In the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing some of my behind-the-scenes memories of Whisper on the Wind in the hope that it will give hope to those of you who are consistently working on new projects but have a favorite old manuscript stashed away, waiting for publication. Several other writers I know have had the joy of dusting off an old story, one that won’t quite be dismissed to the recesses of mind and memory, and gone on to see it published after they’ve written other, newer stories.
I’d already had several books published by the time I decided to take Whisper on the Wind out of its seclusion. I was determined to make it publishable, so I talked to other experienced writers about how best to approach a potentially massive revision. Some said to start over entirely, keep what works of the original version but move on without being hampered by old writing, probably underdeveloped characters, perhaps some plot holes.
The thing is, I didn’t want to entirely start over. I still believed the novel was largely usable as it was, if I could cut it down to a more manageable size. By now I had the voices of several editors and critique partners floating around in my head, as well as a truly fresh eye. For the first time I was able to find the objectivity I needed to properly edit this unwieldy manuscript.
After doing my own edits, I almost giddily approached my agent about selling it. His first reaction, as I recall, was “Hmmm…Belgium, First World War…” Even though we were talking on the phone, I could see him shaking his head. “No warm fuzzies there as far as the market goes. But if you really like it, we’ll see what we can do.”
Pause. Then: “Are you sure you don’t want to write something else instead?”
Nope.
Okay, he said, make a Great War Series out of it and we’ll see what we can do. We’d start with Tyndale, of course, because they’re already invested in me and we both loved working with them.
Since I’d already studied so much of the time period, coming up with two other plot ideas set during the First World War was easy. That’s when Look to the East and Springtime of the Spirit were conceived. But to be perfectly honest, I was worried Tyndale wouldn’t want any of them. At the time, I don’t think they weren’t doing a lot of historical fiction, romantic or otherwise.
Needless to say I was thrilled when they bought the series! The final editing process with my wonderful editors Stephanie Broene and Sarah Mason went so well it was a joy from start to finish. I happily realized all those years of polishing didn’t go to waste, even though of course there was more cutting to do!
During this process we were able to garner two wonderful endorsements and a 4 Star review in Romantic Times. Here are the details on that:
Whisper on the Wind is a suspense-filled romance set in occupied Belgium during WWI. Isa is a head-strong heroine who seems determined to get herself into hot water, and Edward, the man she loves, is hard pressed to keep her safe in a time and place seething with danger. Ms. Lang has written an exciting page-turner, one that will have readers racing to reach the end so they can discover how it will turn out. I highly recommend Whisper on the Wind.
—Robin Lee Hatcher, best-selling author of A Vote of Confidence and Fit To Be Tied
Whisper on the Wind brings to life a time and place too often forgotten in historical fiction…The suspenseful climax kept me on the edge of my seat!
—Lynn Austin, best-selling author of Though Waters Roar
The characters are well written and well rounded in this tale of romance and suspense…
—Romantic Times, 4 Stars
And as you can see, Tyndale gave the book a lovely cover, which in my opinion is one of the most important marketing tools.
So…the lesson here is two fold: 1) Keep writing. We learn by writing. And 2) Don’t give up on those old projects!
Join Me!