What’s It Take To Get It Right? by Dawn Ford

 By Dawn Ford

 Twelve years ago I sat down at my computer with one picture in my mind (insert twinkling music for a flashback here):

Tambrynn, a young servant girl, was sobbing in a carriage. Her telekinetic ability skewed out of control when threatened by an angry cook. Knives went flying. Moles were lost. Tambrynn was instantly dismissed. She carried her only belongings with her, packed in a cracked leather case, along with a ring that was to be her inheritance—a key to a kingdom she knew nothing about. And her world was about to turn completely upside down.  

The picture in my mind was so clear that three chapters were written before I knew it. And so started my journey into bringing The Girl With Stars In Her Eyes to fruition. But it didn’t happen right away. The year I started writing it I suffered three terrible events. Emotionally I was bereft. I couldn’t write. It took me over half of a year to start again where I ended: right smack in the middle.

I wrote that last half as I came out of my grief-laced haze. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good. I moved on to write other things. A few years later I would go back and try again, knowing that I had lost my way. I tried again. It took me awhile to revise it while writing other books.

Friends told me to drop it, it was a lost cause. I couldn’t. I’d felt called that first day when that image came to me. It was as if God was placing this story in my lap and He wanted me to write it. How do you turn your back on that? If he started a good work in me, I knew he would fulfill it (Phil 1:6). I knew I had to keep trying. So, I worked on it. I had it edited so it could be sent into contests. And I kept writing other things.

But I kept coming back to it. In 2016 I sent it into the ACFW’s Genesis contest. I’d sent it in several times before and nothing ever came of it. So, I wasn’t overly concerned. Until that first call saying I was a finalist. That was a nice surprise. Second round. Again, thinking nothing of it, the caller said I’d become a round two finalist. What? Winners would be announced at that year’s conference. I hadn’t even planned on going to that year.

I’m glad I did. I won the Genesis contest which rekindled my hope in Tambrynn’s story. However, in the back of my mind I knew that though the first half was compelling, the last half still wasn’t right. So, I contacted an editor friend. She’d helped me with some small projects and we worked well together. I got things when she explained them. She was encouraging without sugar-coating. I trusted her. I sent her this manuscript for a content edit. Hopeful. Prayerful.

She dug out the guts and gave me some hard truths about what I needed to do to get it right. She told me to, “Think outside the box! Go beyond!” And so, I did. I reworked it and threw away the mold. It was hard. I wasn’t following the norm. I went where I’d never gone before. More fantasy. Some cool creatures. And magic.

It was last year when I finished that last revision. I love it now. It felt right. So, when I saw a request by a publisher I knew and trusted who was seeking fantasy novels to publish, I thought, why not? On a whim I sent it in, thinking maybe I’d get some advice about it—see if I was on the right track. The next day they contacted me back. The publisher loved it. She said she couldn’t stop reading it. Within the next couple of days, I’d been offered a three-book contract for this book and two more, making it a series.

What exactly did it take to get it right? All of it. Revising stinks. Waiting for something to happen is maddening. The doubt in between it all can be fatal if you allow it to root in. But I kept my eye on one truth, God would complete that good work He gave me. I just had to trust the process.

The Girl With Stars In Her Eyes is now up for pre-order and on April 12, it comes out for the world to read. I’m so glad I didn’t give up.

Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for a free ebook copy of The Girls with Stars in Her Eyes.

Here’s the back cover copy:

Eighteen-year-old servant girl Tambrynn is haunted by more than her unusual silver hair and the star-shaped pupils in her eyes. Her uncontrollable ability to call objects leads the wolves who savagely murdered her mother right to her door.

When she’s fired and outcast during a snowstorm, her carriage wrecks and she’s forced to find refuge in an abandoned cottage. There, her life is upended when the magpie who’s stalked her for ten years transforms into a man, Lucas. He’s her Watcher and they’re from a different kingdom. His job is to keep her safe from her father, an evil mage, who wants to steal her abilities, turn her into one of his undead beasts, and become immortal himself.

Can they make it to the magical passageway and get to their home kingdom in time for Tambrynn to thwart her father’s malicious plans? Or will Tambrynn’s unique magic doom them all?

Dawn Ford lives in a small town nestled among the Loess Hills in Western Iowa with her husband and Snickers, the Wonder Beagle. Dawn’s love for stories came naturally to her as a child who was lucky enough to be able to explore the Iowa pastures and countryside in search of adventure.

Dawn adores anything steampunk, is mesmerized by shiny, pretty things, purses, shoes, and needs at least one good, strong cup of coffee to wake up in the morning.

 

Follow Dawn on her website: https://dawnfordauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DawnFordAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dawn_ford_author/

Preorder Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TY713B2