Four things I learned in the re-release of Overcoming Fear
I hope Jana doesn’t mind that I went with four things instead of five, but hey, Overcoming Fear is a short story! We’ll go with that, right? 😉
It’s harder to edit an old story than I expected it to be. When I thought about rereleasing Overcoming Fear, it never occurred to me that it would be even remotely difficult to go back through it, tweak it and get it ready for publication. But five minutes in, I found myself second-guessing pretty much everything! It took a lot of effort to keep myself from completely rewriting the whole thing—the exact opposite of what I was trying to do—and simply focus on editing.
It’s intimidating when you’ve been out of the loop for so long. This is more about the release/publicity side of things, but I found myself super-nervous just asking people for help with promo and cover reveals. It felt a little like I had forgotten what the publication process was even like. Oops?
There is a ridiculous number of phrases particular to a US region and anyone outside of those seems to think you’re batshit when you try to explain them. Overcoming Fear uses a phrase I remember hearing for as long I’ve lived—“Hello the house (http://historicalhoney.com/hello-house/)”—though I have no idea where I learned it. It was just something I’d remembered as a way people announced their presence back before doorbells were a thing. I figured that since people didn’t get normal visitors anymore in the Pandemus world, then they weren’t likely to feel safe just knocking on a door. Thus, “Hello the house” seemed like a reasonable option. When I originally published OF, at least one of the editors had never heard of it and this time, at least two of my proofreaders hadn’t heard of it. I ended up having to link to a video (https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/cc04cb1a-39b8-4d3c-a4a6-3e6a5cec4034) for the editor to not question me.
Memory only goes so far when finding the setting. Google maps is a godsend for this. I grew up in the area that Healing and Overcoming Fear were set in. I spent my high school around the lake Mark and Duncan end up on. Yet, despite very clear pictures in my head, it took an astounding amount of time to remember where any of that stuff was. I still ended up having to take generous liberty with the area, and next time, I think I’ll just not count on my memory.
Thanks again to Jana for giving me some space today! You can find Overcoming Fear at Amazon and it is also available on Kindle Unlimited.
About Grace:
Grace Duncan grew up with a wild imagination. She told stories from an early age – many of which got her into trouble. Eventually, she learned to channel that imagination into less troublesome areas, including fanfiction, which is what has led her to writing male/male erotica.
A gypsy in her own right, Grace has lived all over the United States. She has currently set up camp in East Texas with her husband and children – both the human and furry kind.
As one of those rare creatures who loves research, Grace can get lost for hours on the internet, reading up on any number of strange and different topics. She can also be found writing fanfiction, reading fantasy, crime, suspense, romance and other erotica or even dabbling in art.
Jana Denardo 