A Winding Road to Publication - Guest Post & Book Giveaway by Author Paul Harris

A LOT of people ask me how I wrote THE SECRET KEEPER. They want to know which parts of the book are based on my own experiences and which are sheer imagination. It is an honour – and a dream come true – to have had a book published and be able to talk to people about characters and a plot that once existed just inside my head but now can be bought in bookstores.

But that dream very nearly did not come true. Alongside all the questions about the book itself, lots of other people want to know how the book got published. They want to know something of the mechanics of writing a novel, finding an agent and getting it to the market. This post is for them and it illustrates two things that are important. Firstly, don’t give up. Secondly, don’t always listen to the experts. They are often just guessing at what they think the market wants.

I began by making the decision to take my fiction writing seriously. So I sketched out a plot and wrote down about 25,000 words as a sample. Using that I asked a journalist friend to put me in touch with an agent that he knew in London. The agent – who shall remain nameless – liked my writing and the idea. She encouraged me to finish the novel, which I did. It took me more than a year to do it but eventually I had a first draft. The agent then suggested I make some changes. I did so. Then she suggested I change a lot of the structure of the book. Reluctantly, I obeyed. Time passed again and I presented the agent with a final draft. This time she thought about it for a while and then come up with a conclusion I had not seen coming: this book did not really work after all, she said. I should scrap it.

It was a body blow. It felt like years of wasted effort. I was devastated for several weeks. The agent – in her defence – then wanted me to write another book. “I love your writing, I just don’t think this book is the one for you,” she said. Then she added: “But if you want to try and take it elsewhere, I’ll understand.”

Eventually I picked myself off the floor and selected six agents by quite literally Googling them and seeing if they were interested in the sort of fiction I had written. I sent off the manuscript to them. Three replied wanting to represent me. One, in particular, was so enthusiastic that I was just won over immediately by her attitude. I went with her. The first thing she suggested doing: change the structure back to what it had been originally! Happily I reversed all the changes the first agent had suggested. Then my new agent successfully sold the book in America, Italy and Holland.

As I said, if you want to write a book: don’t give up and definitely don’t always believe an expert.

About the Author
Paul Harris is currently the US Correspondent of the British weekly newspaper The Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper. He has held the post since 2003. Prior to that he reported from Africa for the Daily Telegraph, the Associated Press and Reuters. He has covered conflicts and trouble spots all around the world, including Iraq, Sudan, Burundi, Somalia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. In 2003 he was embedded with British forces during the invasion of Iraq.

The Secret Keeper was inspired by his reporting on events in 2000 in Sierra Leone as that country’s long civil war came to an end.

Paul now lives in New York and is happy to have swapped the dangers of the front line for the less obvious perils of writing about American politics and culture.

To learn more about the author and the book, visit his website at TheSecretKeeper.us.

Book Giveaway
Paul Harris is giving away a signed copy of his book, The Secret Keeper, to one lucky tour visitor. Go to his book tour page, http://paul-harris.omnimystery.com/, enter your name, e-mail address, and this PIN, 1576, for your chance to win. Entries from Bookish Ruth will be accepted until 12:00 Noon (PT) tomorrow. No purchase is required to enter or to win. The winner (first name only) will be announced on his book tour page next week

Long Time, No Blog or "Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

Hello. You might remember me. 5' 7", brown hair, brown eyes, rather bookish? I am still alive and mostly well, despite a nearly four month absence from blogging. A lot has happened in the past few months, but here's a quick overview:

Bookishness
I ended 2009 with a total of 85 books read, which was short of my goal of 100 for the year, and also short of my 2009 New Year's resolution to surpass my 2008 total of 125. I think I probably could have managed to achieve both of those goals if not for moving in August. Still, given all the changes in my life last year, I'm happy that I was able to read as much as I did. I would like to hit 75 this year, and I'll be thrilled if I can surpass that. At the moment I have 71 to go. Not the best start to the year reading-wise, certainly, but give me a few lazy weekends and I'll make up a lot of ground.

Walking on Sunshine

As 2009 drew to a close, I decided that I wanted 2010 to be an epic year. It's now been three years since my entire life got turned upside-down by chronic fatigue syndrome. In 2009, I saw a significant improvement in my energy level. After three years of watching life pass me by, I want this to be the year that I grab the brass ring. I want to achieve something. When I mentioned this desire to my cousin's wife Rebecca in late December, she suggested training for a 5K walk. Rebecca and my cousin Scott are both triathletes -- I'm constantly in awe of what they can do. They're both absolutely amazing and inspiring athletes.

I have to admit that I initially thought that my doing a 5K was a pretty crazy idea -- two years ago I couldn't get the laundry from the basement to the second floor without a 15 minute break in between, how could I possibly walk a 5K? But Becca believed I could do it, and offered to be my coach. So, four days before Christmas I went for my first walk to prepare for the Valley Forge Revolutionary Run/Walk in April. I had no idea what to expect from my body. I wasn't terribly athletic before I developed chronic fatigue syndrome, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I wasn't half-dead by the second week of my training. There have been some setbacks along the way, most notably a hip injury that has finally healed and a breast cancer scare that seriously messed with my head (more about that later), but I'm absolutely astounded at how much I've accomplished in just a few short weeks. Walking has quickly become the highlight of my day, and something that I can't imagine my life without.

