Julie, here, and it's no secret that I absolutely LOVE everything Irish!! So, it's little wonder that I jumped at the chance to read the debut book of today's guest blogger Nancy Herriman when our mutual agent Natasha Kern asked. A very smart move, it turns out, because The Irish Healer was everything I'd hoped for and more. Here is my endorsement: "Possibly one of the best regencies I have ever read, The Irish Healer is a haunting lovestory that held me spellbound me from the first sentence to the last, denyingme sleep until the wee hours of the morning. A stunning debut for NancyHerriman." Without further ado, please welcome a dear friend and fellow lover of all things Irish, Nancy Herriman:Perseverance….
I can very clearly recallthe worst rejection I ever received. For you writers out there, can you? Minecame on a bright sunny summer’s day, a few weeks after I had mailed a slew ofagent queries, a few weeks spent breathlessly watching both the physical andelectronic mail box for a kind letter asking for more. Which I was certainwould come. And then it arrived,this tiny blue postcard with a generic three-sentence rejection basicallysaying ‘not interested’ but sounding an awful lot like ‘why would we botherwith you?’. The salutation wasn’t even addressed to me personally. Couldn’tthey see all the blood, sweat and tears I’d poured into that query? Didn’t Ideserve a ‘Dear Nancy’? Didn’t I deserve a kind word or two encouraging me to persevere,to soldier on? I know I shouldn’tcomplain, because I’ve heard worse stories, of authors (now bestselling) whowere told to never contact the particular agent/editor again, that they shouldstop writing and find another job, that no one but no one was interested insuch a story and they would never sell. Ever. So I suppose my little bluegeneric postcard wasn’t all that bad, in the greater scheme of things. At thetime, though, I was angry and then I cried and then I threw it in the trashcan. Now, I rather wish I’d kept that postcard. A memento of the many barriers,the many negatives in this business we writers both love and loathe in, often,equal measure.
After more than 10 years ofwriting and several manuscripts, both finished and unfinished that have beenconsigned to the metaphorical box-under-the-bed, I finally wrote the book thatwould make it easy to smile over that postcard. In the end, the terse rejectiontoughened me, and made me all the more grateful for the day when my agent calledwith those blessed words that someone wanted to buy The Irish Healer. All the more aware that, if I had quit after thatrejection and the others like it, I would never have enjoyed seeing my words inprint, at last.
The need to perseveredoesn’t end with that first contract, however. Only in hushed conversations dopublished authors reveal the dark truth that Life-After-The-Call can be morefraught with stress and upset than Life-Before-The-Call. That it’s harder toreceive a negative comment from a reviewer than it is to get one of thosegeneric rejections in the mail. That your career as a published author is nevercertain. That balancing deadlines with your ‘regular life’ can be challengingand sometimes dispiriting. For example, here is my past year went: I received The Call, went through themulti-step editing process, wrote my contractual second book, began work onpublicity for The Irish Healer, allwhile getting a diagnosis of breast cancer and enduring surgery and five monthsof chemotherapy. Oh, and I still have children at home! Thank heavens for thesupport of precious friends and the enduring strength obtained through faith,or else I might have given up.
So, here are my partingwords of encouragement for all writers in all stages: persevere. If I canovercome nearly a dozen years of rejection and life-changing health issues, socan you. And if you get one of those generic rejection postcards, keep it.
A blurb about The Irish Healer:
Acquitted of murdering achild under her care, Irish healer Rachel Dunne flees the ensuing scandal andvows to never sit at another sickbed. She no longer trusts in her abilities—orGod’s mercy. When a cholera epidemic sweeps through London, though, she isforced to nurse the dying daughter of the enigmatic physician she has come tolove. James Edmunds, wearied by the deaths of too many patients, has his owndoubts about God’s grace. Together, they will have to face their darkestfears...and learn what it means to have real faith.
Bio:Nancy Herriman abandoned acareer in Engineering to chase around two small children and take up the pen.She hasn’t looked back. When she is not writing, or gabbing over lattes aboutwriting, she is either watching history shows on cable TV or singing. She livesin the Midwest with her husband and sons, and wishes there were more hours inthe day. You can learn more at her website, www.nancyherriman.com,where you will also find a link to the opening chapter of The Irish Healer along with a book trailer.
If you participate insocial media, please join her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Author.NancyHerrimanor on Twitter (@Nancy_Herriman).
In addition, one lucky readerwho comments on my blog will be randomly selected to win a copy of The Irish Healer in either print form oraudio book. Good luck!
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