People
ask me all the time, “What genre do you write in?” I used to not know how to
answer. You see, I take pieces of real life, sometimes mine, sometimes others,
and weave them into a fictional story. This is called narrative non-fiction or
creative fiction or reality fiction or any of about a hundred other titles by
the experts. In my world, I call it—real life fiction.
Take for
example my book, Legends of the Lake.
It’s a story about a family vacation home tucked away in the southern section
of Wisconsin. The place where over four generations of the same family spent
their summers and learned many life lessons from those around them. I wrote it
in first person; so many readers believe it to be a memoir. Although based on
some of my upbringing, the whole story is just that—a story. I took
remembrances from my mother and aunts and uncles who visited there, along with
my memories, and a story developed.
I like to
write in this style, so most of my books use it. It’s easier for me to ‘feel’
the story when I write in first person. I started my career as an author
writing on business trips to make the long nights go by faster. The more I
jotted down ideas and memories, the more new ideas came to me. The journey of
self-publishing became reality as not even one traditional publisher or agent
gave me any positive feedback. Then I happened on an editor who told me my
stories were very unique and that, if I tried hard enough, I would find readers
who would understand my stories.
And I
did.
After
three years, my first book using AuthorHouse as a publisher, Sensitivity 101…The Search for Acceptance,
sold almost 3000 copies. This was due to my
marketing and my social
networking and, of course, some luck. I say it was due to me because AuthorHouse
does absolutely nothing for you…unless you pay through the nose.
One day I
was on a plane trip back from Arizona and a very chatty older lady sat next to
me. I was very tired and didn’t want to talk to anyone. I politely told her how
I felt and offered her a copy of my book as a way for her to leave me alone.
She
started to read it and immediately laughed out loud … and then cried, loud enough
for the man next to her to take notice. As she read on, she changed emotions
many times. By the end of the hour plane flight, she had read about half of the
book. As we were leaving the plane, she shook my hand and said, “You have a
winner here.”
I thanked
her and continued walking off the plane. As soon as I reached the airport I
felt a hand touch my shoulder.
”Excuse
me, sir! Can we talk for a minute?”
“Sure,” I
said, not too convincingly.
It was
the man who was sitting in my row on the plane next to the lady.
“What was
that book you gave the lady next to me?” he asked. “She sure seemed to enjoy
it.”
I told
him it was a copy of my newly released novel, gave him a copy and watched as he
read the first ten pages.
“Can I
buy some of these?”
“Sure,
it’s on Amazon and everywhere books are sold,” I suggested.
“No,” he
said, “I own a string of gift stores on a cruise ships and I think this would
be a welcome addition. Can you help me get more than a few copies?”
I gave
him the information he needed--my publisher and the company who distributed it,
and he was gone.
Later
that day I received an e-mail stating that someone had bought 1000 copies of my
book.
Guess
being lucky sometimes trumps being good.
This led
to a ‘real’ publisher taking notice of me. All Things That Matter Press liked
my second manuscript, the sequel to Sensitivity
101, and offered me a contract. Not only did they want that book, but they
offered to re-release Sensitivity 101
under a new title and cover. In fact, Misguided
Sensitivity and Life Is a
Balance…It’s Not Only About You are both coming out in Spring of 2012. You
can visit my website, www.PhilipNork.com for more information about release dates.
Going
forward I will continue to write. I’m in the middle of a new manuscript, Tails You Lose, about gambling on horses
and the addiction it can bring on. This one is not in first person, but does
contain some real-life situations which happened to me or friends I know.
Thanks to
other authors out there, people like Darcia Helle and Kenneth Weene, my name
and my words are being distributed to people and places across the globe. And
by me keeping the circle going, so are theirs.
To become
a ‘fan’ of mine, you can go to www.facebook.com/authorPhilipNork or www.facebook.com/PhilipNork
