What do you do when you’ve written a book that doesn’t follow expected genre norms? This was the challenge Kerry Blaisdell faced on a work she loved but was told it wouldn’t have a place in the market. Thank goodness she didn’t listen and took another chance at sending out Debriefing the Dead. Not only did it get a publisher this time but it also won Gold for Fantasy in the 2019 Royal Palm Literary Awards. Hear about her amazing journey where this book was rejected no less than 125 times by agents and editors in this week’s RPLA showcase.
Kerry’s Writing Journey
I’m one of those people who has been writing my whole life. My father used to write stories down for me when I was very young, and even made a bound booklet for me once. It was on coarse coloring paper, and I illustrated it — I must have been around four years old. It was a fairy tale about a princess who gets bored with her prince, and runs off with the dragon instead. Which is probably why I now write Urban Fantasy and quirky Romantic Suspense!
So basically, I’ve dreamed of being a published author my whole life. Through all levels of school, college, and adulthood, I always wrote, but I began seriously pursuing publication in my mid-thirties. I wrote and polished and wrote some more, and submitted to agents and editors, but couldn’t seem to get anywhere. I started before self-publishing was a mainstream thing, and with this book, DEBRIEFING THE DEAD, I accumulated over 125 rejections. That’s not exaggeration. That many “industry professionals” thought it wasn’t publishable or wouldn’t sell.
It was very discouraging, and even though I loved this book, and had made it about 75% of the way through its sequel, WAKING THE DEAD, I put them both away, and decided to move on. I really didn’t want to self-publish it — for whatever reason, I wanted the validation of a “real” publisher. Then one day, my aunt, who was in her 70s, and had never heard of Urban Fantasy, much less read any, demanded I send her the book as a PDF. She printed it out on her inkjet printer, read it in one day, and loved it. I thought, what the hell? If she loves it, maybe I’ll give it one more try.
I sent it to two small presses. One rejected immediately, and then the other, The Wild Rose Press, took a chance on me, and here we are. (Right now, I’m doing a virtual nose-thumbing at all those other agents and editors, in case you’re wondering! ;))
The Winning Entry, Debriefing the Dead 
Logline: Hyacinth Finch has got one foot in the grave, the other kicking ass. To rescue her nephew and save the world from destruction, she must steal a powerful relic from Satan himself.
When I started writing DEBRIEFING THE DEAD, I was at a point in my writing where I knew I could write. But as noted, I wasn’t getting anywhere with NY agents and editors (at the time, the literal — ha! — gatekeepers to break into publishing), because what I wrote didn’t fit their expected molds for Romance, which was the genre I felt I most fit into, overall.
Now, I read a lot of Romance, and it’s always there in my books. But no matter how much we talk about individual stories, there is an expected…pattern, or story process, or whatever you want to call it, for every genre (not just Romance). And my writing often crosses those genre boundaries, or subverts them, or a number of other things that people in the industry “don’t like” (I use quotes, because what I really mean is, it makes it difficult for agents and editors to visualize where my books would be shelved in a bookstore or library, or what “line” the books would fit into, at a given publishing house, or whatever).
So, feeling frustrated, I decided to throw out all the “rules,” and just write the book I would want to read. I did it without thinking “I’m trying to publish this;” instead, I just wrote and wrote and wrote, and this is what came out. And my critique partners ALL told me, “This is the one. This book will be published.” It only took 10 years and 125+ rejections, but I guess they were right!
As for what this award means to me—pretty much everything. It’s an acknowledgment that readers love the book, and can accept more genre-bending than (some) agents and editors think.
Read an excerpt of Debriefing the Dead here.
“Dear Me,” (Advice to My Younger Writing Self)
I’m not sure, since I’ve been writing for so long. But I guess, if I went back to when I was in my 20s, I’d tell myself to pursue my goals sooner. Except, I’m not even sure I mean that, because maybe it took me having all those life experiences when I was a younger adult, in order to develop into the writer I am today. Maybe if I’d tried to get published back then, I would have succeeded, and maybe not. Maybe it would ultimately have been more discouraging, because I lacked the confidence in my abilities then, that I have now.
But once I did start to really focus on publication, I kind of think I did everything “right.” Does that sound arrogant? I don’t mean it to. What I really mean is that I think everything unfolded in my writing life the way it was supposed to. I got serious about publication, so I signed up for a Creative Writing class at PCC, hoping to make connections and improve my craft. The instructor suggested I look into our local Romance Writers of America chapter as a good resource (she didn’t belong, but knew of it). I went to a meeting…and met so many welcoming, like-minded individuals that I joined right away.
And from there, I found critique groups (at first) and partners (later). One of these read the opening chapters of my then un-published Romantic Suspense, PUBLISH OR PERISH, and suggested I read some of Jennifer Crusie’s books, since they were shelved as Romance, but weren’t exactly “Romance.” Another critique partner suggested I read Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum Series, because the CP said my writing “voice” was similar.
Now, crazy as it sounds, I’d never read either of those authors before (I know!!! ☺), and when I did, I thought, these are my peeps! But also, especially from reading the Crusie books, I “suddenly” figured out structure and pacing, in a way I’d never done before, which made a huge difference in my writing going forward. And again, this was all very organic, and by chance, and if I’d done it some other way, I have no doubt I’d be a different writer today.
So I really don’t have one, let alone three, pieces of advice for my earlier writing self, unless it’s to say: “Follow your own path, even if you have no idea where it’s going, and have faith it will lead you to the right place in the end.” That’s what I did, and I’m pretty happy with the results!
Other Works by this Author
WAKING THE DEAD is the sequel to DEBRIEFING THE DEAD, and is out now. I am working on the third book in the series, DAMNING THE DEAD, which I hope will be out later this year (but it depends on my publisher’s schedule—and when I finally finish writing it ☺). I also have a Romantic Suspense/Medical Mystery out now, PUBLISH OR PERISH, with another Romantic Suspense, THE PRINCESS SHOPPE, planned for release in Summer 2020. Finally, I have the first in a Historical Mystery series, set in Portland, Oregon in the early 1900s, which I hope to launch this year, but I’m a little swamped with all those other books right now!!
Stay Connected with Kerry
Website: http://kerryblaisdell.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/kerryblaisdellbooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kerryblaisdell1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kerryblaisdell/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kerryblaisdell1/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17892158.Kerry_Blaisdell
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kerry-blaisdell
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07BTHDL8R
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.
