This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Sarah Dressler will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
If you’ve ever written, or read a book, you must know that a story goes through many versions before it’s ready to see the world. Your idea is like a baby plant. It needs tender care and nourishment to grow, that is the outline and first draft. Sometimes a plant doesn’t bear fruit for many years, this is like the revisions and edits.
It can take a really long time for a book to mature.
I’m sharing with you two excerpts from my novel Christmas Cove, about a writer from the big city out on her first assignment. When she arrives at the idyllic Christmas Cove, she finds the town… Christmasless. The first portion comes directly from the published novel, and the second one is how the same scene appeared in my first draft. Enjoy this little behind the scenes peek into the process of getting from idea to published book.
Excerpt from Christmas Cove:
Night came and went with another solid sleep. America looked at herself in the mirror, unable to believe what she had done, or what she had offered to do. Sure, she knew her reasons for wanting to bring back Christmas were purely in the interest of self-preservation. Wanting to succeed with her first article assignment was a huge driving factor, but the task at hand was so much bigger than anything she should have taken on. There was no denying her reign as the office elf, and she knew that if anyone had enough Christmas spirit to spread around, she did.
Now that the offer was out there, she would need to follow through. One way or another, she was getting her Christmas Cove experience, and an article drafted to prove it. Sure, she had enlisted Leo’s help, but if she had any real chance of success, they would need reinforcements. America checked her watch. Leo would be back any minute to pick her up. In the meantime, she pulled her coat back on and tidied her hastily twisted bun atop her head.
The pine tree, so generously given to her that previous morning by Leo, stood in its bare state beside her. There is nothing sadder than a Christmas tree with no lights. Except perhaps, she thought, one without ornaments too.
“This simply will not do,” America said.
Unrevised excerpt from the first draft of Christmas Cove:
America couldn’t believe what she had done, what she had offered to do. The task, now at hand, was so much bigger than anything she should have taken off. She loved Christmas, and there was no denying her reign as the office elf, but reviving an entire town’s Christmas spirit was above her pay grade.
Sure, she had enlisted Leo’s help, but if she had any chance of success, they would need reinforcements. America checked her watch. Leo would be back any minute to pick her up.
In the meantime, she pulled her coat back on and, looking in the round mirror by the sofa, she tidied her hastily twisted bun atop her head. The pine tree so generously gifted to her that morning by Leo, stood in its bare state beside her. There is nothing sadder than a Christmas tree with no lights, except perhaps, she thought, one without ornaments too.
“This will not do,” America said out loud and rushed to the bedroom.
With only three weeks left in December, travel editor, America Greene, arrives in the idyllic Christmas Cove to find it… Christmasless!
America needs a story, and fast, so she teams up with the town’s good-looking (and eligible) mayor, Leo, to light up Main Street and salvage her chance at being a full-time writer. The connection between them heats up, halls are decked, sleigh bells ring, and lights twinkle. Just when she thinks the holiday is saved, a nearby city threatens the future of Christmas Cove. With her heart, and career, hanging in the balance, she must learn that Christmas is much more than just a place on a map before time runs out.
About the Author:
Sarah Dressler, originally from Florida, now calls the mountains of Colorado home. Beginning her writing career as an award winning fashion blogger, Sarah now writes fiction full time. She has spent her life traveling the world, first as the daughter of a US Air Force officer, and later as a military spouse. She enjoys sunset walks with her husband of nearly twenty years, and raising two very busy teenagers.
Buy the book at Amazon, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Google Play, or 5 Prince Books.
Thanks for hosting!
Sounds like a great holiday read.
Sounds like an incredible read.