Part #2 of our chat with @Kelly Farmer (she/her) LUV: When did you know you wanted to be a writer? How did you embark on the journey to publication? Kelly: Being a published author was my childhood dream. It’s still surreal to sit back and realize I achieved it. Once I matured past writing about kittens, it was all romance. I wrote some hysterically bad teen romances in junior high. I started a few historicals in high school. None of these works of art were ever finished. Young Kelly got bored quickly and distracted by shiny new story ideas. In my early twenties, I decided to get serious and actually finish a manuscript. It took years and years, but I did it! That book was a historical romance, which showed me I really had a contemporary voice. So the next one I wrote was a contemporary. And the next. And the next…. Friends, I wrote for a long time before I got published. It’s something like 20 years. I lost count how many manuscripts in various romance and women’s fiction subgenres. I came close a few times. Really close once. Everyone always asks why I didn’t just go indie and self-publish. Well, I started so long ago, that wasn’t even a thing, haha! But something inside me knew that wasn’t my path. I had to honor that. Plus, I’m very stubborn. I was determined to achieve the goal to be traditionally published. So of course that happened in 2020. Of course I debuted during the lockdown. It was very on par with my long and winding road! One piece of advice for newbie authors, or anyone pursuing their art: Be tenacious. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Believe in your work and your words. Follow the path that feels right to you. Anything is possible!

Posted by LUV Team at 2022-07-05 19:00:24 UTC