Flying High in the UK

Two short stories that I wrote last year are selling very well, especially in the United Kingdom. From time to time, when I get a few minutes between writing my new novel, I take a second to think about why books sell and where.

The Landing is a short story that I left out of my full-length novel -- Deadly Expectations -- The Chronicles of Anna, Part I. Deadly Expectations was a six month book edit.  There were a lot of reasons for such a lengthy gestation. Nerves, experience, and direction for both the editor and myself.  One of the things we decided on was that this particular dream sequence didn't fit.  The editor loved the scene and felt strongly that it added to the novel. I felt we were way, way over sized and I had to cut cut cut. I think at the time the novel was 213,000+ words. Although it hurt to cut this scene out, we did, and the book quite frankly was better off for it. Cut, cut, cut anything that doesn't lead directly to plot development.

However, during this editing process, we needed to try some publishing things out and required a guinea pig.  The thought came up about the few thousand words of the dream sequence being a great story on it's on.  Why not tweak it and put it up for sale?

So we did, and I did, and there it is.  And it's a strong seller, especially in the past few months, which really surprises me because it was almost an afterthought. 

If you liked this short story and haven't read Deadly Expectations and joined the Anna Chronicles I strongly suggest you begin the journey.

The other strong seller for me, especially in the UK, is my short story, The Yellow Dress.  It is in fact an alternate universe.  It is a naval world, one similar to our own.  However, it is based on what I would call a feudal system, but with women in full participation.

I wrote The Yellow Dress to venture a bit into the romance world but also as part of a literary contest.  Unfortunately I did not win, however, I won with the tremendous experience this short gave me both writing it, editing it, and publishing it.  I wanted to show the difficulty for this particular woman in her deciding between love and her career; one that would satisfy herself and the other her family and her father.  

I'm glad people are enjoying her voyage and her ultimate decision.

www.elizabethmunro.ca