At the beginning of the Tasha Turner Virtual Blogging Tour this post would have been easy to write. I had the perfect paragraphs of my novel Calico. But recently, I have left my publishing house to pursue self-publishing. I have been with two small presses and have been scammed by three vanity presses. My novel, Calico, has been through all of them. After 15 five stars and a few below that, I decided to leave my publishing house and pull Calico off the market.
Allison, are you crazy? Maybe I am. The jury is still out on that debate. Pulling Calico off the market was a hard decision for me. You see I have been writing professionally for four years. My mantra had always been find a good publisher and stick with them for the long haul. Writing for me isn’t just a job. I was created to be a writer. It’s my calling. Although I have been professionally writing for four years I have been writing stories, poems, and essays since I was in Kindergarten. There is nothing like writing for me. It’s my addiction, my passion! So what does that have to do with why I had pulled Calico off the market? A few months ago, I felt a strong need to work on my writing skills through a Masters of Fine Arts program. At first I had thought writing only encompassed writing novels, short stories, and poems. I always knew God created me to be a writer. I still remember when I was anointed to do that. Yet deep in my heart I am also a educator. I love to teach people and I have always wanted to be a professor. The Masters of Fine Arts is a terminal degree, meaning it is the highest you can go in Creative Writing. It’s the equivalent of having a doctorate in Creative Writing. I applied to Spalding University but was denied entry not because I needed more writing skills but because as they said “we don’t know what to teach you. You have achieved so much already.” Hmm, I’ve never heard a university of admitting that. I almost gave up. But then one day a friend of mine has suggested I apply to another university. I Googled for an MFA low residency program and kept coming up with Full Sail University. I would shove the link aside then it would pop up again. I did this a couple more times then it hit me. I had been praying for an answer and this keeps popping up. I decided what could it hurt? What a blessing it has been! After three months in the program I can see why God had wanted me to go to Full Sail. Writing isn’t just about writing novels, short stories or poems. Writing encompasses so much more. I can be a novelist and a screenwriter at the same time. Hadn’t I always wanted Calico to be a movie and television show as well as a novel? Why not write all of them myself? One of the harsh realities I had to face last month was the reality that I could not sell my TV series to anyone as long as I didn’t control all the rights to the material. As long as I was with a publishing house I would have to gain their approval and share the royalty when a television or film company wanted to buy my scripts. It would lowered my potential to achieve my goals. I had never signed a contract with my publishing house in the UK. After mutual understanding I left the publishing house and pulled Calico off the market. I plan to rename Calico and the series. I also plan to break it down into a different series. My plan is to continue to write and market my novels, short stories and poems while I am pursuing my screenwriting. I will be self-publishing everything. My next book set to released is called Reflections. This is a collection of essays and poems I have written over the past couple of years. After that I will publishing a short paranormal/romance story called Lady of Wild Rose Pass.
She is currently working on the sequel, Rose. She is also working on another series, The Secret Heritage, which traces the life of her great great grandmother at the turn of the 20th century in Ohio. Allison's interest includes Ohio Valley history, anthropology, travel, culture, history, camping, hiking, backpacking, spending time with her family and genealogy. Her genres include historical fiction, paranormal, romance, and suspense.
You can reach her at:
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/xxJ249
Facebook Fan Page http://on.fb.me/plvkxJ
Twitter: @emeraldkell
Blog: http://bit.ly/whteQI
Thank you for hosting me, Linda.
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