Please help me welcome Steven Manchester to Library of Clean Reads today! Steven has just released another novel and I am spotlighting it here. Steven is also guest posting about his writing process. I hope you get a chance to read it. Steven started writing when he was a prison investigator and his reason for starting to write was a challenge. But I won't say more. Read on!
Pressed Pennies by Steven Manchester
The Story Plant
ISBN: 978-1611881356
Published: May 13, 2014
Paperback, 355 pages
Book Synopsis:
Rick and Abby grew up together, became best friends, and ultimately fell in love. Circumstance tore them apart in their early teens, though, and they went on to lives less idyllic than they dreamed about in those early days. Rick has had a very successful career, but his marriage flat-lined. Abby has a magical daughter, Paige, but Paige's father nearly destroyed Abby's spirit.
Now fate has thrown Rick and Abby together again. In their early thirties, they are more world-weary than they were as kids. But their relationship still shimmers, and they're hungry to make up for lost time. However, Paige, now nine, is not nearly as enthusiastic. She's very protective of the life she's made with her mother and not open to the duo becoming a trio. Meanwhile, Rick has very little experience dealing with kids and doesn't know how to handle Paige. This leaves Abby caught between the two people who matter the most to her. What happens when the life you've dreamed of remains just inches from your grasp?
Pressed Pennies is a nuanced, intensely romantic, deeply heartfelt story of love it its many incarnations, relationships in their many guises, and family in its many meanings. It is the most accomplished and moving novel yet from a truly great storyteller of the heart.
My Writing Process
by Steven Manchester
I suppose I discovered the writing
world by accident – or perhaps it discovered me.
I’d just returned home from Operation
Desert Storm, and was working as a prison investigator in
Massachusetts. Needless to say, there was great negativity in my life
at that time. I decided to return to college to finish my degree in
Criminal Justice. During one of the classes, the professor talked
about police work but nothing else.
I finally raised my hand and
asked, “The criminal justice system is vast. What about the courts,
probation, parole – corrections?” He smiled and told me to see
him after class. I thought I’d finally done it! In his office, he
explained, “There’s no written material out there on corrections
or prisons, except from the slanted perspective of inmates.” He
smiled again and dropped the bomb. “If you’re so smart,” he
said, “why don’t you write it?”
Nine months later, I dropped the first
draft of 6-5; A Different Shade of Blue on his desk. From then
on, I was hooked. I was a writer.
I’d written a lot at my job (report
writing), but it all started with my college professor’s challenge.
Perhaps because of my age and experience, I understood right away
that writing is a craft that takes time to evolve; to mature, so I
spent the next several years PRACTICING my chosen craft. Under the
pen name, Steven Herberts, I wrote in every venue of print I could
get my name in: newspaper, magazine, etc. I also penned two
collections of poetry, and wrote drafts for two more books. After
five solid years of writing, I finally believed that I’d found my
voice; MY STYLE – and was ready to contact an agent.
The greatest challenge for me has been
time. First and foremost, I am a dad and my children come first.
After that, there are other responsibilities that need my attention.
Yet, my passion to write has constantly gnawed at my soul. To
overcome the obstacle of time, I made writing a priority over
watching TV and sometimes even sleeping. Once my family is taken care
of and the world closes its eyes, I’m up for a few more hours each
day – chasing my dreams on paper.
It has taken thousands of words,
hundreds of pages, before I finally identified with a particular
genre. I decided that my voice was a more sensitive one: a male
perspective to a female audience.
Now that I have nearly two decades of
writing and getting published under my belt, I enjoy trying to help
new writers break in. My advice is always the same:
- Be true to yourself, always.
- Write constantly.
- Keep the faith!!!
- And NEVER, EVER, EVER quit. Most people in this industry would agree that more than talent or skill or even luck, perseverance is the one trait that will always get the job done.
- Knock on every door you can, and keep knocking. I promise that eventually someone will open and the warmth you feel on your face will more than validate every hour spent alone in the darkness.
Author Bio:
Steven Manchester is the author of The Rockin' Chair, as well as the #1 best seller, Twelve Months (2013 San Francisco, DIY & New England Book Festivals award winner). He is also the author of A Christmas Wish (Kindle exclusive), Goodnight, Brian (2013 Southern California Book Festival award winner), and Pressed Pennies (due out May 2014). His work has appeared on NBC's Today Show, CBS's The Early Show, CNN's American Morning and BET's Nightly News. Three of Steven's short stories were selected "101 Best" for Chicken Soup for the Soul series. When not spending time with his beautiful wife, Paula, or his four children, this Massachusetts author is promoting his works or writing.
Visit: www.StevenManchester.com
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