A Witch is Born through Perseverance
by Ally Shields
Now that the tenth and last book in the Guardian Witch universe has been released, I thought I’d tell you how the series and the sequel trilogy evolved.
In 2009 I began writing a mystery/police procedural with a cop named Samantha as the main character. On day three, she “told” me she was a witch—a total surprise—and her name wasn’t Samantha. Now, I had read urban fantasies (Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, Laurell K Hamilton, Jim Butcher, Patricia Brigs, etc.) and watched all the Buffys, but I never even considered writing one. But I accepted who she was, stopped writing, and started world building. It was fun. My imagination ran wild, but it took a lot of research too, and then more brain storming, especially on the supernatural beings that would be a part of this world.
Four months later, my witch had finally introduced herself as Arianna Calin, and I was ready to write again - or thought I was. As the story unfolded, I discovered there were many things I hadn’t thought about. For one thing, I had to put limits on my supernatural beings' abilities and actions or they would immediately overpower the human world. And so I brought them out into public and bound them by treaties with mankind. There were a lot of issues that I had to go back and insert or “fix.” But Good Witch Hunting was eventually written.
Since I wanted to know the rest of Arianna’s story, I immediately began to write book two, and I sent out queries to a few agents. The rejections came in, but undaunted I continued to write, finished book two and onto book three. I also wrote two non-paranormal thrillers during this period.
by Ally Shields
Now that the tenth and last book in the Guardian Witch universe has been released, I thought I’d tell you how the series and the sequel trilogy evolved.
In 2009 I began writing a mystery/police procedural with a cop named Samantha as the main character. On day three, she “told” me she was a witch—a total surprise—and her name wasn’t Samantha. Now, I had read urban fantasies (Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, Laurell K Hamilton, Jim Butcher, Patricia Brigs, etc.) and watched all the Buffys, but I never even considered writing one. But I accepted who she was, stopped writing, and started world building. It was fun. My imagination ran wild, but it took a lot of research too, and then more brain storming, especially on the supernatural beings that would be a part of this world.
Four months later, my witch had finally introduced herself as Arianna Calin, and I was ready to write again - or thought I was. As the story unfolded, I discovered there were many things I hadn’t thought about. For one thing, I had to put limits on my supernatural beings' abilities and actions or they would immediately overpower the human world. And so I brought them out into public and bound them by treaties with mankind. There were a lot of issues that I had to go back and insert or “fix.” But Good Witch Hunting was eventually written.
Since I wanted to know the rest of Arianna’s story, I immediately began to write book two, and I sent out queries to a few agents. The rejections came in, but undaunted I continued to write, finished book two and onto book three. I also wrote two non-paranormal thrillers during this period.
By late 2011, I had gathered 167 rejections, but I still believed in this story, so I did a rewrite switching from first to third person, deleting a couple of scenes, adding two others, changing the title to Awakening the Fire, and doing a lot of what my editor calls “tweaking.” In the meantime, I submitted one of the thrillers to three small press publishers. To my delight, all three responded positively. Etopia Press reported they already had another book too similar to my thriller and asked if I had anything else. I sent the newly revamped Awakening the Fire. Three weeks later I was sent a contract, and they asked to see books two and three and bought those too. Awakening the Fire (Guardian Witch #1) was released in 2012, and I just kept writing.
At the end of book seven the story arc in the Guardian Witch series was complete, and I moved onto write two unrelated trilogies. But in 2015 Etopia requested I return to the Guardian Witch world, and I began the Guardian Witch Legacy trilogy, the story of Arianna’s daughter Rayne growing up and coming of age, which is now complete with the release of Ring of Fire last Friday.
The real publishing story and truth behind the Guardian Witch books is one of never give up. Perseverance is a trait Arianna, Rayne, and I seem to share. <g>
Do you have a story or a dream unfulfilled? I'd encourage you to give it another try.
Do you have a story or a dream unfulfilled? I'd encourage you to give it another try.
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