Ask the Author: Shelly Brown
Answered Questions (3)
Shelly Brown
Willa and the Whale comes out in March. It's about a 12 yo girl going through some big changes in her life and uses a live humpback whale as a therapist. Lol, that might be a slight oversimplification but it's a fun story.
Shelly Brown
I'm going to answer your last question first:
No, it's not too long. LOL! Ask as many questions as you'd like.
How long did it take to write Ghostsitter?
Would you believe several years? Ghostsitter was my first published book so for many years I wrote story after story, editing them, fixing them, and submitting them. The first draft of Ghostsitter was a NaNoWriMo project and so it was completed in only one month. But I edited it for another 2 months before sending it out to people to get feedback. Then rinse and repeat, I just kept trying to get it to be the best story I could write. From first draft to contract I would guess it took two years. Then there is always more editing after the contract. Crazy, huh?
When did I start writing?
My husband is an author and I wanted him to write a story that I had an idea for. He refused. He said that I should write it. I huffed and stomped away but the idea of writing my own story sounded intriguing (and hard!) But I tried. That was 2010 and now I'm hooked.
Thanks for all of your kind words and best of luck chasing your own dreams Madeline!
No, it's not too long. LOL! Ask as many questions as you'd like.
How long did it take to write Ghostsitter?
Would you believe several years? Ghostsitter was my first published book so for many years I wrote story after story, editing them, fixing them, and submitting them. The first draft of Ghostsitter was a NaNoWriMo project and so it was completed in only one month. But I edited it for another 2 months before sending it out to people to get feedback. Then rinse and repeat, I just kept trying to get it to be the best story I could write. From first draft to contract I would guess it took two years. Then there is always more editing after the contract. Crazy, huh?
When did I start writing?
My husband is an author and I wanted him to write a story that I had an idea for. He refused. He said that I should write it. I huffed and stomped away but the idea of writing my own story sounded intriguing (and hard!) But I tried. That was 2010 and now I'm hooked.
Thanks for all of your kind words and best of luck chasing your own dreams Madeline!
Shelly Brown
If you really want to write a book there are only two things that I can possibly see getting in your way. One is quitting. It's the only sure way to never succeed. The second one is your pride. If you are too proud to keep learning then you might not improve enough to get published. But as long as you are constantly learning and you don't quit I know that you will get there.
There will be hard days--don't quit.
You will think you're no good some times--don't quit.
People will be harsh with your art--don't quit.
Life will get in the way of creation--don't quit. (Breaks are okay)
Put your head down and plow through and JUST DON'T QUIT!
There will be hard days--don't quit.
You will think you're no good some times--don't quit.
People will be harsh with your art--don't quit.
Life will get in the way of creation--don't quit. (Breaks are okay)
Put your head down and plow through and JUST DON'T QUIT!
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