Patricia Gable on Writing & Publishing The Right Address

Welcome to The Right Address! It’s my new novel, set in the 1980’s, about two children who run away from a foster home. When Annie, the oldest, hears that she may be separated from her little brother, Willie, she knows this can’t happen. Their adventure begins! In the middle of the night, they trudge through the snow to a small town. They hide in an alley, not noticing a man watching them. How will they survive? How does this strange man help them? But most importantly, will they find their forever home?

 

In 2005, I entered a 24-hour short story contest. The contest began with a few sentences and the writers had to springboard from that. My entry earned honorable mention. I moved on, but the story always intrigued me. When my sister suggested that we take a novel writing class, I decided to resurrect that story.

 

Because I had only written short stories and non-fiction articles, this was an ambitious learning experience. I needed to add more details (I can still hear the instructor’s voice saying that.)

And POV…what’s that? I was determined to get through it. And now I love it, and am working on a sequel to this novel.

 

Booklocker is the company that published my book.  The hardest part was the paperwork:  deciding on the format, the key audience, the kind of cover, and so on. I worked with the cover designer, who did not have a vision of what was needed. So, I used photos from DreamTime.com to enhance the cover. There are no pictures inside the book.

 

Holding the book in my hands, when it was first delivered to me, made me cry with joy. And when the glow wore off, I found out that it was time to market the book! So, now I am absorbing all I can about marketing. I can’t rely on friends and family to buy up all the books! But networking certainly helps.

 

As I mentioned, I have already started on the next book in the series, The Right Choice. The main character, Christopher, struggles to fit into the same small town. When he helps Willie, who has an accident, will his opinion of the town change?

 

You can find The Right Address on Amazon, Barnes and Noble online, Books a Million, and other book sellers including Booklocker.

 

Patricia Gable

patriciag.net