Welcome to my author page on Amazon!
To be honest, I never thought I would be an author. While going to school, English was my worst subject, next to phys ed. I was not an outdoor person, especially since I suffered from allergies and the medicines available would make me sleep until it was time to take the next dose. But I loved stories and books, so I read avidly all the mystery stories appropriate for my age. In my mind they played out like a movie.
Soon I was "directing" my own story movies in my head, with myself as the star of course. I daydreamed about being a princess from an unknown far away country or that a rich relative I never met left me their fortune. But it never crossed my mind to write them down, because silly things like grammar and spelling would slow me down or get in my way.
Years later this would all change. A close family friend introduced my co-author/mother and myself to Diana Gabaldon's time travel series that started with Outlander. We raced through all the books she had out in 2000 and discovered we had to WAIT for the NEXT one! Horrors!
I was married with children by that time, in fact I was pregnant with twins, when Mom and I were making yet another futile trip to the bookstore to see if the much awaited book was FINALLY OUT! Frustration overflowed and Mom griped, "What could possibly be taking SO LONG!"
My reply shocked us both: "So write your own story, if it's so easy!" She gaped at me, and when she could finally reply she said, "About what?!" All at once all the stories that played in my head came together as I snapped my reply that began a writing partnership I will treasure the rest of my life. We wrote our first manuscript that finished with a whopping 280,000+ words. After two years of attempted edits and unsatisfying critiques, we set that story aside and wrote Ethan's Flight.
Taking the lessons learned from our struggle with the first manuscript, Ethan's Flight was published April 2008. Sadly my co-author/mother passed away from complications with renal failure from diabetes in late 2009. I struggled with continuing a writing career without my partner for several years. Finally in late 2013 I was able to pick up a few of the pieces, connect with our mentor from Ethan's Flight, and begin editing the massive first manuscript.
With the support of my family, the encouragement and direction from my mentor, and the comfort, understanding and demands (When is the next book after Ethan's Flight coming out already?! Haven't I waited enough?!) from readers like you helped me take the steps necessary to pick up the pen and continue.
Thank you all so much! I appreciate you all more than you know. So, I have been working on the massive manuscript to attempt self-publishing and see if I can succeed with Legacy. If the response to this is everything I hope and dream, I will take back Ethan's Flight and release the second book as well. If I don't feel the response is the best for the series, I will continue with my current publisher. Either way, there will be a second book in the near future.
I would deeply appreciate reviews left for Ethan's Flight, and Legacy From Yesteryear and any future books. I am always thrilled to hear what others think and I am grateful to continue sharing my stories with you all.
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Recently it has come to my attention that I have made a mistake. For those that have tracked me down on Facebook and e-mail, I apologize to you for the effort. I should have let everyone know I am working on Book 2 in the Legacy series.
When Mom and I originally wrote Legacy From Yesteryear, we had just finished the latest Diana Gabeldon in her Outlander series. We both loved a book with a serious amount of pages. So we took all the parts of a story we enjoyed the most and rolled them into one book. We tried the agent route and submitting it in as many places as we could afford, and were roundly rejected. So we set the story aside until we could find someone who had the chops to help us with the editing process.
After Mom passed away, I used the manuscript as a way to see if I was ready to begin again, because it needed so much work. Every time I attempted to edit I would fall to pieces and I would set it aside for a few months until I was ready to try again. It has taken me longer than I expected to work on this manuscript alone, but I was able to decide were to break it apart and make it a more acceptable size for those that are just being introduced to our writing. (For those that would have preferred the whole 325,000 word enchilada, I am sorry. I mean no insult to you. Believe me, I would rather have left it in one piece.)
Rest assured, I am working on the next book in the series. I apologize again for disgruntling so many of my new readers. I will communicate better with y'all from now on.
For more information about me or my mom, Penelope West, please visit our website at:
http://victoriatrout.com (I am sorry, my learning curve hasn't reached making this a "live" link. Please copy and paste.)
