Gerilyn Bass Greenberg, author of Drama Drama Drama, on publishing a manuscript a decade after it was written and why its message still resonates.
I started writing my novel in secret. I was a stay-at-home mom with kids who were in high school and college. No job, no expertise (outside of the home, that is), but I always had a desire to write a book. Yet, my insecurities abounded. What did I know about writing a book, and who would ever want to read it? At about this time, I had an all-out discussion with my daughter on a completely unrelated matter. She liked my words of wisdom and told me that I should write a book. Should I tell her my secret? I took the plunge and told her I had already started to write one. She was super supportive.
Writing in Secret
I continued to write (still in secret) for the next four years, but writing took a backseat to my “mom jobs” and whatever else was happening. Although my girls were older, they’d always need the support of their mom. Then COVID hit. I had time to finish my story, and I finally let my family in on the secret that I had been writing. At this point, it had taken me five years to write this book.
What now? I entrusted someone to read it, but she had other things going on, so my book and aspirations sat as I waited for her. Then, I found a developmental editor and joined her writing class, wanting to learn how to write since I never really had learned. Finally, I started pitching to agents and got tons of rejections or was ignored. My point is that almost ten years had slipped away–my story was ten years old!
Luckily, I found interest from She Writes Press, an indie hybrid publisher, to publish my book, although that would take another year and a half. I was thrilled to think it would finally be out in the world, yet my story would be eleven years old by the time it was published. Would it be worthwhile to even publish eleven years after starting to write, six years since finishing my novel?
Yes!
Drama Drama Drama
At the heart of my book, the central messages are timeless: be a good person and be true to yourself; you don’t know what’s happening in someone else’s life; and how to deal with someone else’s drama. I wrote with three central characters in mind: a middle-aged woman, a teenager, and an 85-year-old woman, who are all members of the same family. They each go through similar struggles of fitting in and self-worth, even though they are at different stages of their lives, showing that we all deal with similar problems, but hopefully, as we age, we have more experience in handling these issues.
These ideas are relevant no matter what time frame they are set. Take, for example, a movie that just came out, The Odyssey, based on a book written thousands of years ago. A movie that’s set to be a blockbuster. The book’s themes of free will and the epic hero transcend time; its messages don’t change, although it was written so long ago. Eleven years for my story seems like no time!
Social Media
What may have changed is the newness of social media. I tried to write about the pitfalls of always wanting to fit in and belong and how social media blew these things up. But by the time I was in writing class five years after starting writing, the sentiment was that people were “over” the falsification on social media. But I still think it has a place in my story, as my story is set in the 2010s, it’s still pretty relevant to that time in history.
And then there’s Artificial Intelligence. I’ve read a lot lately on how AI is being used for writing stories. Having written this book so long ago, AI wasn’t even a consideration, so rest assured, this is an authentic work.
Green-Lighting Yourself
But what about on a broader scale? Besides the messages contained in the book, what about the fact that ten years after starting to write, I was now giving it a shot at being a published author? Writing a book was something I always wanted to do, and it took me five years to write. It would’ve been so easy for me to put my manuscript in a drawer and call it quits. But it took me five years- why should I give it up? I decided to bet on myself.
Brooke Warner, publisher and founder of She Writes Press, calls this “Green-lighting” yourself. Instead of letting traditional publishers tell me my story wasn’t what they were looking for, that I wasn’t worthy, I believed in myself and decided that this was something I wanted. What a lesson in itself. When you ultimately succeed, go for it instead of taking the easy way out. Plus, Green Light is the name of the band in my book—a sign from the universe that I needed to pursue this!
Eleven years had passed since I sat down and started writing. I can hardly believe it, or know what possessed me. But I did it. And after going through all that I went through, I believed in myself and took a chance. While I think that the messages in my story will always be relevant, this is the greatest message that still resonates.
(c) Gerilyn Bass Greenberg
https://gerilynbassgreenberg.com
About Drama Drama Drama by Gerilyn Bass Greenberg:
Mona is living the dream . . . until, at thirty-eight, her busy stay-at-home-mom life is upended. Suddenly, her grandmother moves into assisted living, her charity work kicks her to the curb, her teenager, Grace, doesn’t need her anymore, and none of her friends are showing up for her.
Suddenly, Mona has no purpose – unless you count stress-eating. But she’s the only one struggling. Shy Grace – ignoring her mother’s dreams for her to join the ‘it kids’ in drama club – is off finding her voice (and a new band) at Bubby’s retirement home and making friends. Even Bubby’s too busy fending off resident mean girls and finding romance to pay Mona much mind. Then, on top of it all, Mona’s twenty-year high school homecoming goes viral for all the wrong reasons, leaving her convinced she’s wasted her life.
But when tragedy strikes, she is forced to face the truth: The only person who can make you feel small is you – and sometimes you have to lose everything you thought defined you to find what truly matters.
Heartfelt, funny, and refreshingly honest, Drama Drama Drama is a celebration of second acts, self-worth, and learning to skip the drama and live your own life.
Order your copy of Drama Drama Drama online here.
And read more Meet the Author articles on Writing.ie here.
