A Book's Journey: from writer to reader

The time between the spark of an idea in an author's brain to the published book in the hand of the reader is often years.

The writer may let the idea simmer, formulate, and develop in his mind for many hours, days, weeks, and sometimes years before beginning to write.  Then it can take more days, weeks, months, and/or years of writing and researching, as that idea spark creates new characters, worlds, and events. The next step, rewriting, editing, and proofreading before the author is satisfied that it is ready to be read, may take even longer. When that is done, it is time find a publisher who agrees.

Few writers land a publisher or even an agent with the first query or proposal, but may accumulate many rejections, and, if they're lucky, suggestions for improvement. When finally accepted by a publisher, it is possible, even likely, that more rewrites and edits will be required. When the manuscript, the product of the author’s years of work, frustration, and love finally gets into the publisher's queue, he must wait—sometimes months, or even a year or two or three—before the publishing team has it in book form. To the author, this can seem interminably long, and he may fear that the book has been forgotten. What the author doesn't know, unless he asks, is that the wheels of the publishing machinery are grinding along,  moving the book through the many steps of the process to completion.
Getting the attention a commercial publisher seems to get harder as the years go by, but perseverance sometimes pays off. And even though it may seem to take forever to see the book finally in print, it won’t happen if the author gives up. 

We asked author Jim Moore about the journey of his novels, from the conception of the idea to the day he was able to hold the actual book in his hand. He got the idea for his first book, Ride the Jawbone, from years of driving by the old Montana railroad bed near his ranch near Two Dot, Montana. "Someone ought to write a story about the old Jawbone," he thought. Since no one else had, when he finally retired, he wrote the historical legal mystery. After submitting the manuscript for Ride the Jawbone, to a large number of agents and editors without success, he wrote Election Day, and began the submission process again with that political thriller. When that didn't succeed, he decided to try a contemporary legal murder mystery of the kind he often read. The result was The Body on the Floor of the Rotunda, which he began in 2006 or 2007. "This manuscript," Jim says, "… was offered to many agents and editors with no more success than with the other manuscripts."

In 2010, Jim took a publishing workshop offered by Raven Publishing and presented by Janet Hill. At the end of the class, he left his manuscript for Ride the Jawbone for her to read, "In case you get time to look it over. I know you're busy." He baited her with a delightful short story which he left on top of the manuscript, "Because it has my contact information on it," he said. Janet first read the short story, finding it compelling, funny, and with a great twist of an ending. She enjoyed the flavor of Jim's writing enough to begin the novel—and was soon hooked. Raven Publishing contracted the rights and published it the next year. It sold well and is still in demand after 5 printings. So it was only natural that Raven would want more of Jim's work. Election Day followed in 2012 and The Body on the Floor of the Rotunda is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook as of July, 2013. 

Raven Publishing looks forward to more from Jim in the future.

MORE FROM MOORE!

Jim Moore, former rancher, lawyer, Montana State Senator, Minority Leader, and now prolific author, has yet another book coming out next month. "The Body on the Floor of the Rotunda" may be the best yet. Many of his previewers think so.

Who killed the beautiful Chief Aide to Montana's Governor and tossed her over the balcony to land on the floor of the rotunda in the state capitol? Senator Stretch Bruce, attorney at law, doesn't know, except to feel certain that it wasn't the accused, Senator Audrey Welter, his lovely client. By the time of the trial, he still doesn't know and is left with no defense but to cast doubt on the prosecution's evidence. Readers will keep turning pages until the surprise breakthrough that turns the tide of the trial.

Intrigue, political corruption, mystery, and romance make for a gripping read from start to finish.

Jim's previous books, "Ride the Jawbone" (2011—and now in it's fifth printing) and "Election Day" (2012—now on sale at a reduced price on Amazon) have delighted thousands of readers. Moore has many more books waiting in the wings. Stay tuned.

Extraordinary "Election Day" Novel

After the many long months of the ruthless campaigning that led up to the 2012 presidential election, most of us were fed up with elections. However, anyone who has read Jim Moore's Election Day will tell you that the fictional election day in his novel is like no other. In a complex and page-turning scenario, Jim reveals facts about the US Constitution that most of us never even considered. His characters become real and important to the reader, but the most important "character" may be the Constitution and the Laws of the United States.

