Xlibris Publishing returns with Noeline Slowgrove, author of TWO WORLDS, ALIENS and ANGELS, and X’LENT TALES.
Not long after I became a member of the Fellowship of Australian Writers. Surrounded by older, successful writers, I began to think about the Magic Medallion I had banished to Mars. I decided to write another book. Still up on Mars, resurrecting some of the main characters of the MAGIC MEDALLION, and introducing two new characters to tell the story, I wrote a speculative science fiction book titled THE PACIFIST PLANET. This manuscript also met with the same fate as my former book. Rejection, upon rejection.
Now there were two of my books languishing on the red planet. So, I got on with life, continued to write short stories and forgot about having my novels being published. I married and started a family. And then a strange thing happened… I found I had become a senior. Once again I returned to Mars and salvaged what I could from my two books. I re-wrote the Magic Medallion and the Pacifist Planet into one book and titled it TWO WORLDS. But… the rejections still kept coming… nevertheless, I was a “trier.” I joined a Seniors Creative Writer’s group and settled in with tyro writers like myself. Eventually I re-edited TWO WORLDS and self-published with the Xlibris company.
Within two months the first copy of my book with a cover I designed myself, landed on my doorstep. And I had a web site. More copies of TWO WORLDS arrived which I was able to give to family and friends. Encouraged, I went ahead and self-published ALIENS and ANGELS and X’LENT TALES with the same company. I couldn’t have been more thrilled…. at last I was a published author and my characters and most of my characters had returned to Earth.
I believe my writing has been influenced by my interest in world peace and a longing to know that we are not alone in the Universe. In every story I tell, I try to write with word pictures dialogue, and take my readers on a journey to another place, another time… past, present and future… a place where the reader has never before gone. One of my favourite short stories is one from Aliens and Angels, titled RETURN TO THE MOON where there is a speculative thought on why NASA never returned to the moon.
The message I would like to send to my readers is to know is that I have enjoyed every moment of my time while writing my stories. In TWO WORLDS I don’t wish to lecture readers about world peace. BUT here is my thought….before the nations of Earth can learn to get along with each other we should not be thinking about intruding into the universe.
As much as I would like to market my books for worldwide distribution, I feel this is unlikely because sad as it may be, I am told by publishers and other writers there is a greater market for crime, autobiography’s of celebrities, cook books and gardening books…. which leaves very little room for speculative sci-fi books, fantasy, stories about angels and stories with unusual twists at the end.
I would like to finish off with a little advice to other fictional writers… don’t wait until your senior years to follow your dream. Don’t keep hoping for that moment of inspiration… it rarely comes… while you have the keenness to write a book, take what you have read, learned and experienced in life, store it in your mind and allow your imagination to take hold of your subject and GO FOR IT.
Self-publish if this is your only option….you will not regret it.
Xlibris Publishing trusts this helps
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Noeline,
Just read here, and will be looking further into your work. Found you on Facebook and see you are from Oz. Was down there about 7 years ago and fell in love with it. Came home with 3 hats!
All the best…
Ken Varnold
Good day to you Ken Varnold. Thank you for looking up my blog and passing on a very welcome comment….from America. Your comment is the second one I have had from the U.S.A. If you google up Noeline Slowgrove Writer….you will see the three books I have written, a novel titled TWO WORLDS, and two short story collections titled ALIENS and ANGELS and X’LENT TALES. Then by scrolling down to the GOOGLE results you can read the first couple of chapters of TWO WORLDS and the first couple of short stories. I have written heaps more….but these days of the digital world not many books are being published by well known publishing houses….and because of this, many writers like myself turn to self publishing. I chose Xlibris and was more than satisfied with the results. All three books are available through Barnes and Noble (about the cheapest)…. but because they are “Print on Demand” they are expensive. It is better to google them up first. Thank you for your interest.
Noeline Slowgrove
PS Glad you loved Australia….it is a great place. Not sure about the hats ?
Just a quick note Noeline,
Thank you for getting back to me. Your reasons for self-publishing are exactly right. I have tried to query agents and publishers. It is like a stone in the ocean. So…I forge ahead on my own. I am determined and have more books to write.
I will follow up on your books soon. I have grandkids visiting this month and they are wonderful. They were the reason I was in Australia. Their dad was in the US military and were down there for 2 years working with the Australian military in Canberra. It was fabulous to be there. The fruit bats and spiders were a bit over the top!
Lovely people though, enjoyed it thoroughly.
Keep writing (I know you will),
Ken Varnold
Hi just read your blog. If at first you dont suceed try again and again. Love and God bless always xoxo
Hi Teresa,
So pleased you were able to read my blog. I think you only read PART 2. Writing these stories, TWO WORLDS first, followed by ALIENS and ANGELS then X’LENT TALES was a great writing adventure for me, and then to have all three books published with copy write was an even greater thrill. There have been many of my creative writing group who have read the books….but as yet, not too many sales. But hey….I have three books on my shelf of which I am particularly proud.
Once again thank you for looking up the blog as you have a better insight into why I write.
Noeline
Have finally been able to get onto your blog, part 2. But I got this from your facebook entry. Maybe others will find this an easier way to read part 1 and part 2 of your very interesting blog. Pity one have to be a person of “fame” to attract a publisher. But this is how it is. Ordinary people are never thought to be intelligent enough to write interesting stories.
Hi Noelene
It’s a great tribute to you with your words. I admire your patience, persistence and encouragement to other potential writers to publish.
Thanks
E’xlent Tales , this story is utterly terrifying, told in the first person, and it could happen to you.. It is all about the 21st Century nightmares, and it is happening. Just one of the stories. Another is about “black birds” and their terrifying presence. Just another story. but you will have to read the book and its stories to find out which one’s I am referring to. Be afraid, very afraid..
Robyn, I must admit, when I wrote “ON WHICH DOOR TO KNOW” featured in X’Lent Tales, it gave me a nightmare or two when I was editing it….thought I should change the end but decided to leave it be because when the reader finished the story they erupted into goose bumps of what could happen in the future.
Noeline
Very comprehensive and easy to understand …love to hear more of your work..
Thank you Meng for your wish to hear more of my work….And I thank you for your comment. I have so many more stories to tell…one day, perhaps.
Noeline