About six months after the release of my memoir, in early 2022, I decided to finish a fiction novel I had started a while back. It’s a story about a twenty-two-year-old former ballerina who’s life has been unbalanced since her father died. The story takes place in Detroit, a place that is very special to me. I lived there in my early twenties with my husband, and her story is somewhat influenced by the time I lived there, and the mood board above is reflective of the style of the book.
I finished that novel, edited it about ten times, then hired a professional editor who edited it again. And now I’m in the process of finding an agent. If there is one thing I’ve learned from publishing my memoir, it’s that every stage of the book publishing process takes time. Querying agents is no different. You have to have thick skin and persistence. Patience is a must, and that is something I struggle with.
So … while I wait for agents to respond, I’m writing another fiction book and planning out several others. I also have thirty or so essays that I work on when I’m stumped with fiction. Maybe one day those will see the light of day.
It would be really easy to give up and walk away from the writing dreams I have, but I won’t. I can’t. I started this blog back in 2016 when I quit my job as a real estate assistant because I had dreams of becoming a published writer. For a long time, I published one to two blogs per week. I became very active with online writing groups. However, I have been writing on this blog less over the last few years because I have more on my to-do list than I did back then. More kids. Bigger dogs. More laundry and driving and EVERYTHING. Also … more writing. More dreams to fulfill.
Thanks for sticking around through this quiet time on my blog. Hopefully I have good news to share soon.
Danielle Dayney 