I realize I keep falling off the grid – blogging with fresh promises, then disappearing like last week’s pay check – but I hope you’ll think of me as rare and interesting, rather than fickle, sporadic, flaky and/or unreliable. I don’t mean to disappear, but here’s’ the truth: once I’m engaged in a big writing project, it’s hard to make time for blogging.
Though I realize I should.
The good news is, since my last posting, I’ve finished my second memoir. Yay!!
The not-so-great news is I still haven’t found a publisher for either… but I’m working on it. Writing both books was incredibly fun and gratifying. Inserting myself into the query-for-an-agent process… not so much. Although I’ve received a lot of very encouraging feedback from agents who’ve written back. As well as from the 30-plus early readers I’ve shared it with: men and women, ages 17 – 84, from all sorts of backgrounds and reading styles. It seems to be a crowd-pleaser.
I just haven’t found the right agent yet.
It doesn’t help that I stopped querying for Book 1 for most of the past year while writing the second book. Because writing is SO much more fun than agent research and self-promotion. I also spend way too much time reading and mulling other people’s memoirs – because I love the genre.
And I’m addicted to reading memoir reviews on Good Reads, to see what READERS have to say about other people’s memoirs. Because a great LITERARY review doesn’t necessarily translate into a book’s accessibility and reading pleasure, but your everyday, average, and wonderful reader knows what she or he wants.
A good story, well-told, seems to be the ticket. And that’s what I believe I’ve written. Twice.
Book 2, my follow-up memoir, picks up 20 years after the end of Book 1 (provisionally titled Paradise Road, until someone comes up with a killer title). It deals with buried and delayed grief; what happens when you move 15 times in 20 years (across countries and continents) and never grow roots; being at the center of a global church collapse; starting over in your late 40s; reconstituting a battered faith and marriage – and so much more. It sounds like an absolute downer, but I’ve learned how to laugh at myself and make misery captivating — and it ends with plentiful faith, hope, and love.
Book 2 – tentatively titled Forsaken or The Girl Who Loved Too Much –hasn’t made the rounds with as many early readers yet. And here’s where I’m making my pitch:
If you’d like to be an early reader of the manuscript, please let me know and I’ll consider you. But you have to promise this:
1. To finish the manuscript in a timely manner. (Within a month seems fair to me.)
2. To write me an honest review when you’re done. (I can send you a simple questionnaire to fill in, or you can write your own.)
3. To not share the manuscript with anyone else unless you get permission from me.
If this sounds like something you’d like to do – send me a message! Please include your email address so we can communicate further.
And finally – if you’re someone who prays – please pray for both my memoirs to find a great agent and publisher. The RIGHT ones.
I’ll try not to fall off the grid again –though with my track record, it’s probably a promise I shouldn’t make.
New writing projects keep beckoning… but I’ll try to amaze you by showing up before you’ve had time to forget me again!
Thanks for reading, dear friends! Thanks for being readers.
Categories: Birthing a Book, Uncategorized
Purple Splash of Glory 
I’d like to read
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Absolutely, Joanne! You are ON IT… Will send right away!
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But I need your email… don’t seem to have it in my contacts. You can message me if you want.
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try Henry Holt.com and give him your run down of the book that you just did now
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Thanks for the suggestion, but I’d need an agent to query him on my behalf. That’s how the publishing industry works. They explicitly state, “No submissions”.
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Great to hear from you, a special surprise in my mail today. I sent a private message about reading. Please let me know if you don’t receive it. I could have an old email address.
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Lovely to hear from you, too. And yes! Please be one of my readers!
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I would love to be a manuscript reader. I relate so much to the topic of delayed grief and moving often. We moved 14 times in our first 10 years of marriage! I do not work and will probably read it in a day! LOL. I promise not to share it and all the other things you asked as well. I hope I make the cut!
Also, I know someone who prompts books on the internet. She wrote a memoir called the Polygamist Daughter. Her name is Anna LeBaron and could be a great resource for what you are doing. Please let me know if you would like to speak with her and I can connect you or you can just locate her on Facebook. She lives in Texas! Great Luck with the book!
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You make the cut! I’ll send it directly. Let me know if you want a questionnaire too. Please go ahead and speak to Anna on my behalf once you’ve read the book. Thank you!
