Ellesea Loves Reading: Author Guest Post and Book Spotlight: Grace & Serenity by Annalisa Crawford

Monday, 13 July 2020

Author Guest Post and Book Spotlight: Grace & Serenity by Annalisa Crawford

Grace & Serenity by Annalisa Crawford

THE STORY OF GRACE

When I wrote the first line of Grace & Serenity—this time—it was the culmination of many, many years of trial and error, stopping and starting, re-writing, and hiding it away in a drawer. The original story was developed in 2003.

2003! Wow. What were you doing seventeen years ago?

I was pregnant with my second child, I was working in a library, and I’d had a handful of stories published in small press journals—none of which existed by that point. I hadn’t even started to write my first published book—a novella called Cat & The Dreamer—which was two years away from conception, and nine years away from being published.

How life changes. In my case, in an exceptionally long and drawn-out way. As almost every famous person has said in one form or another (seriously, I Googled extensively), “It took me X years to become an overnight success.”

I’m still working on it.

The thing about being successful is you’re always looking for your Big Break. I’ve had 7, so far.

My first short story acceptance
My first competition win
My first eBook contract
Self-publishing my first physical book
My first contract for a physical book
My first big competition success
And now my first novel publication

What keeps me writing? Simply the need to put my words onto paper. Even if I knew no one would ever read them, I would not—could not—stop writing. I’ve had extended breaks in the past. When my kids were little and I was getting only a few hours of sleep a night, and all I could do once they were in bed was sit in front of the TV barely able to comprehend what was going on.

That’s one of the reasons, after writing what amounted to only a vague outline of Grace & Serenity back in 2003, I faltered. A couple of years later I edited it. A couple after that, I rewrote it entirely. And that’s the pattern I followed for several years, interspersed with short stories and other novels, honing my craft, and giving myself a better understanding of how to write Grace’s story.

Originally, the narrative occurred over about fifteen years. With each draft, this timeframe was reduced, until the final version takes place in less than two years—for which I’m sure Grace is forever grateful. I’ve put her through some terrible things, and I don’t think she could have lasted if she’d endured them for years. Some characters vanished; others appeared. But, inevitably, it was cast aside yet again.

Each time I was lured back, it was with a sense of dread that I wouldn’t be done with it this time, either. What finally spurred me on was having it rejected for the final time back in 2016, by the publisher of my short story collection You. I. Us. At that point, I shelved it for good, and moved on. Phew!

But, of course that’s not the end of the story…

Over a year later, on an otherwise normal day, I received an email from the same publisher asking me to resubmit—she hadn’t been able to get Grace out of her head, she said, and she’d love to read it again.

I dusted it off, read it, considered it, and threw it on the floor. After all, this was the manuscript she’d rejected, I needed to make severe changes to spike her interest. I picked up my red pen and started scribbling. Ticks, crossings out, question marks, whole sections circled with spidery lines drawn to indicate its new position. I read the entire thing aloud. I cut the scenes into chunks and laid them out on my living room floor, sellotaping them into a new order. And slowly, the novel that exists today took form.

I hope you enjoy it.

Living on the streets is terrifying and exhausting. Grace’s only comforts are a steady stream of vodka, and a strange little boy who’s following her around.

At nineteen, Grace has already had a child and endured an abusive marriage. But she’s also had her baby abducted by her vengeful husband and been framed as a neglectful mother. Even her own parents doubted her version of the story. So she did the only thing that made sense to her—run away.

The streets are unforgiving. Winter is drawing in. And Grace isn’t prepared for the harsh realities of survival. At her very bleakest, a Good Samaritan swoops into her life and rescues her. With a roof over her head and food in her stomach, she longs to see her baby again.

But nothing ever comes for free.

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Annalisa Crawford lives in Cornwall UK, with a good supply of moorland and beaches to keep her inspired. She lives with her husband, two sons, and dog.

Crawford writes dark contemporary, character-driven stories, with a hint of the paranormal.

Over the years, she has won several competitions, and had many short stories published in small press journals and online. Highlights include being placed 3^rd in the Costa Short Story Award 2015 and being longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and Bath Short Story Award in 2018.