My Bucket List Book

 I have wanted to write and publish a book since I was in sixth grade. Over the years I have made several attempts to write a book—I have four or five books started now, ranging from a spiralbound full of notes, to a handful of incomplete chapters.

About four years ago, I was playing with words. Looking for a word that could be separated into two or more words, which would make a good story (yeah, I know... "Nerd!").

Anyway, the word 'mistaken' came to my mind. 

'miss'. 'taken'.

And an idea sprang to life. A young woman, taken by traffickers, escapes and survives in the wilderness.

No, it wasn't inspired by the Taken series. The books that inspired the story were "My side of the mountain" (I think. It's been so long since I read it, I might be mixing it up with something else) by Jean Craighead George, "Flight of the white wolf" by Mel Ellis, and "Deathwatch" by Robb White.

More than that, it became a vehicle to pay tribute to several young women I met over the course of my life. They were all farm girls, raised in small towns. They were all incredibly kind, humble, patient individuals, most with strong spiritual convictions. They were also all very resourceful; never afraid to take on whatever new task was thrown at them (Automotive repairs, IT work... you name it)

The main character in this story is an amalgamation of their qualities, someone I hope readers will be able to be inspired by- a heroine, who can reasonably be emulated.

The story largely wrote itself - It only took two years from inception to completed first draft (which, for me is an amazing feat).

Then I was stuck. I had no idea how to get it published. 

I received advice from a couple published authors (thanks, Facebook friends), and took a first, unsuccessful stab at finding a publisher. 

Then I identified an editor and paid for her services. She gave me loads of advice, which I have been working on for over a year now (to be fair, I worked on it for a month, got sucked into life's problems and let it languish for nearly a year, and just picked it back up two months ago).

I am halfway through now. To celebrate this. I am going to publish the first few chapters on my blog. Then I will take another stab at wooing a publisher (definitely not something in my skillset). If, by the time I complete the edits, I still have no publisher, I will take a stab at self-publishing, probably on Amazon (I am open to advice of course).