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Hi Marilyn, I would love to be an early reader of the manuscript Book 2 and yes even Book 1.I agree to finish it in a timely manner (1month) and fill out the questionnaire you could send me and most of all l will keep it confidential. Yes l will pray for you to find a publisher. Thankyou for giving me the wonderful opportunity to be a privileged reader!I am excited to read both Book 1 & 2🤗Blessings to you and Henry. Love Bev Rempel b.wired@telus.net
Sent from my Bell Samsung device over Canada’s largest network.
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How could I refuse, Bev? I’d be delighted to send you both. Your folks were early readers of Book 1 and ate it up!
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Marilyn. I just talked with Henry today and then saw this in Facebook. I would LOVE to read both your books.
I wrote a children’s book a few years ago and spent a few months looking for an agent. I put it on hold but I am ready to take up the challenge again!
I already heard great things about your first book from Dave Zayonc (well from Kelly through Dave).
Did your husband remember to tell you I sent my love? If he didn’t tell him he’s in trouble with me ;).
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He came home and said he’d had a great talk with you. I was jealous. Of course I pumped him for details. I think he told me everything except the last bit: to send your love! Husbands….. I’d be so happy to have you read. Check your email! And keep me posted on your agent adventures. It would be great to have another friend in the trenches of getting literary notice! Did you write and illustrate??
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Hi Marilyn,
Your books sound like they might be a gift to the reflective and sometimes confused state I have been in for many years. I can relate to some of the things you have described and would love to share in your experience by reading your books. I promise timely feedback etc.
I am still the praying sort, but my perception of the recipient of my prayers has changed vastly since ICOC days.
My email address is: wendysmith19@gmail.com
Lots of love, Wendy
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You made the cut! Lovely to hear from you!
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Hi Marilyn,
Thanks for the honest thoughts in your blog. It’s one of the things I appreciate about your writing. It strikes deep emotions and thoughts, causing me to stop and consider another point of view. I too am an avid writer, and reader of other peoples thoughts about writers.
Last year I published my first book – about my own recovery from ministry and faith crisis. It was incredibly cathartic to write and God gave needed healing as it went along. Marketing the book has been my challenge – there was a big surge after publication – mostly due to all those I’ve known over the years, but it stalled out after about five months. Of course, no surprise, a hard and crazy year hit right about then and I’m just now coming back up for air.
I would be pleased to read your manuscript, (how many pages are we talking?), if you are still in need of reaeders. Let me know.
Tom and I are back in Colorado (6 years now), and both run Rehab & Nursing Centers. Good gig, a lot of “ministry” skills are still a part of our work.
Best, Janet Marks 303-910-4642
On Fri, Jan 25, 2019 at 5:34 PM Purple Splash of Glory wrote:
> Marilyn Kriete posted: “I realize I keep falling off the grid – blogging > with fresh promises, then disappearing like last week’s pay check – but I > hope you’ll think of me as rare and interesting, rather than fickle, > sporadic, flaky and/or unreliable. I don’t mean to disappear, b” >
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Thanks, Janet! I checked out your book on Amazon and it looks fantastic! Will order it today! A previous commenter just referred me to Anna LeBaron, who seems to be an amazing book promoter — I just looked at her site. You might want to do the same and see if she can help get your book the attention it deserves.
My book is almost 70,000 words… don’t know how many pages that translates to once it’s published. It’s definitely more of a memoir than a self-help book, but I hope my transparent sharing helps others in a different way. I’ll send it your way. And maybe we can talk by phone someday soon.
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I would love to read book 2 Marilyn!
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Absolutely, Kelly, I’ll send you the MS and the questionnaire right away.
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Hi Marilyn. You probably don’t remember me but I knew you and Henry in Washington DC. After moving back to North Carolina, I ended up straying from the church in 2001, but then came back in 2013. After deciding to return to a relationship with God and getting involved with the fellowship again, I fainted in my kitchen and woke up paralyzed from the shoulders down. I think God is saving my soul with this wheelchair and my quadriplegia. My relationship with him is so much deeper than before; I am so desperate to hold on to him in order to get from one day to the next. I am thankful for this new way of life. I share my faith often because I have nothing to lose and because when people see me in this wheelchair and then hear me talk about my relationship with God, my perseverance and my faith, they are always interested. For that I am thankful.
Where can I purchase your first book?
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Here is my blog address: https://diaryofaquadriplegic.com/
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Hi Terri — I do remember you , though not as well as I wish! What a journey you’ve been on! I had a peek at your blog and plan to return and read much more of it. Neither of my memoirs is published yet, but I can send you a copy of the MS. Will contact you by email. Thanks for responding to my post!
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