If my last newsletter, in which I wrote about completing the first draft of my newest novel, left you wondering when the book would be available to read, there's good news and bad news...
Fireland is Taking its First Steps toward Publication (Hopefully!)!
This book, which I'm calling Fireland, is historical fiction about the first white family to settle in the southern tip of South America and their indigenous neighbors who survive genocide, colonization, epidemics, and an international gold rush during the 1860s to the 1970s.
As to when it'll be ready to read, unfortunately the answer is...not for a while yet. But it's definitely closer now!
After that finishing that first draft, I did a revision pass and incorporated feedback from my writers' group on the individual chapters they had read. Then I gave it to three trusted readers (including my husband), who generously provided feedback on the manuscript as a whole. Then I revised again.
Now the book is finally ready to move from the writing phase to the looking-for-a-publisher phase.
HOORAY!!!!
The first step toward traditional publication of a novel is to find a literary agent who's interested. This involves lots of market research, crafting a compelling cover letter, emailing dozens of potential agents out of the blue, and holding my breath for some positive sign amidst rejection and silence. This process is often immensely discouraging for writers, as it was for me last time around. The marketplace is crowded with books, and most literary agents receive dozens if not hundreds of unsolicited emails a week.
That said, I have high hopes for this manuscript. It's such a fascinating intercultural story, in such a unique setting, that I really hope it'll intrigue agents who are looking for the next literary historical family saga in a multicultural setting--like The Covenant of Water (a great book, if you haven't read it). But if you're the praying sort, please pray with me that it does succeed in getting someone's attention out of the crowded pile of submissions! I'd really love to find this book a good home with a publisher.
If/when the book lands an agent, then that person would shop the book around to different publishers. Once a contract is signed with a publisher, the book goes through the editing and design process, then printing. It takes, on average, 12-18 months for a book to get from the contract stage to bookstores.
So, like I said, the book won't be ready to read for a while yet. But, meanwhile...please check out some behind-the-scenes, historical fun here on Substack!
Some Book Recommendations!
I recently read Sarah M. White's Today I Left the House: Diary of a First-Time Mom, and I loved it! I became friends with Sarah when we did a summer study program in England as college students (a long time ago...), and I was pleased to see her publish this memoir-in-verse about the birth of her first child. In its pages, I found tenderness and beauty shine through a harrowing postpartum experience. If you enjoy poems or memoirs about the experience of motherhood, I definitely recommend picking up a copy from your favorite bookseller.
Here's one of the poems I particularly liked:
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe504b3e4-b7fe-4bb2-980a-7080145b6576_640x618.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdaec686f-b84c-4bbc-ae13-7d0f37aefce2_480x640.jpeg)
I also wanted to mention Immah, by Fran Hillyer. I haven't yet read this historical novel about the Virgin Mary, but I went to graduate school with Fran, and I wanted to take the chance to congratulate her on her first work of fiction. Congratulations, Fran!
Thanks so much for reading and for being part of this adventure. I'm so grateful for your company along this road!
Christine