What if, just days before the election, the vice-presidential candidate is killed in an auto accident. His running mate is elected, but dies before taking office. Who, then will be president and how will that person be chosen?

The amazing thing about this scenario is that the framers of the constitution foresaw even this eventuality and made rules for how to proceed. As you read the complications that follow, you will be amazed at the thoroughness with which the founding fathers' considered every possible detail, but you just might question their wisdom. Should some of these laws be changed? The plot's twists and turns will surely keep the reader turning the pages until the last question. "When was election day?" Not exactly an easy question to answer

Election Day by Jim Moore was published in 2012 by Raven Publishing, Inc.

Moore's best-selling novel Ride the Jawbone came out in 2011.

A Bold "What if" is answered? (Teaser for forthcoming book)

What if:
two days before the general election, the candidate for Vice President of the United States is killed in an accident?

What if:
three day after the election the candidate for president—having received the most votes—dies.

Who gets to be president and how is that person chosen?

Jim Moore’s intriguing novel not only answers the questions—but also brings to light some provisions placed in our Constitution by the Founding Fathers to deal with just such contingencies. Throw in four would-be “Kingmakers,” an unscrupulous, power-driven egomaniac who is determined to be president at any cost, a rancher/lawyer from Montana who becomes a pawn in an election scheme, and you have an unforgettable story.

Jim Moore, best-selling regional author of Ride the Jawbone, (2011) began writing when he retired from his law practice about ten years ago. Before that, Jim was a cattle rancher, lawyer, and politician, including a term as Montana Senate Majority Leader. He lives near Bozeman, Montana with his wife, Kay, and continues to write both novels and short stories.

Election Day, by Jim Moore will be released this summer.

A planned schedule is important, a daily writing habit, essential.

The more I have to do and the more varied the projects demanding my attention become, the more I realize the importance of a plan of action. Being a morning person, I reserve the earliest morning hours of each day for creative writing time. Or, at least that is the plan. However when other duties are on my mind, it's easy to skip the writing, "just for today," and jump right into the marketing or design or editing or whatever it is on my mind that "must" be done right now.

I have learned, though, that skipping my morning writing wastes time, because the longer I am away from my book, the longer it takes me to get back into it. I have to go back and reread what I've already written. If I've missed a day, it may not take a few pages of rereading to get my mind—and muse—back into it. If I've missed two or three days, it will take longer. If I've missed weeks or months, I will have to reread from the beginning, or keep going back as I write to check on what I've already said or haven't said.

So, my renewed resolution is to write EVERY DAY. Even if it's only a few minutes to a half-hour, it will keep me in touch with my characters and their place in the plot. I find it's best if it's two or three hours, but that isn't always possible. Not having a big block of time, does not mean that I cannot write at all. Making writing my first activity of the day is very important to me. If I don't write then, the chances are slim that I will get to it at all.

Only after I've finished writing, should I move on to other activities. Then I must, to the best of my ability, keep to a schedule that will get it all in. (More on a daily schedule tomorrow)

About Our Authors. First: Janet Muirhead Hill

Here is the first in a series of posts introducing the authors of Raven Publishing, Inc. of Montana. Janet Muirhead Hill, founder of Raven was also its first author. After publishing her Miranda and Starlight series of six books, she expanded her company to publish other authors of important novels and memoir.

We'll start with her.

Janet Muirhead Hill’s three favorite things in life were nurtured on the cattle ranches where she grew up in the Yampa River Valley in the Colorado Rockies. She incorporates them in the books she writes. 1) Kids. More than anything else, Janet, the middle child in a family of six kids, loves children and cares about their welfare. 2) Writing. Her older sister who read to her and taught her to make up stories on the long winter evenings they shared fostered her love for books and writing. 3) Horses. Her father, a horse lover and cowboy, taught his children to ride and to care horses. At a very young age, Janet developed great admiration and a connection with these noble animals.

