Anju Gattani is finally in front of our fireplace!

Good Tuesday morning, Anju. I can't believe I finally got you here. Make yourself comfortable and tell us about yourself and your book. (I can't believe we will soon be able to buy it.) I know you are counting the hours! I LOVE the cover.

Slices of Success

By Anju Gattani

With fifteen days to go before the release of my debut novel, DUTY AND DESIRE, on Dec 1, 2011, I’ve been thinking hard about success. What does it really mean and how does it change over time?

For a long time—nine years ago to be precise when my kids were 6 and 2—I put pen to paper and started writing the best story I could in the best way I knew how to. It took a year and half to pound out the manuscript, after which I put down the pen, breathed a sigh of relief and wondered about the sequel running through my head. Several authors suggested I reconsider what I had already written – not 1 but 2 stories.

A series, they coined the term, was what I had produced.

A series, I thought, was not what I had intended. It was not good enough.

And that was the beginning.

What followed were years of research, slicing the story in two, learning the craft of writing, re-writing, revising, reconsidering scenes, sequels and descriptions, pulling out characters (and promising them a story of their own in the future) while attending local chapter meetings, working under the critique of 2 best-selling authors and holding the ‘delete’ button at my fingertips. I had to be successful now, I figured, more authors were guiding and critiquing my work; the cream of the writing community was taking me under its wing!

And yes, I was truly successful now – at getting rejections! It was not good enough.

And that was the beginning.

What followed were years of more re-writing, revising and researching for the right agent. I found one. We signed. We celebrated. Then two years later we parted because the manuscript was still homeless. This was followed by more rounds of re-writes, revisions and researching for another agent while working on a third manuscript—not the sequel I had intended—but a story that would eventually tie into the sequel (I had intended). Then I found another agent. We signed. We celebrated. And the agent found the manuscript a home! We celebrated again. I had to be successful now, I figured, because the book was no longer homeless. The publishing contract was followed by more rounds of revisions and in some cases entire re-writes because it wasn’t good enough.

And that was the beginning.

I then secured a column in a multicultural magazine, entered the blogging world and learned about blurbs, endorsements, reviews and getting your name out while the manuscript transitioned to a book; it finally had a cover, a face… a visual, an identity… what a moment! I had to be successful now, I figured. Then I learned I had to work on the next manuscript-to-be-written while promoting the first book because simply working on another story isn’t good enough.

And I’m back to the beginning.

What lies ahead? What sales numbers will the book bring? What story will readers take to heart and to their friends? What emotions and thoughts will the characters stir? And what lies ahead after that? I don’t know. After nine years of not knowing I’m not sure if I’m supposed to know at all because, apparently, just when I figure something out, I learn there’s more ahead. What I do know for a fact is that my kids are now 15 and 11 and I’m once again putting pen to paper and writing the best story I can in the best way I know how to.

A series, I understand, is what I’m producing.

A series, I believe, was not what I had intended. Is it good enough? Is this success?

Or is this just another beginning?

Author Bio: Anju Gattani is an international free-lance journalist and fiction author. Her debut novel DUTY AND DESIRE, Contemporary Women’s Fiction (with an international twist) is slated for release on Dec 1, 2011. She is a member of Georgia Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America, a columnist for ‘Khabar’ an Indo-American magazine and is at work on her third novel. Anju grew up in Hong Kong under a British education system; she has also lived in India, Singapore, Australia, New Jersey, Connecticut and Atlanta in the US. Anju hopes her novels will one day Bridge Cultures and Break Barriers. Visit Anju at www.anjugattani.co