Every indie author knows typing the six letters that form two words at THE END of your book is never THE END of
Available soon (really in a matter of days) at all online retailers!
the work. Those six letters that form two words are really just the beginning of the long road to finally hitting publish. Multiple rewrites, asking for beta readers, taking in and using feedback, line edits, cover design, marketing decisions, searching for reviewers—the list of tasks required long after you type the words THE END, is a long one, but that’s what makes typing them all the more satisfying.
I am facing THE END of a project I’ve been co-authoring for four years. Four years of interviews, rewrites, more rewrites, cover decisions, title decisions, publication decisions, rereading, rewriting. At times it was enough to drive me crazy. Other times I believed the project would never get done. Many times I wondered what the hell I’d gotten myself into!
Now, I couldn’t be more proud.
Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Julia Jeter Cleckley had a story that deserved telling. When she first approached me with theproject, I was excited that she requested me but daunted by the magnitude of the story she had to tell and unsure if I could give it the justice she deserved. I soon learned that BG Cleckley will not relent until she gets what she sets her sights on in a form that meets her exact standards and has no time for excuses or failure. I had my work cut out for me.
I knew a project like this could take years but neither of us thought it would take this long to complete. As I reflect now on the impatience we both voiced at the amount of time it took, I see now that it took exactly as long as it needed to take to get the book she wanted with the skills I have. I’ve grown professionally as a result of this work and that wouldn’t have happened without these long years of work on this project. The general is a tough task master but I’m grateful for that.
Soon, A Promise Fulfilled will be on sale. I look forward to hearing what people think about it and so excited that Julia and I really are at THE END we’ve both been waiting for.
M. L. Doyle has served in the U.S. Army at home and abroad for more than two decades as both a soldier and civilian. Mary is the author of The Desert Goddess series, an urban fantasy romp consisting of The Bonding Spell and The Bonding Blade. She has also penned The Master Sergeant Harper mystery series which has earned numerous awards including an IPPY, a Lyra Award and the Carrie McCray Literary Award. Mary is the co-author of two memoirs; A Promise Fulfilled; the story of a Wife and Mother, Soldier and General Officer (Jan. 201) and the memoir, I’m Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier to Free Citizen—My Journey Home (Touchstone, 2010), which was nominated for an NAACP Image award. Mary's work has been published by The Goodman Project, The War Horse, The WWrite Blog and The Wrath-Bearing Tree, an online magazine for which she serves as a fiction editor. A Minneapolis, Minnesota native, Mary current lives in Baltimore. You can reach her at her website at mldoyleauthor.com.
