This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Charity Norman is the author of Freeing Grace and the upcoming After The Fall
When I was eight years old, I was fascinated by the tale of how Charlotte Bronte delivered Jane Eyre to an enthusiastic publisher and became an Overnight Sensation. I remember thinking that I would like to be an Overnight Sensation, whatever that was. Perhaps it was this absurdly unrealistic idea that led me – thirty years later – to abandon a perfectly sensible career, drape myself over a laptop and try to write a novel. If I’d known then what I know now, I’m not sure whether I’d have taken such a wildly irresponsible step. Wait – what am I saying? Of course I would.
The career change involved moving self and family to New Zealand, on the basis that starving in a garret is comfier in a warmish country. Then I cracked my knuckles and began to write. And write. Looking back, I’m open-mouthed at my sheer naivety. The family would head to school and work, leaving me tapping maniacally. They’d come home to find I hadn’t moved. After thousands of hours’ work, Freeing Grace was ready to be sent to a literary agent who’d been recommended. She took me on, and from that moment a glimmer of hope twinkled coquettishly at the far end of a very long tunnel.
Mind you, it was only a very faint glimmer. My agent warned me that the publishing world was a tough place. Before she would send it out, Freeing Grace must be polished until it shone. So over the next year or more the book was rewritten and rewritten again; the delete button became smooth and worn with constant use – it’s still by far the busiest key on my laptop. Finally my pride and joy was sent out into the wild woods of the publishing world to roam, knocking on doors and searching for a warm home.
Then the wait began. Weeks passed; terrifying, nail-biting months. Every morning I’d turn on the computer before I turned on the kettle, touching wood compulsively and listening for the pling-plong! of an email from London. From time to time my mailbox held bad news – I’ve probably had my fair share of rejections, though my agent forwarded only the kindest. That glimmer at the end of the tunnel looked fainter with each passing day. Sometimes I felt it had gone out altogether. When the news finally arrived I almost missed it, half-hidden amongst the spam in a crowded inbox. Magical words.
Dear Charity, I have good news for you …
I screeched. I yodelled. I pirouetted around the room and trod on the cat who also screeched and yodelled. Allen and Unwin, the wonderful Australian based publisher, wanted to buy the rights for Australia and New Zealand. Then – marvellously – their UK arm wanted to pile in as well. An offer from Belfond in France swiftly followed, and another for the audio rights. Seeing the phrases I’ve sweated over painstakingly translated into French, or hearing them read by an actor, still brings a smile to my lips.
Overnight Sensation? Er, no. But three years on I’ve delivered my third book and am now sleeplessly obsessing about the fourth. Writing for me is much like climbing a Scottish mountain: there’s always another peak, and sometimes I get stuck in a bog. Yet every so often, the mists part. I sit on a rock to munch Kendal mint cake, and admire the view. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.