In 2017 my friend Irene Bates Dunjohn asked me to ghost write
a novel based on an idea and characters she created. Irene is also an author,
however she doesn't write fiction. I had not written a book in a long while.
I'd lost two manuscripts to a ransom virus. This left me frustrated and
depressed. I decided to put any future books on hold, indefinitely.
I became obsessed with expatriation for economic reasons.
However the Third World wasn't the paradise for retirees on a fixed income those
international living publications claimed it to be, at least not for me. I
eagerly took the ghost writing job.
Irene had written three chapters but didn't know where to go
from there. I did, but had to rework them so they would meld and flow smoothly
with the story I created.
The two of us had more than a few creative conflicts. I took
the story darker and grittier places than she wanted it to go. It had the
potential to be so much more than just a romantic triangle. It was screaming
out for an edge and I gave it one. Also she was determined to keep the wife a
victim. I gave her teeth and a backbone!
The plot centers on a romantic triangle lasting decades. My
parents were in this same situation, so I understand the ugliness and
underhandedness involved and that's reflected in this novel.
Writing a book is in many ways like giving birth. This is one
with two mommies, however our offspring resembles me more than Irene, whether
or not that's a good thing depends on the reader's taste.
Soon we ran into problems with publication now that
CreateSpace is gone. April Sampson, my illustrator and creator of all those
amazing covers including this one, had previously handled this, but was now
unable to figure out Kindle Direct Publishing. And Irene & I are both
seniors who are not tech savvy.
Also the editor up and quit due to my "flippant
attitude toward abortion" plus a violent menage a trois dream sequence
claiming both were offensive to her Christian values. This was the same editor
I hired for a previous book of mine, The Valley of Shadows and Shame. That one
had abortions galore and was far more violent. -- Yet she claimed to have
enjoyed it!
Then Irene, who was age 92 at the time became seriously ill,
so naturally everything had to be put on hold.
In 2019 Irene recovered and we were ready to proceed with
publication. Irene applied and paid for the copyright in my name.
We decided our best option was to go with a subsidy
publisher. Irene chose the one with the best reputation even though they were
staggeringly expensive. There is no way I could have afforded them on my
income! Thankfully, Irene had no problem.
However we encountered numerous delays due to the technology
involved. It was confusing to us and we felt lost. A Customer Representative was
assigned, someone who probably handled volumes of other authors along with us.
We made an appointment with this Representative to phone and walk us thru
everything.
I sat beside Irene in front of her computer, phone in hand
waiting for her call for over an hour. And worse, we were failing to get a
reply from anyone online! Irene emailed that she wanted to cancel and her money
refunded!
NOW the Representative phoned and explained that she had
forgotten we were in a different time zone!!!
Days later, I received a call from the copyright office,
their letters were being returned. Irene had forgotten to write Southwest on my
address. When a large envelope finally arrived I thought surely it was my
copyright. Instead, I was informed that the manuscript was not included along
with the form submitted. -- Irene is sharper mentally than most half her age,
but she was experiencing other serious issues unrelated to the book at the time,
so the mistake is understandable.
Later, after the manuscript was edited I was unable to view
it because the account was under Irene's name. However Irene was happy with the
editing and she was paying, so I said to just proceed. I didn't want to be the
cause of another delay.
The publisher asked how the book was to be classified. My
first thought was "Historical Drama" because the story starts in the
1950's and ends in 1980.To millennials that's like the Bronze Age! However it's
now classified as "Romantic Fiction" although a Hallmark movie fan
would be horrified by it!
Then we had complications putting it on Amazon. Irene (bless
her) insisted all royalties go to me. But since her name was the one on the
account rather than mine, this caused further delay with the publisher. It now
fell in my lap and I had to hire a Tech person for help.
Finally, at long last it's on Amazon! Our novel is titled: SEED OF DECEIT.
