Harmony in Winslet

by Gail Balentine

This July, I published my first novel – Harmony in Winslet. It’s the story of a young woman who must prove her brother innocent of murder in a small town where the past haunts them both, and a world war touches everyone.

Naively, I thought actually writing the book would be the hardest part of the whole process. And, while it’s true that it’s not an easy task to try to keep a story interesting for 300 pages, I found it harder to take the finished product and send it out to the world. You see, before I published on Amazon, the novel belonged to me and my family members and those friends with whom I shared the actual book or details about it. As soon as I released it, I was open to the thoughts and opinions of anyone who read the book. Whoosh! In one minute my heart was on my sleeve and I hoped people would be kind.

As it turns out, so far, it has been a very positive experience. I have heard from family, old friends, and those strangers I worried about could not have been nicer. People are asking for my next book and I’m working on that now. I’m well aware this whole experiment could have gone in a different direction. Family and friends might have struggled to say something positive about a book they did not like and strangers might have responded in a less than kind way. I’ve read some nasty reviews on Amazon.

But, looking back, the point I focus on about this entire process is not actually writing and publishing a book – although I am very happy that I did that. It’s more that I put a lot of time and effort into something and then took a risk. After a lifetime spent trying to play it safe, with only an occasional step out of the safety zone, I took a chance. A big chance. And I’m quite proud of that. 

There are so many ways to test yourself, to grow. You can work your way up through baby steps until you achieve a goal. Maybe you’d like to sing a solo in public, or give a speech to a large group, or have a show featuring your paintings, or run for political office? Maybe you want to switch careers to do something that will help those less fortunate? Or home-school your children? Or whatever it is that calls to you …

I didn’t go from deciding to write a book to publishing. I took writing classes, read books, attended lectures, joined writing groups, gave my manuscript to people to read and acted on their comments and suggestions. I worked at it. And then took a leap of faith. 

And that’s my advice to those who are wondering if they, too, can do something that really matters to them – identify your passion, learn what you need to know to begin, try it, gain experience as you stick with it, and, when needed, take some risks. Best of luck with your endeavors!