His Lingering Perfume by Sarah D
I never knew one day I, being who I was, would ‘write a book!’
And now I actually got into the process of writing every day for a couple of hours. The process was painstaking, but I always had ideas for what the perfect love story would be like, and how it would pan out.
In real life, my love affairs are all ‘hits and misses’. Not someone who can kiss straight, or maybe the other one always liked it a little better, and I was always the one on the recieving end, the books I have written both are about well balanced (though live-in style relationships with an its complicated feel)
You read my lips “Well-balanced”
A live -in? Cant ANYBODY do that? Well, to tell the blatant truth, the answer is no. The thing religion often teaches us, is that lovers were ‘designed’ or ‘created’ kinda like adam and eve for each other. Okay, im becoming a little more Christian everyday. But what I want to say here is these books tell stories.
Raw. Awkward. But finally RELATABLE stories. will talk more about them in depth later?
Perhaps even YOU would want to read these books? I will provide excerpts and links if someone wants me to. However, this blog is all about the inspiration about what I was thinking during the time, when I wrote my first book, that alot of near and dear folks loved, and wrote like a COUPLE of 5-star reviews for me.
As people would assume, writing your first book, as a first time novelist, who is trying to craft his words to suit the story he is trying to convey or put out there is no easy task. I went through all of that, not ONLY stuffing the book with juicy romance, just so the book is a page turner, or some kinda Top Selling Novel.
And that was how it went, writing like a couple of words into the wee hours of the night. I read somewhere online about this cool website that offerred to self-publish books for free, and clicked. Initially when I started out, I had no idea, not even the flimsiest, that I would ever finish the book.
And as the rainbow does sometimes have gold at the end, and God is also wonderful, I did actually manage to complete the book. My first book I attempted in fits and starts, sitting at my laptop at the dead of night typing away, looking straight at the screen in my pjs and eating salted nuts.
Mebbe the other writers will watch workshops, and write drafts and mind maps, and even diagrams of plots, and climax, and the perfect ending, but I did none of that. I on the other hand, funny enough just kept on typing.
You might arch an eyebrow at this point and wonder if this book, entitled, ‘His Lingering Perfume: A Raw Story of Awkward Love is going to be all that I intended. Funny enough, people loved it, and though there are some pretty intense romances, with a funny twist (which I will detail later, and like I said ppl the plot lines go along the lines of ‘live-in and its complicated’)
So as the story goes, I did write the book, and the reviews are on Amazon. I never imagined friends and family too would vouch for it, and write 5 star reviews, a friend I don’t know that well, even took a picture of the book on his bookshelf, and then heartily wrote a 5 star review.
The other is written by someone, much like the main character of my book could have been a ‘special someone’. The third is by my sister, who I casually mentioned in the book once, or twice, since shes always been so supportive of anything I attempt doing.
And yes, I included a screenshot of the rather helpful review by the friend. My advice to people who want to write books is to go for it! However don’t believe all the hype that writing is easy as pie, and that every book you publish will make you a millionaire overnight.
I wrote this book, because I wanted people to relate to my book, I wanted to tell a story and I think that if you want to do the same, have time on your hands, and are fluent in the language, you can like totally go for it. To tell the truth, I made the best use of the self publishing option, and I did watch my fair share of webinars, attend workshops, read similar authors, watch cute movies that I could base my love story on.
Wanna know about how on earth, I managed to craft, a rather juicy love story, and you can also? Perhaps, you can load it with steamy scenes and huge doses of the e word. I did actually go live on a dating site to talk about my book, but let me say again, it is not erotica, its more like cute, romance, and contemporary stuff.
I wish I could confidently say this is Chick Lit, but I’m not sure. If I had marketing experts to back me, a ton of money, a cover designer, editors, a proofreader, a reputed publishing house, a team of digital marketing experts, and a decent book launch, perhaps this book would have been the things DREAMS are made of.
Curious… to know whats in it? Folks the book was written ages ago, and Im just sharing my experiences. Not exactly ages ago, this year 2022 itself, but no I did not get any help from anyone, and writing my book has not exactly been a cake walk! Will include a few screen shots of excerpts below.
Yes, so the protagonist, a shy girl who I introduce only as Jenna somewhere in the middle of the book, is actually a really cool but introverted individual. She is shy but sweet, naughty but nice, rich but homely a mixed bag.
She is a really quiet sort of girl until, her boyfriend appears on the scene. The book suddenly turns racy when the two introverts get together, and the book ends with them parting ways, and meeting as middle aged adults again in some quaint cafe, and getting emotional and close.
So you might be wondering who I am, and what I look like. Hey, Im just average looking, but I am so excited that I took the trouble! The thing is people have told me that what they like best about the book, is the seemingly simple use of the language, and my complete avoidance of big and unnecessary words. I wanted people to relate to my characters, and umm, I think they did!
So, dears, if you think you can write a book, JUST do try! If I could, you can as well. India has the largest amount of readers AND writers as a new study has shown. And if you think you want to write a poem, a book, get your podcast out there, take baby steps, but just for your own sake, go ahead!
You Only Live Once
~Sarah D~
