Interview with Author Martha O'Connor, (Continued...)

When you say that the initial sale took only four days, please explain what you mean.

Mary sent the novel out for auction on a Thursday and requested that all bids come in by the following Tuesday. By Tuesday, there were four bids from different publishers who wanted the book. We went with the highest bidder, St. Martin's Press.

Most successful writers tell me that it's important for them to write every day. Do you find this to be true for you?

Unfortunately, I can't write on my novels every day because life gets in the way! I'm a parent of a young child with Type 1 Diabetes, a disease which requires continual monitoring and involvement. Novels demand a tremendous amount of concentration and commitment, and it's very difficult to find the uninterrupted time each and every day. My family always comes first.

However, I do write SOMETHING every day. Whether it's a letter, a blog entry, a poem, a novel chapter or an angry Letter to the Editor about yet another story putting forth erroneous information about Type 1 Diabetes, I do keep those pathways open any way I can.

Some young writers don't know when to stop editing. How did you approach edits? For instance, how many drafts did you write before an agent or editor saw the manuscript -- and when did you realize that the manuscript was finally "ready" for their eyes?

I went through five drafts before submitting to agents, and several more with Mary's guidance. I still don't know when to stop editing.

There's a chapter in the novel where I would like to strike a phrase that I find a bit awkward, but it's too late!

What transpired between the sale to St. Martin's Press and the day copies appeared in bookstores? Were things quiet? Or, did you find yourself swimming in edits, marketing plans, PR planning, etc?

I had to do some edits for my editor, which took awhile. Also, the copyediting and page proofs phase are real headaches, but necessary.

I ended up hiring an outside publicity firm, so they took care of the PR planning in conjunction with St. Martin's. However, I did some self-promotion including setting up a blog (Something I recommend to writers. It's a great promotional tool.) and getting a quality web site produced.

Please explain for us what it's been like emotionally since the book was sold.

It's been a thrilling ride. It's been like a dream come true... I've always wanted this. However, because I'm neurotic, I'm often consumed with self-doubt... Am I good enough? Will people like me? Will my next book be different enough from the first to be distinctive, yet not so different that readers wonder what's happened to my voice? A well-published friend of mine tells me this anxiety never ends. It seems to be a personality trait inherent in most writers. The only cure for what I'll call I AM A BIG FAT FRAUD-ISM, I'm afraid, is to start something new! And that's what I've done. I'm happiest when I'm in the trenches, actually WRITING.

What is your favorite part about writing? Your least?

The best part is when the story sweeps you away and you're living life with your characters. The part I like the least is all the waiting!

It took 18 months from the sale of the novel to seeing the book on store shelves.

Your book cover is one of the best I've ever seen (I'm a cover junkie). Did you have any say in the creative direction?

St. Martin's included my agent and me in all the cover discussions.

The cover went through four incarnations before they arrived at this one. I'm really pleased too.

What's it like to have a spouse who is also a novelist? Would you say it's the perfect coupling? Or, would you say that there are also negatives?

It's great because I can hand chapters over to him as my first and most trusted reader. (See question #1.) What can be frustrating is if we are both under deadline and both want reads, edits, and so on!

But mostly it's good.

Is being published everything you ever dreamed it to be? Also, is the reality any different than the dream?

I still live in the same house, still drive the same dented Toyota Rav4 (I rear-ended a Jaguar--too bad it wasn't the other way around), still test blood sugars late at night, still drive carpool, still do the same things. What I've found to be so wonderful is the connection with the readers--the beautiful emails I've received from people who were truly moved by the book. That makes everything worthwhile!

How are you marketing yourself and your title?

I have a website and a blog: http://www.marthaoconnor.blogspot.com.

I'm really glad I started blogging. Blogs are free and don't take much time to maintain. They don't require any special knowledge or publishing connections.

Because of my blog, I was able to join a writers' co-op called The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit, consisting of 20 female authors who blog.

It's been great in two ways: 1) When my book was released, I got to tour all these women's blogs; 2) When these gals come to visit me, I don't have to blog that day! Free content. I've also met, online and off, a number of great literary bloggers BECAUSE of my blog. A lot of them read me and have linked [to] me. This is also true of the diabetes blogging community.

For the other, more mainstream stuff, I'm leaving it to St. Martin's and the independent publicity firm I hired.

Why do you write?

Because I would be in a locked psychiatric ward if I didn't.

If you could offer one piece of advice to aspiring novelists, what would it be?

Write like no one is watching.

You can learn more about O'Connor and her work by visiting www.marthaoconnor.com

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Jennifer Minar is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and editor-in-chief of the award-winning writers' web site, www.WritersBreak.com. She can be contacted at jminar@writersbreak.com.