Launch of Winds of Fire Series and DYNASTIES!
What could be more exciting than Winds of Fire Series Book 1, Dynasties, launching into the world?
A Florida book and series launch on Fri, Jan 13, 2023, by the International Pulpwood Queen & Timber Guys Book Club Reading Nation like no other! The dress code is Bollywood, Pulpwood Queen Authors wear a tiara and DYNASTIES is an International Book of the Month pick 2023! The theme for the inaugurating night of the conference is Bollywood and I cannot wait to share the customized made-in-India swag with readers!
That weekend is followed by an Atlanta book and series launch on Sat, Jan 21, 2023, at Poe & Company Bookstore! We have excitement planned for attendees and readers and I’ll be sharing swag giveaways there too! To continue the excitement, I’ll be at Johns Creek Books and Gifts on Tue, Mar 1, 2023, for another book event, swag giveaway and discussion with book club readers! I’m hearing some buzz about potential attendees and am keeping fingers crossed! Then of course, excitement over author chats, interviews and more…
When I began this project in 2020 over 20 years ago, I had no idea—absolutely no idea—what I was getting into. All I knew at the time was that I had a story to tell. A story that fell in my lap one winter afternoon about 40 minutes before it was time to pick up my then-five-year-old son from the bus stop. My younger son, 1.5 years old at the time—I bundled him in his jacket, shoes and gloves and we raced to the bus stop. Phew! We made it on time.
However, the story rolled like a scene from a movie I couldn’t shake out of my head—believe me, I tried!
The kindle of a flame had sparked.
That scene spawned into a story and I took 18 months to pound out the hand-written manuscript. Yes! All first-drafts are hand-written. We moved from New Jersey to Atlanta during that time frame and I discovered I had a sequel running in my head. I joined writing organizations and discovered that I’d written two books. Not one. Plus sequel-running-in-my-head makes three. I had a cast of 25+ characters who all had their own story and wanted to be the hero of the Winds of Fire Series.
Now, there was only so much room and so many words for the characters, plot, world-building in a full-length novel. And the Winds of Fire Series was Sheetal’s story. And Rakesh’s story.
I wrote.
Rewrote.
Revised.
Quartered.
Sliced.
Diced.
Rearranged the sequence of events into two books. With a sequel-running-in-my-head.
I rewrote, revised and repeated the process all the while learning to go deeper in the story, flesh out my characters and unearth hidden themes.
Hidden from me.
Yes, that’s right… themes hidden from me!
The spark grew into a flame.
It was like digging to the roots of the series and discovering hidden gems. I removed those gems one by one. I cleaned, polished, rewrote and continued to attend writer conferences, read up on the craft of fiction and improve my craft as a story teller. The research for the series is a whole other story… countless professionals and experts guided me in research, navigating the issues I address in the series and answered questions and more. They were my moral compass and continue to be so today.
- The Art of Character by David Corbett
- The Compass of Character by David Corbett
- Story Trumps Structure by Steven James
- The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
- The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler
- And many many more…
I celebrated every time I learned something new or unearthed a revelation about my characters. I watched other authors succeed and their successes fed my soul. I built connections and learned from the pros – New York Times, USA Today Bestsellers and Award-winning Authors!
The fire burned bright.
I was on a roll with a clearer vision for my story, characters, Winds of Fire Series arc and discovered that 3 books wouldn’t cut it. More complications crept in, more characters had opinions to express and—the series spawned beyond 3 books because of more-sequels-running-in-my-head.
I was on fire.
Now here we are in 2023!
The five-year-old is 26.
The toddler is 22.
My husband and I have lived in New Jersey, Connecticut and Atlanta within the U.S. and I have five completed manuscripts—one outside of the Winds of Fire Series! And still many more stories to tell.
I wake up every morning with a new day ahead. A new wave of a book tingling within and a story to tell because that’s what we storytellers do—we tell the best story in the best way we know how!
So here’s to the best of story telling and 2023… because the fire is raging now.
AND I AM THE FIRE
