Emma Lowe's Blog

Caffeine was my new best friend, though I imagine it aids all budding writers. I became nocturnal as I edited my manuscript like a madman—unkempt, red-eyed, zombie. That’s how I felt. Even when I would doze off on my keyboard, I would see the words in my mind, because that’s what publishing has always been to me: a dream.

A lot of my writing friend’s asked, “Why not try to publish traditionally through a writing house?” And it wasn’t a bad idea, but—with how everything had been going lately—I really wanted my book to remain the same as when my mum read it and to be published on her date of passing as the novel is dedicated to her.

And that seemed all fine and well and dandy.

Until the publishing Gods got involved….

I was finally finished my manuscript. I felt like I hadn’t slept in days and the feeling of relief I felt as I hit that save button was golden, but also short-lived, because that wasn’t the end of the process.

Oh no.

There is an entire next step that you think you cover when you format, but….you don’t, and this next step feels like you’re walking through the fiery pits of hell.

Converting files.

Now, there is a bunch of newly published authors cringing at this term. The rest are like, “what’s the big deal? You save as a PDF…it’s fine.”

No….no, that’s what they want you to believe.

If you want your book to be perfect, at publishing house standard then you need to literally code and html them so they have an index and pictures are in the right place. Now, I’m actually reasonably tech savvy, but do I know a thing about coding—nope! Eventually, I figured out ways around it to simplify the process and still have a professional eBook. Then, I uploaded my file to create the paperback and it just went crazy.

The pages even turned green! What the-

I’m not sure why or what happened…but I felt like I was being tested.

I wanted to update you guys with some of the crazy things that were happening, and let you know the publishing hurdles I was trying to leap through. This varied from disappearing words (ghost words?) and chapter titles being thrown all over the place, or the page numbers not reading in sync, but eventually I figured you guys would question my insanity….so I kept it to myself and kept chanting, “soon….soon I will be a published author.”

I mean, I did all the things an author is supposed to do before publishing. I did the taboo-free ritual dance, and sacrificed a virgin but still, the issues came.

Nevertheless, I persevered, and with some help and guidance from a few friends and an author that I have admired for many years, Danae Ayusso, I ended up meeting the publishing mark. I’m able to publish on my mum’s date of passing and that means the world to me. All I ever wanted was to create something beautiful from that traumatic experience.

I’ve always been a work-orientated person. Since I can remember, it’s been “what can I do next? What’s the plan? How can I achieve these goals the fastest?” I was writing 4k daily, without fail, kept up-to-date with my emails/replies and even pushed out an amazing 14k in 24 hours for the Watty’s in 2012.

This may not seem like an achievement to some, but for me, it was huge. I felt like the bionic woman, so much so that on top of being a full-time uni student, I planned to publish my first book, Newborn. Everything was going great! Exhausting, sure. But great at the same time. I was aware of the work load, and time-limits, but with how much I had been writing and editing in the past and how quickly I could manage it, these strict deadlines didn’t seem so extreme. With my plan set out in stone, I set ahead to publish my first novel.

Unfortunately, life had plans of its own. I found myself getting more tired than usual when I worked, unable to focus and even forgetting simple facts that I should know without effort. At first, I thought nothing of it and pushed myself even harder, but despite my determination, I noticed that my writing/editing potential wasn’t being met. My friends commented that my writing wasn’t as good as usual, and that maybe I needed a break. Still, I told myself “five more minutes… Just a little longer. You’re being lazy. You can do better than this!” It was frustrating for me, because usually when you do something a lot (like writing daily), you become better—not worse.

With writing being my passion and my energy levels like an empty can of gas, I finally accepted that there was, indeed, something wrong, and that, perhaps, it wasn’t my fault and that my short attention span and general fogginess was due to something medical. After a few nervous trips to the doctor, I found out I had a thyroid problem called “hyperthyroidism”. Having this disorder, something solid on paper that explained my loss of cognitive skills, was both settling and troublesome. This both meant that I wasn’t losing my writing mojo AND that I would need to take a break from writing.

