Kind of hard to believe, but this year, next month in fact, I celebrate five years at Tudor England, Suite101.com. ...You know - can't help remembering this now, but when I started here, I really wondered if I made the right decision for my writing life...
After almost ten years and ten or so rejections, I bundled my first historical novel in a shoebox, exiling it under my bed. Australian agents and publishers just were not interested in a Tudor novel; I possessed a pile of nice letters, all saying basically the same thing: "Impressive work; keep writing and trying. Just be aware a Tudor novel will be almost impossible to publish in Australia."
Just recovering from a life-threatening fourth pregnancy and thanking God for the blessing of a healthy and beautiful child, I took seven years family leave from teaching and tried my best to forget about that novel under my bed while I wrote about other subjects - subjects I thought would appeal to the Australian market. I wrote a film script focused on a famous woman in Australia's early years as a British colony. When I failed to find a producer for that, I started to turn it into a novel. Yes - I detoured, attempting to write on other themes that didn't arouse the same passions in me as the Tudors.
But life has a way of drawing you back onto the right highway. During one my research surfs on the Internet, I stumbled onto Suite and noticed their Tudor editor had left and "lo and behold" there was a position vacant advert on her site. It took me weeks of indecision before sending a tentative e-mail to the then manager of the history area asking for more information. Finally, I decided to apply; days later, I took over the reins of Tudor England. After almost five years and eighty-five articles, I'm still here.
I feel grateful to suite for many reasons; it gave me a site I regard as my writing playground, allowed me to grow as a writer and grow in confidence. And what would without all the dear friends and fellow writers I've made through my involvement with Suite Friends and writers like:
- Elizabeth Batt
- Glenice Whiting
- Sandra Worth.
- Cindy Vallar
- Christopher Gortner
- Dr Reg
- Sally Odgers
- Sara Webb
- Maureen Fleury
- Jo Murphy
- Gillian Polack<
- Brian Wainwright
- And not forgetting my great manager here at Suite, Jerri Brooker
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