Sooner Rather Than Later

Today, Sally Jadlow, author of "The Late Sooner," tells about her success finding a publisher at a writer's conference:

1). Tell us about yourself.
I am a sixty-four year old grandmother of eleven, mother of four, wife of one, who has written poetry for thirty-five years--and a member of Kansas City Writers Group for nine years. My latest book is "The Late Sooner."

2). Tell us about your book.
It's a historical fiction based on my great-grandfather's diary. He participated in the first land run of the Oklahoma Territory in 1889.

3). Why did you decide to write it?
It was too moving a story to leave it on a dusty shelf for another 118 years. I wanted to help people, young and old, to appreciate the blessings we enjoy today. Generations before us paid a high price for our luxuries.

4). What was the most challenging aspect?
It was a challenge to make it as historically accurate as I could. Sanford's terms were sometimes hard to understand. When he spoke of "sufferers," he was talking about the famine of 1890. There was nothing to eat but turnips for man and beast.

5). Tell us about your writing habits, what works best for you?
I think about what I'm writing during the week and on Saturday I practice "button writing"--I put my butt on the chair and write.

6). What has been the most surprising thing about writing this book and getting it published?
That people identify so completely with the characters that they want to see it made into a movie.

7). How did you find your agent and/or publisher?
I found my publisher at the Oklahoma Writer's Federation, Inc. conference in Oklahoma City last May. I signed up for my free ten minute conference with Dan Case, (AWOCbooks.com) and pitched the book to him. Three weeks later he called to tell me he wanted to publish it.

8). What else do you think other writers can learn from your experience?
Write your passion. Let the characters take you along; don't resist their leading. Put yourself in the scene with your characters; then write what you see, hear, smell, and feel..

Sally Jadlow
author of "The Late Sooner"available at http://AWOCbooks.comhttp://TheLateSooner.com or http://amazon.comCheck out my blog at http://thelatesooner.blogspot.com