The Power of the Rewrite—RPLA Showcase: Janet Franks Little

An unpublished book won a third place RPLA. Many authors would likely call it a success and move on to the next phase of publishing. Not Janet Franks Little. She knew she had a good novel, but she wanted to make it great. So she pushed up her sleeves and made significant revisions and entered the manuscript again. This time Glass Promises won Gold in Romance in the 2019 Royal Palm Literary Awards. Janet talks about the power of reworking pieces during this week’s RPLA showcase.

Janet’s Writing Journey

My writing journey began in grade school when I would spend summers penning mysteries that were never finished, nor read by anyone. As a teenager, I submitted short stories to magazines that were never published, nor read by anyone but the editor who rejected them. In my senior year, I published my high school’s first literary magazine with assignments from fellow students in a Creative Writing class. Then college, marriage, work, and motherhood intervened for the next 40 years. When I was months away from retirement, I joined a local writers group, and in the last six years, I’ve published three romantic comedies. I have since formed my own writers critique group comprised of local authors. Although we all write romance, we are diverse in that our books are contemporary, paranormal, and historical. Every author benefits from a larger association like the Florida Writers Association as well as a more intimate group who are your beta readers, supporters, and friends.

In the 2016 Royal Palm Literary Award competition, my first novel, Worth Her Weight, won second place in Published Romance, and Glass Promises won third place for Unpublished Romance. After substantial edits and changes, Glass Promises won Gold in 2019 for Published Romance. For three years in a row, I submitted a short story for FWA’s anthology and each year my entry was chosen. In 2016, Worse Than Being It, was selected as the second best story in the Top Ten.

With each love story I write, I include an issue that will hopefully enlighten readers. Worth Her Weight deals with body image; Estate of the Heart involves trusting after being conned; Glass Promises is about infidelity. Although my rom-coms have humor in them, I address timely issues which is why I called my brand: #lovelaughterandreallife.

The three books are indie published through Telemachus Press. In fact, I met the publisher, Steve Himes, at my first FWA mini-conference when I was just a would-be author with an almost-done manuscript.

The Winning Entry, Glass Promises

Tagline: When a widowed young mother finds love again and her unknown father’s family, she must confront an interfering ex-wife as well as a jealous relative to find happiness.

A friend of mine rented a home on the Intracoastal in Boca to a woman with a baby. The tenancy was for a year while the woman’s recently purchased house underwent renovation. Meanwhile, her husband continued to work up north. My friend later discovered that the little girl was the illegitimate child of a US senator and his mistress left town in exchange for a tropical waterfront mansion. (And no, my friend never discovered who was the child’s father.) I decided to write the book, Glass Promises, about the baby as an adult looking for love.

      “She told me when I was in middle school. Her latest boyfriend had ended their relationship. Juliette said she knew the glass man would go back to his wife. I asked if she knew Mr. Glass was married.” At the time, Juliette had snorted and looked at Grace like she qualified to win the Stupid Question of the Year trophy. Despite a string of broken romances, her mother was all strength and certainty when it came to the men in her life. She never had a moment’s doubt about their declarations of love and a future together. “She said that wasn’t his name. It’s what she called all men because their promises were easily broken.”

Not only was I thrilled and grateful for Glass Promises to win RPLA Gold in 2019, but the honor was a validation of my writing which improved through workshops and webinars sponsored by FWA.

“Dear Me,” (Advice to My Younger Writing Self)

Read. Read. Read. I feel no one can become a writer if they are not a reader. Maybe I’m wrong, but I look at it like a race car driver who doesn’t learn to drive before getting behind the wheel at the track. Reading the works of other writers teaches us how to write. Now I find myself as, not only a reader, but a critiquer. I recognize hooks, plot and character arcs, sensory descriptions, and a myriad of other techniques I didn’t know before I wrote my first novel.

Write. Write. Write. Writers are often instructed to write a little every day. If I’m not ready to write, I reread what I wrote the day before, or I go back several chapters, or I slip back to the beginning of the manuscript and read it for continuity. Learn the process that works best for you. I can’t imagine writing the entire draft before editing it, especially since I fall between being a plotter and a pantser. Save everything you write, good or bad. I recently found a piece I wrote in high school and used a couple lines in my current manuscript. The bulk of my adolescent work was not worthwhile, but there were a few hidden gems among the rubble. Perhaps, I should have advised me, the new writer, to Write. Rewrite. Save. Then write more. (Although that was much harder to do pre-PC).

Tell the stories you want to read. Write the books you can’t find no matter how hard you look. Listen to the stories others tell you. A kernel of truth in someone’s story could become the basis for a book (i.e. Glass Promises). There will always be better writers than you, but only you have the ability to tell certain stories. Ignore critics unless what they’re saying is beneficial to you as a writer. Anyone can be a critic. On the other hand, how many critics are better writers than you?

Other Works by Janet

Worth Her Weight – https://www.amazon.com/Worth-Weight-Janet-Franks-Little/dp/194289931

Estate of the Heart – https://www.amazon.com/Estate-Heart-Janet-Franks-Little/dp/1945330643/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1580667276&sr=1-1

Glass Promises –https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Promises-Janet-Franks-Little/dp/194804630X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Currently, I am working on a series called Love on a Leash. Each book features a different breed of dog that gets the human couple together and reunites them after the Black Moment (a romance term for the breakup). The first book in the new series, Love to the Rescue, is about Dachshunds and focuses on the pitfalls when opposites attract. In my second book, Parts of a Whole, each of the main characters has a disability and are helped by a Pit Bull. My WIP, Less Than Perfect, involves greyhounds. I chose this breed because dog racing is banned in Florida as of 2021 and thousands of these beautiful animals will become homeless.

Stay Connected

You can learn more about Janet by following her on Facebook and Instagram as well as visiting her website at janetfrankslittle.com .

More about RPLA

The Royal Palm Literary Awards competition is a service of the Florida Writers Association established to recognize excellence in members’ published and unpublished works while providing objective and constructive written assessments for all entrants. Judges include literary agents, publishers, film producers, current or retired professors, teachers, librarians, editors, bestselling and award-winning authors, and journalists from across the nation. Entries are scored against the criteria set by RPLA using rubrics tailored to each genre. Winners are announced at the annual FWA conference during the RPLA awards banquet. To learn more about RPLA, click here for the guidelines.