MARY WOOD - Journey to publication
I am the thirteenth child of fifteen born just as war ended in 1945 to
parents who were worlds apart in their upbringing, but drawn together by a
strong bond of love.
My mother had been brought up in a Middle-Class family. She attended
private schools where she was taught how to be a lady. My father was an
East-Ender, who, as a boy, took baskets of vegetables around the streets to
sell, before going to war as a young man and fighting in the trenches in
France.
We were a happy family, and though poor, we were rich in love.
A lot of my growing-up years were spent with my head in a book. We had a
cosy place in the kitchen. A small corner next to the Rayburn, big enough for a
basket to hold old newspapers ready to kindle the fire with. These provided a
comfy seat, where the warmth from the Rayburn seeped into my cold body, and I
could be transported to another world by a book.
The seeds were being sown, even then, for me to one day become an
author, as the likes of Jane Austin, Charles Dickens and Louisa M Alcott fired
my imagination. As did my mother’s tales about my great grandmother, Dora
Langlois, who was an author in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. I am the proud owner of one of her books.
But, my own journey into publication took a long time to happen.
.
I married young and soon children arrived and life took many turns. Earning
money was a priority and I took on many jobs, from cleaning to factory work, to
caring for the elderly and catering. Anything that would fit in with bringing
up our four children.
We had grandchildren by the time I at last put pen to paper to write my
first novel, and that is meant literally, as not many folk had a typewriter,
and computers were something to come in the future.
My work generated nothing, other than rejection letters. But, I never
gave up, and after being duped by a so-called, ‘scout for literary agents’ who
took my money, messed with my manuscript and my head, before finally letting me
down, I found the help I was looking for on an online site, called
YouWriteOn.com. Here, I found other wannabee authors. We critiqued each other’s
work, and became friends. The benefit for me was that at last, with all the
help and support, I could feel my writing taking on a new direction. My
characters were telling the story, not me, and they were dragging me in and
along with them. It was from these fellow authors, that I heard about kindle,
but was unsure that was the path I wanted to take. Self-publishing had always
held a stigma, and was mostly known as vanity publishing.
After retiring from my nine to five, at the Probation Service, due to
being struck down by ME – a debilitating illness that left me unable to walk, I
was found to have breast cancer. Two major wake-up calls. If I wanted to
realise my dream, I had to embrace all the changes that were taking place in
the book world. And so, I took the plunge and self-published my work.
My world did indeed change. My health improved and my books all went to
number one in genre. Doors began to open. I was approached by Pan Macmillan and
offered a seven-book deal!
All of this at the age of 68! Amazing. Dreams do come true.
I now have my seventh title coming out in paperback, and published by
Pan Macmillan.
TOMORROW BRINGS SORROW
You can’t choose your family
Megan and her husband Jack have
finally found stability in their lives. But the threat of Megan’s troubled son
Billy is never far from their minds. Billy’s release from the local asylum is
imminent and it should be a time for celebration. Sadly, Megan and Jack know
all too well what Billy is capable of . . .
Can you choose who you love?
Sarah and Billy were inseparable as
children, before Billy committed a devastating crime. While Billy has been shut
away from the world, he has fixated on one thing: Sarah. Sarah knows there’s
only one way she can keep her family safe and it means forsaking true love.
Sometimes love is dangerous
Twins Theresa and Terrence Crompton
are used to getting their own way. But with the threat of war looming, the
tides of fortune are turning. Forces are at work to unearth a secret that will
shake the very roots of the tight-knit community . . .
Will Sarah have a chance at a future,
and what will become of Jack and Megan? One thing’s for sure: revenge will be
sweet.
Available in all book shops, supermarkets and
all online stores from May 18th
And Twitter @Authormary
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