In 2002, Hill published Miranda and Starlight, the first of a six-book series of horse stories that involve a young girl, Miranda, with problems involving Starlight, the horse of her dreams. Miranda is a lonely girl, sent to her grandparents’ dairy farm in Montana while her mother stays in Los Angeles, seeking stardom. Miranda doesn’t fit in with the kids in the small country school, and she believes that if she only had a horse, nothing else would matter. When she meets Starlight, a black two-year-old colt on a neighboring thoroughbred horse ranch, and the adventures begin.

Hill has published three other novels, one stand-alone about a Montana ranch boy whose father is killed in the war. Danny goes through the stages of grief with the help of his horse, Dragon, until his mother takes them to Denver to live with grandparents he hardly knows. Like all of Hill’s books, Danny’s Dragon was created to help kids through difficult times, showing them that they are not alone and offering support and help wrapped in a gripping adventure story.

Her latest books, the first two novels of a trilogy, gives the reader an intimate look at the devastation that parents can cause when they divorce without understanding the effect it can have on the children. Kendall (Kendall’s Storm) and Kyleah (Kyleah’s Tree) are twins who have not been allowed contact since their parents divorced when they were four. Hill has written Kendall and Kyleah, the third book of this trilogy, which will be released in 2012.

Hill continues to write from her rural Montana home where she keeps three horses and remains very connected to her grandchildren.

The next post will tell the story of another Raven author.

The Road Between: Book Review by Marcia Melton

A reader sent us this review of The Road Between. It captures it well.

Review of The Road Between by Florence Bell Ore (Raven, 2011)

Ruts in a country road, stretching out through yellow prairie grass to distant blue mountains beckon the reader from the cover illustration of Florence Bell Ore’s brave and affecting memoir, The Road Between. A sturdy gate punctuates the path which takes the reader into the 1930s and 1940s in Alberta, Canada and into the life of a young girl whose world is woven of three cultures: her English family working as missionaries on the Blackfoot Reserve; her Blackfoot neighbors and fellow children of the prairie; and the Canadian citizens in the nearby town of Gleichen and the city of the region, Calgary.

This childhood and young adulthood is not typical in any way because of the juxtaposition of cultures and Florence Ore’s “between-ness” among them. With her family, Florence is given the expectations of proper behavior for a young lady and schooling designed to lead her to a life patterned in English manners and morals. With respect and love, she honestly presents the human sides of her relatives. They also feel the conundrum of adapting old patterns to new expectations.

In the native culture, she sees another form of community. Blackfoot children living in Old Sun School were taken from their homes to be educated in Canadian culture and the Christian religion, leaving them bereft of their family traditions and stories. The girls continued a tenuous hold on their own ways as they crafted beaded belts and headbands, weaving the old and the new together to form their own society. As Florence vacillates between braiding her hair the way the Blackfoot girls do and wearing English ringlets, the dichotomy is clear. Florence’s Uncle Jack, the serious and sympathetic principal and minister, confided in her, “I sometimes think they have the right idea after all.” These words resonated with Florence’s feelings while watching the clash of two cultures.

The Canadian landscape underlies all of the lives described in this book. The wide, wild reaches of Alberta affect the discoveries and connections of the various peoples dwelling there. An evocative description, characteristic of Florence Ore’s beautiful writing, captures its sense. “My new world stretched from the Rocky Mountains, a pale blue ragged edge on the western horizon, east to where the land sloped endlessly down to the Atlantic. Above me spread the vast dome of sky. Lying on my back, watching an armada of cumulous clouds sail in the expanse of blue, the song of the meadowlark connected me to the earth and an awareness of the land and the world I lived in. Wherever I went this would be home.”

This book is a timepiece of the author’s unique life in the 1930s and 1940s. Her reflections and gem-like observations create the prism through which so many insights come. Her descriptions are so clear and personal that the reader is there. It is an unvarnished look at this time, with all its contradictions, and a respectful insight into the family and people of her life. Her young adulthood is not without challenge when her mother becomes single. Like her Indian neighbors, Florence is sent to a private girl’s school where she must integrate one more time into a new culture while holding on to an old one. Through the events and observations, the story speaks to the reader of the value and meaning of understanding and courage.

A closer look at the bright Van Gogh-like cover painting shows that this painting is also by the author, Florence Bell Ore, who paints in both words and picture. For me, her courageous remembering of the past gave a gift which clearly illustrated the power of memoir to bring understanding and meaning to the present.