(I don't usually talk about overly personal things here, as that isn't the intended function of this blog, but I know that I have a lot of female readers around my age and if sharing my experience helps someone or prompts somebody to do regular breast self-exams, then this is worth it.)
In early January I discovered a lump in my right breast during a self-exam. I had already scheduled a routine appointment with my family doctor, and that appointment was only a few days away, so I decided I would ask her to take a look at it. I was remarkably calm during this time. There is no history of breast cancer in my family as far as I know, but there is a history of fibrocystic breast disease -- small, benign tumors -- and I figured that was all the lump was. It wasn't until my doctor started ordering ultrasounds and mammograms and talking about biopsies that I started to worry. Then I got conflicting stories from the radiologist, my doctor, and the radiologist's written report to my doctor about my test results. For about 36 hours I had absolutely no clue what was going on, which was incredibly stressful.

Finally I was able to see a breast specialist who had previously treated my mother. She had liked this doctor a lot and I hoped that he'd be able to clear up some of the confusion surrounding my test results. Within ten minutes he told me that he was 99.8% certain that the lump is an adenofibroma -- a benign tumor and not cancer -- and that I can have it removed in a simple outpatient surgery. This was originally scheduled for this past Friday, but due to the record snow, it was postponed until February 26th. I'll have a small scar as a result of the surgery, but I think that's a small price to pay for peace of mind. This scare has been an interesting and trying experience -- one I'd prefer never to repeat -- but I believe I'm stronger for it.

So, this evening I'm enjoying watching more snow fall (We have about 40" of snow on the ground already and are expecting another six inches) as I flip back and forth from re-runs of Bones and coverage of the Winter Olympics. I'm looking forward to getting caught up with reading and blogging over the next few weeks. I've missed this!

24 Hour Read-a-Thon: Update the Second

I'm in the midst of my eleventh hour of the read-a-thon and have just now started to feel somewhat tired. I finished Graceling at the end of the tenth hour, and I absolutely loved it. I wish I had Fire by Kristin Cashore, because that would be my next read for sure. I was a bit wary to read a book of Graceling's length (just under 500 pages, though I'd read about 100 pages prior to today) for the read-a-thon, but I was so engrossed in the story that it felt like a much shorter book.

I took a break during my eighth hour of reading (8 PM since I started late) to make cornbread. This turned into a small odyssey when I discovered that there was only one egg in the house (the recipe calls for two) and it had expired over a week ago. Culinary disaster was saved by my mother, who went to a nearby convenience store -- in the pouring rain -- and picked up a fresh carton of eggs. As mothers go, she's rather awesome, but this was above and beyond the call of duty.

And now, it's back to more reading. I won't make twenty four hours, I know that, but I'm pretty sure I have few more hours in me yet. My cold hasn't proved to be much of an obstacle since my last update. I think I've successfully bombarded it with orange juice.

Time Spent Reading Since Last Update: 279 minutes
Pages Read Since Last Update: 318
Time Spent Blogging: 20 minutes
Total Pages Read: 577
Total Time Spent Reading: 479 minutes
Total Books Finished: 2
Currently Reading: Torchwood: Almost Perfect by James Goss

24 Hour Read-a-Thon: Update the First

My first 24 Hour Read-a-Thon got off to a bit of a rocky start. I'd been feeling like I was getting a cold for the past few days, but I was hoping it would hold off until after the read-a-thon. Unfortunately that was not to be. I woke up this morning feeling as though I'd been hit by a freight train. I went back to sleep and slept through most of the morning, and after a lot of orange juice and throat lozenges, I finally started my reading just before 2 PM. I'm feeling better now, thankfully, and plan to rest and read for the remainder of the day.

I finished my first book, the graphic novel Persepolis, early in my second hour of reading. This was really my first foray into graphic novels (other than occasional Star Wars or Doctor Who trade paperbacks, which I can't put in the same class as Persepolis) and I enjoyed it immensely.

I'll post periodic updates throughout the day, probably when I feel like I need a break from reading. I may update more frequently on Twitter than I do here.

Time Spent Reading: 200 minutes
Time Spent Blogging: 20 minutes
Total Pages Read: 259
Books Finished: 1 (Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi)
Currently Reading: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

24 Hour Read-a-Thon: Reading List

After wistfully sitting on the sidelines for the last 24 Hour Read-a-Thon back in April, I'm very excited to be able to participate in tomorrow's event. I saved two books that I bought as a direct result of Dewey's reviews (The Uncommon Reader and Paper Towns) for this read-a-thon and will be reading them in memory of Dewey.

Since this is my first time doing the 24 Hour Read-a-Thon, I have no clue what to expect, so I'm not setting a lot of goals for myself. I would like to surpass the 585 pages I read as part of the 12 hour Mystery Read-a-Thon I participated in during the summer, though. Other than aiming for that, I'm just going to focus on reading and having fun. I haven't done as much reading as usual since I moved, so it's nice to know that I have tomorrow completely set aside as reading time. I also haven't blogged much since the move. Hopefully posting updates throughout the day will get me back into the habit of blogging regularly.

Right now my tentative reading list looks like this:

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (re-read)
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Mystery of the Third Lucretia by Susan Runholt
Paper Towns by John Green
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (re-read)
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

I may also pull out some of the Doctor Who and Torchwood novels that I've been wanting to read. I think they would be perfect for fun, fast reads since I'm already very familiar with all of the characters and the world-building in the Who/Torchwood universe.