Featured Author: Carol Davis Luce

My friend Carol Davis Luce is one of the first authors I got to know when I published in 2011. She's been writing for decades, and her talent shines through in her wonderful body of work. A perfect example of that is her novel, Night Cries, about a thirty-year-old woman named Maddie who has no memory of her adoption, and is haunted by her haunting past. With a 4.9 star rating, this is a perfect example of Carol's impressive talents. 

Carol has a lot of great insight into the writing industry, and she was gracious enough to share her thoughts on the writing biz below with all of you:

If the path of my writing career were a chart, it would resemble a picket fence. Extreme up and downs over a thirty year period. I wasn’t born to write, but when I did take it up later in life, I jumped in with both feet and wrestled the beast to the ground. After the success of five traditionally published novels, my career suddenly stalled. However, I didn’t give up. Just changed direction by becoming a novel writing instructor for the next generation of aspiring authors.      

Fast-forward fifteen years. My good buddy, bestselling author J. Carson Black, encouraged me to join the twenty-first century. I converted those five novels into digital format where they found a whole new audience of modern day e-readers.

The good times didn’t stop there. Last year, with the help of a group of smart and exceptionally talented writers (waving at Cheryl Bradshaw), I became a New York Times bestselling author. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Success Begins Where Others Quit. That was my motto through the years. Take your knocks and move on. Develop a thick skin. Take comfort in those good days of writing where everything falls into place. Associate with people who lift you up. The first check I received for my writing was $10 for 3^rd Place in a magazine writing contest. It wasn’t much, but it validated me as a writer and was a portent of good things to come.

Featured Author: Jodi Picoult

When I think of Jodi Picoult, the first words I think of are raw and unafraid. When I say the word unafraid, I'm referring to the fact that she speaks her mind, tells it like it is, and doesn't compromise who she is for anyone. I like that, and I admire it. She's as smart as she is creative, having graduated from Princeton, and then going on to earn a master's degree from Harvard.

Jodi is a #1 New York Times bestselling author who has been described by Stephen King as a writer who writes with "unassuming brilliance." Several of her books have been turned into films, both on TV and on the big screen. 

Her latest, Leaving Time, already has over 1,600 five-star reviews on Amazon, which isn't surprising. Her work just keeps getting better and better. 

In 2011 I wrote Jodi and asked what advice she'd give to new authors. Her advice wasn't surprising. Believe in yourself. This is the key to all things, isn't it? It's a seed that sprouts within all of us. What you choose to do with it, and how much you allow it to grow, is something only you can figure out for yourself. That's my two cents, and I'll let her describe her advice in her own words: 

"I had over 100 rejections from agents. What I believe is that the people who believe they are going to make it eventually do - you don't have to sway everyone but you DO have to have a single person fall in love with your manuscript, and often if you won't give up it makes someone take a second glance. I also think it is important to stick to your guns. If an agent insists a YA novel won't work in first person and you think it will, don't change to simply "make the sale." Eventually you'll find someone who believes in strongly as you do in your voice."

  

--Jodi Picoult