The Beginning of a Journey

In May 2015, a short book popped up on the Amazon Marketplace. Produced through CreateSpace (what Amazon KDP used to be called), it had a woman with flaming hair on the front cover, a white spine, and a bold title, the author's name quietly sitting beneath it. At the time, the author was only fourteen or fifteen, a young writer flying through papers and pens in her childhood home.

While this novel came from a growing imagination, little care went into its publishing process. That being said, it goes without saying that the author adored her passion project. When we think of manuscripts going from being words on paper to a bound novel, we can only imagine the energy poured into them. There are multiple stages of editing and revisions, a professional scouring over the interior design, and an artist creating an enigmatic cover to snatch the buyers' eye. Large publishing companies spend at least a year to get each of these steps right, going back and forth between writer and professional.

Self-published novels find themselves waiting for their author to do the work on them. Without the talent a publisher provides, most self-published authors either spend the time doing the work independently or spend personal income to find freelancers. When the writer is young, not even in high school, most options narrow down to one: do the best you can with what you've got.

This young writer spent months writing her novel. Initially beginning as a simple school project, the story grew till the manuscript reached over 200 pages. Once finished, filled with an inexplicable glee, the little author rushed to publish, not caring about making money or how many copies would be sold within the first week. She hit the publish button and watched her name appear in the Amazon Marketplace.

While her first novel didn't stay on the shelf long, with impending adulthood taking over every thought in her growing mind, the feeling she had never left.

My name is Gabriella Dennany, and this is my story.

I don't talk much about my early writing, and there are two big reasons. One: it's not for sale anymore. It can be found for free in several places, but it's not actively published. Two: it's a little bit crap! Don't get me wrong, I love all my writings, especially one that has remained with me for many years. It was my first piece of actual work, the first story I brewed through imagination. But as explained before, it needed to be polished. It's a first draft written with the finite knowledge of a middle-school student. And we all know that eighth graders have reached the pinnacle of knowledge.

Right?

The path to publishing has been elusive to me for some years now. It can be a frightening process, especially when you're on your own throughout it. The Halls of Valhalla is the first in a planned series, The Chronicles of Milo Bohr. The idea of this novel began around six years ago, with most of that time spent researching Norse Mythology. When the writing of the first manuscript began, I didn't expect to do much with it. It was just another idea, another untitled Google document stuck in a wave of other untitled ideas. I can remember the day the first manuscript was finished: in my second year of college, with large earbuds covering my head, my roommates were silent behind me, and the keyboard clicking suddenly stopped. 

This passion project has seen many changes over the years. It has been written and rewritten with different titles and names. Today, as I begin the journey of writing a blog, the manuscript is going through another stage of editing. And soon, as we come to a full circle, I will be publishing again in May.

Thank you for joining me on this roller coaster ride.

See you :)