Today I get to welcome a true friend back to the blog. Donna Fletcher Crow writes some of the most atmospheric fiction I’ve ever read. If you like a little British with your historicals, look no further than Donna’s work. And if you likes tales of perseverance and flexibility in the face of a sometimes rigid publishing model, look no further than this Moment.

My saga with my romantic suspense series The Elizabeth & Richard Mysteries isn’t so much a “made it” moment as a resurrection story. Let me explain.

Ten years ago I signed a contract with a very good publisher and worked with a delightful editor (with whom I am still friends) on a romantic intrigue which I called Between The Dream and The Reality. A bit wordy, but it expressed the theme of the book. The book was subsequently published the next year as The Castle of Dreams, a title I wasn’t fond of, but at the end of the day titles are the publisher’s decision because they are a marketing tool.

What I really, really disliked was the cover which made the heroine look cheap. And the fact that the hero’s name was wrong on the jacket blurb. In other words even with very good companies things can just plain go wrong. Need I say the sales were dismal?

Still, we soldiered on with book 2 in the series. I wrote it. Publisher paid the advance. End of story. In the meantime the publisher had taken on a superstar who sold in the millions. No, not J. K. Rowling, but it might as well have been, and they had no time for a midlister whose first book had been a lemon. Well, you can hardly blame them.

I spent my advance and sent the manuscript to the Boise State University Writers’ Archives who have collected my works.

Last year I found Stonehouse Ink who, thanks to the ebook revolution, are pioneering a whole new model of publishing. The ebook is released at least six months before the print book. With aggressive promotion the electronic version hopefully builds a base for the later print release.

I completely rewrote the old Castle of Dreams and it was released as The Shadow of Reality, with which I have had great fun— and frustration— and a bit of success promoting as an ebook.

Then it was time to call the archivist at BSU. Not only was he able to dig out my old typewritten manuscript from the depths of his archives, he also delivered it to my home. Of course, I had to retype the entire thing on my computer, but I wanted to rewrite it anyway, and so A Midsummer Eve’s Nightmare was resurrected. And given what I think, is my most stunning cover.

Which all goes to prove this is an insane business, but tenacity— and prayer— do pay off.

Donna Fletcher Crow is the author of 36 books, mostly novels dealing with British history. The award-winning GLASTONBURY, an Arthurian grail search epic covering 15 centuries of English history, is her best-known work. A VERY PRIVATE GRAVE, book 1 in the Monastery Murders series is her reentry into publishing after a 10 year hiatus. Book 2, A DARKLY HIDDEN TRUTH, will be out in 2011. Visit Donna’s website to see the book video for A VERY PRIVATE GRAVE and pictures from her garden and research trips. Donna blogs at http://www.donnafletchercrow.com/articles.php and you can follow her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/donna.f.crow.