About the Author:
After thousands of hours procrastinating,
several hundred gallons of coffee and tea, and endless prayers, Morgan has
finally produced a physical book that is now in your hands. Ever since she was
a little girl she has always been fascinated with the written word and has
wanted to be an author. Morgan received her bachelor of arts degree in creative
writing from Kansas State University. It was only in 2013 when she received
Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior that she found her purpose for writing and
discovered that her ministry would be to present the glory of God through
fiction. Morgan Lee currently lives in Kansas City with her family.
Connect with Morgan Lee:
When “Reaching for the
Stars” Becomes More Than a Cliché
A
commentary about believing in your craft
We
have all heard when we were growing up that we could be anything we wanted to
be and most of us who have grown up have come to the realization, that
statement is a lie. A tool used by society to get us to conform. Now I’m not
being cynical, just realistic. I mean think about it. How many of your friends,
family, neighbors, strangers do you know that are “actually” doing 100% what
they’ve always wanted to do AND can still survive? Chances are, you don’t know
that many. I’m not going to talk about our sad failures, but instead I want to
talk about that moment when you actually achieve that moment arrives that you
can be exactly who you want to be.
It
has taken me awhile to truly believe in my craft. I was so afraid to share my
writing with other people. I would literally freak out if someone looked over
my shoulder when I was writing or tried to read something that I had written. I
didn’t think that I was good enough. Writing was just a little hobby. It took
awhile for me to learn that writing wasn’t just a hobby, it was who I was.
Since
I was a little girl, I have always dreamed of the day that I would get my
amazing publishing contract. I would be signed with the top publisher in the
United States. They’d give me a huge advance and would set up tours and book
signings and I would be the greatest author in history. I even dreamed of
winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. It all sounded great and entirely
plausible in my head, but as I started to really study the publishing industry
I slowly started to realize that my dreams would be harder than I was making it
seem. So I checked out all the books. I knew every tip front to back, every
step to go from idea to published author. I finished my first real manuscript
in the eighth grade when I was 13 years old and I began querying the heck out
of that sucker and of course…the rejections were swift to roll in. At the time
it stung. It hurt and I wound up shutting away a lot of my writing from people
after the experience, but now, being older and somewhat wiser, I know that my
book was not good. Okay, I thought it
was good and (after mountains of revision) I still think it’s good, but I was
not ready to query publishers or agents at that time. So I waited. I revised. I
fell in love with my story all over again. And I pushed my little baby bird out
of the nest. And she fell, she didn’t fly. I was rejected again. As I got older
and my writing matured I started to notice that what I loved writing could be
considered “genre-bending”. I didn’t “fit” into any one genre. My books all
have Christian themes, but the content in them wouldn’t be published by most
Christian publishers, and I struggled to decide what I should label some of my
work so it kind of pushed me into a time of not writing anything at all for a
long time. I just couldn’t see the point if I wasn’t brave enough to let anyone
see it and if it didn’t fit in anywhere, so I didn’t write seriously for years.
During
this time, I knew about self-publishing,
but to be honest I considered that the failures way out. I thought you only
self published if you had a lot of money or if you were alright with producing
and selling crap. Boy, how wrong I was. Self publishing is just as tough as
traditionally publishing. If you’re serious about your craft, then you will put
in all the work necessary to make your books a success no matter what option
you choose. Bottom line.
What
I really want to share in this commentary is that, no matter who says you can’t,
no matter what you think of your writing or yourself, you must push yourself to
be greater than a cliché. Don’t be afraid to not fit in. You don’t have to write
like anyone, but you. You don’t have to write about vampire romance just
because everyone else is, and if vampire romance is what you love, then by all
means, go ahead and write that sucker! Just don’t let the market, or people
dictate your voice. It took me a long time to find mine because I was waiting
for validation from people, but I’m so happy I learned that I don’t need
validation. All I need, is to write a complete story that makes me proud to
have my name printed on the cover. I wish the same for every aspiring writer
out there. Don’t apologize for being you. Write what inspires you. Write what
angers you. Write the things no one has the guts to say. Write because it’s who
you are.
About the Book
Life is just a Vapor...
if you were blessed enough
to have them that is.
Colette has lived the last seventeen
years of her life being hidden away and choosing to hide herself. Colette is a
part of a class of people who are even lower than the animals they herd. They
are Vaporless. Defects in a perfect world. And Colette was the worse one of
them. After the vicious leaders, Eviya, Levi and Adamek of the Triunity put out
a bounty for the blood of the Vaporless no one is safe. Disaster has struck.
The Tree of Knowl is failing and the once beautiful Vapors are now killing
their hosts. A solution must be found and that solution is to sacrifice the
Vaporless to the Tree in an effort to appease it so that it will reverse the
curse it placed.
Now on the run, Colette meets Rowan
and Holden leaders of a well known rebellion group who call themselves
R.H.I.S.K. With the help of Rowan, Holden, Anastasia, Kofi, and Kimaya, Colette
hatches a plan to discover a way to save themselves and the Vaporless from
destruction. When the group enters into the Province Ilan they find themselves
the knights of an ancient war. A risky mission over the Edge. A mysterious device
called the Eloi. And a war that will shake the very foundation that they have
known.
And
the story all starts with a single naked tree.
Book Links:
The Naked Tree Blog Tour Stops:
Monday, October 24: Afterthelastpage.com
Tuesday, October 25: Novelersblog.wordpress.com
Wednesday, October 26: girlplusbook.com
Friday, October 28: jbronderbookreviews.com
Saturday, October 29: theyounggirlwholovedbooks.blogspot.com
Sunday, October 30: thehoplessreader.blogspot.com
Join in Sunday night 9pm-12am CST for the Virtual Release Party for The Naked Tree!
www.facebook.com/morganleej Author Morgan Lee Fan Page! There will be giveaways, contests, trivia, other authors, and more!
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