn’t let go. It haunted me, in a way. I had to write it.

Q: Many families encounter guilt, deception, and loss. Were you interested in these themes before you began working on the book? What interested you in them?

TW: When I first sat down to write this story in 2002, I didn’t have a single thing planned regarding theme, but by the time I started the big rewrite in 2005, I understood that this book was about acceptance. To fully explore acceptance, I had to explore its opposite; denial can and does lead to things like deception, loss, guilt and more.

I don’t know why acceptance became the main theme. Maybe because I’m an introvert and somewhat of a social nerd. Or maybe it’s just what the book needed.

Q: What’s next for you?

TW: I have a two-book deal with Shaye Areheart and am working on the second book now. It’s a story I’m excited about—similar to The Last Will in some important ways (e.g. involving intertwined narratives that dovetail, a rich body of mythology, travels in order to find oneself, themes of acceptance, and more), but it’s different, too. The characters in this second book are, in a word, quirky. And quirky can be a lot of fun to write.

Come back on January 5th to ask Therese your questions. In the meantime, if you like, you can go ahead and start putting your questions in the comments and Therese will answer them then.

If you haven’t read the book, there’s still time, over the holidays to grab a copy and join us! Get your copy today.

Here’s two more things to note about Therese Walsh’s website that add all new depth and interest to a good read of The Last Will of Moira Leahy.

Frankly, I was aware of all of this extra info before I read the book, but I steered clear of it because I didn’t want anything to bias my response to the book. But now that I’m done reading and diving into all of these resources, I am, frankly, amazed at the depth and richness of them.

I shouldn’t be suprised, this reminds me a lot of my experience reading the book.

Therese answers questions about the book from author friends.

Also, you may know that Therese is a co-founder of Writer Unboxed, a blog for writers. (My only complaint is that I don’t think this blog is searchable. Help!)

More of your guided tour to The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh coming next week.

I missed yesterday, so I want to point out two more cool things on Therese Walsh’s website that add value to reading The Last Will of Moira Leahy:

Here’s a page that describes Therese’s research.

& here’s some of the writing that ended up on the cutting room floor.

What an interesting idea to treat your readers to some of the same kind of behind-the-scenes information, like you’d normally get as “extras” on a DVD.

As my friend Meryl pointed out, these “tidbits” are most interesting once you’ve read the novel. I hope you will join us in reading and discussing The Last Will of Moira Leahy. (Amazon link)

I’m interesting interested in hearing other readers first impressions of The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese Walsh.

We will be discussing it here, at a leisurely pace, all month.

Today, I wanted to share something from Therese Walsh’s website. (Note: you can turn the site music on or off, according to your preference.)

Maeve Leahy’s Photo Journal

Such a clever idea to post your main characters photographs.

I thought these words and images really captured the characters essence without giving away too much of the book.

See what you think!

[Thanks to Meryl K. Evans for the close read.)