And that I did. For three longggg months, I didn’t write despite that itching need to jot down even a few measly words. I accepted that I was unwell and spent majority of my time resting. I picked up a few months (that felt like years) later. I started working once again, only to find myself drop in energy almost instantly. My results were back to normal, I was supposed to be able to work, yet I couldn’t. Frustrated, I returned to the doctor. Now, my test results were saying I was hypothyroid (the opposite of what I was before). I had no idea what was going on with my body. Some days, I would just sit there and cry because I didn’t know what else to do. It seemed like I was being punished, because I was physically unable to do what I love most—write.

Skip to a few months later, and a lot more doctor’s trips, I discovered that I had a high antibody count in my thyroid. A disease called ‘Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.’ At first when I heard this, I thought I belonged in a belltower somewhere. However, a lot of research explained that this condition meant that my body was attacking itself. It both explained a lot and scared the living hell out of me. I still worked, but I worked in limited intervals, meaning that I wrote as little as 5 pages daily (a huge drop from my usual 10k word limit), and I was so ill I needed to change to being an external student at uni and work from home. My editors, God bless them, were kind, patient and understanding of my condition—they still are. One of them actually has a similar thyroid condition called, ‘Graves’ Disease’, so she gives me a lot of moral support. And knowing someone else got through it definitely gives me strength.

Unfortunately, at this point in time it’s trial and error. I’m slowly adapting to my life-style change and limitations. Currently, I am on a strict (gluten free) diet plan, because it’s possible that gluten intolerance (also known as Celiac disease) could be the pesky reason behind all of this. I’m still not 100% well, though I am doing better. And I’m writing this for all my readers and Helena fans that have waited so patiently, for the book release. I thought you all deserved a solid explanation about why publishing is taking so long. Please know that I appreciate each and every one of you and am hopefully on the road to recovery, which means I’ll be back to writing like normal in no time.

But if being chronically ill has taught me anything it’s to appreciate the little things in life, like the beauty of a golden horizon, or the fresh smell of ink on printed paper, because it’s not until you’re sick that you realise what a blessing it is to wake up in the morning and feel well.

Most of the major changes are found near the end of the novel. There’s a few chapters that were completely rewritten, but majority kept a few scenes/parts/ideas. The characters have been built on, along with their relationships and exchanges..most of them have little quirks or characteristics that they subconsciously do, like Noah with running his hand through his hair when he’s nervous. There’s been a lot of simplifying of the structure and expanding to the overall plot. This includes more banter between Reed and Helena, arguments between Nolena, and many more lustful scenes with Darlena.

I’m so excited to share the new changes with you all. Wont be much longer!

One of the many new changes to Newborn (scheduled to be published later this year, though the exact date is yet to be released), is during Helena and Darien’s first time “making love” - if you can really call it that. In the first draft (posted onto Wattpad), the sex scene was skimmed over. It’s obvious that the two characters did engage in sexual intercourse, though exact specifics in relation to the sexual acts were left to the reader’s imagination. Well, this all changes in the new version, where things get extra .. steamy!

Though Newborn is obviously not an erotic novel, the novel has been redrafted to have more detail during their first sex scene. This involves a very heated argument, followed by a sexy scene where Helena is being pleasured by her maker, and even a confession from her maker, Darien Valentine.

In the original version, Helena confesses her love to Darien shortly after they have sex. Will Darien finally say those three special words back to Helena in the new version of Newborn or does her maker have something else up his sleeve?

Find out when Newborn will be released in a few weeks! And follow this blog for more juicy Darlena updates.

Random spoilers from the almost-final revision of Newborn!

Hey guys!

Still working hard. I’m sorry for the delay guys, I know it’s been awhile, but the editing became less of an edit and more of a rewrite. The basic outline of the plot is the same, though there are some exciting new changes that I’m thrilled to share with you all! I’ll be announcing the official release date for Newborn on my Wattpad in a few weeks time.

www.wattpad.com/user/Emmiie

Just letting you guys know that I’m still working. Currently, my editor is going over the chapters as I focus on uni, as I have a million and one things due right now. I can’t wait for mid-semester break..

Newborn is down to it’s final edit, which is super exciting! For this edit, I am working with Uzuki_Cheverie on Wattpad as my official editor! 

I’m serious, this works. For example, I am addicted to this Facebook game called ‘The Tribez’, so if I edit one page, I get to check on my Tribe.

I’ll be honest, when I look at my novel and how much I need to edit, it can be a little overwhelming. So what I do is edit a little bit every day, even if it’s just a few pages, I know those few pages get me one step closer to the publishing goal.