Author Spotlight - Kathleen Ball talks about her journey into writing

I've been writing a little over three years. I wrote my first book and immediately sent it off to all kinds of contests. I didn't know anything about writing, but I felt that my story was good. I was so sure that people would love my book.

Reality set in. I got my contest feedback. It was a RWA contest and their judges usually will tell you what is wrong with the first 20 pages-- or whatever the rules of the contest dictate. I was stunned. I placed third from the bottom and one of the judges suggested that writing wasn't for me.

It was very upsetting to say the least. I put it away and began my next book. I eventually grew curious to see what was so wrong with my novel. My main problem was point of view. I'd never heard of it. In fact, there are a lot of writing rules that I didn't know about. I wish I had known them. Each time I learned another important one I would reedit my books.

It wasn't until I wrote Callie's Heart that I even had a handle on most of the rules. Meanwhile I was trying to get an agent and couldn't understand why they weren't interested. My books were on Textnovel.com and they were all award winners. I still had a lot to learn.

Passive sentences were a big problem so I went in and rewrote them all. After that, I found out that dialogue tags were not being used anymore. I learned a lot from other authors that I had met on Facebook. Most of us were unpublished and I would watch. A lot of the time people would say that they had to take out  "as" or  "that". There were always tips to be found. Many bloggers post tips for writers.

Meanwhile I was submitting my manuscript. Desert Breeze Publishing wanted Callie's Heart and the other two in the series. Lone Star Joy and Stetson's Storm. I thank them, it's been such a positive experience.

Of course my novels have had to be edited. The best thing about the editors is that they don't just say change it, they explain why it is wrong and offer suggestions. I've heard of writers that fight with their editors. I haven't had that happen. I value their experience and advice. I've put the skills I learned from them, and use them in the novels that I'm writing.

I love that I am constantly learning. My nemesis is the comma. I tried to get a movement going to eliminate the comma. People really love their commas. I have studied the comma and feel that I have a better grasp of them.

My advice is to know the rules of your genre. Enter a few contests that provide feedback, and be willing to take advice.

Callie's Heart - April 2012
Texas Haven- July 2012
Ryelee's Cowboy -August 2012
http://www.kathleenballromance.com