Perseverance Pays Off

Author and certified book coach Susanne Dunlap’s latest historical fiction book, The Portraitist, is being published, so we sat down with her to hear about and celebrate her experience.

Which publishing route was taken for this project?

Hybrid publishing with She Writes Press.

What are you most looking forward to in the publication process?

This book was 7 years in the making, through many iterations and complete overhauls. I'm very proud to have persevered and made it work at last!

Was there ever a moment of doubt about the book?

There are always doubts. I think when the book had three different POV characters and was well over 130k words long, I didn't know if I'd ever be able to wrangle it. But I courageously made the decision to have only one POV character and cut, cut, cut. I'm happy with the outcome.

But the darkest time, for me, is sending it out into the world and waiting for reader and reviewer reactions, knowing that for better or worse, it's done.

What did you do to celebrate the publication of your book?

I haven't celebrated yet. I've been too busy adjusting to a new life in a new town, and now recovering from a broken ankle and leg! So celebrations have to come to me for now... I'm particularly excited about the audiobook, actually, narrated by the amazing Deborah Balm.

What’s next for the book?

I've got two Zoom events coming, on September 20 & 21. On the 20th, I'll be sharing the historical background of my protagonist and her fierce rival in the art world of pre-Revolutionary Paris. On the 21st, I'll be having a Q&A about the writing and researching process with fellow book coach Margaret McNellis. And I've got some articles appearing in several outlets, including DIY MFA, The Write Practice, and Book Club Babble.

What is your favorite passage from the book?

Whenever sleep eluded her, Adélaïde would gaze out the window of the third-floor apartment she shared with her husband and think about colors. She’d stare hardly blinking for hours, noticing all the subtle variations of hue that, to a skilled eye, gave the sky as much movement and character as a living creature. Even as a child, she had understood that nothing was fixed, that light changed whatever it touched. Take the human face: Skin was not one color, but many, and never exactly the same from one moment to the next. She knew, for instance, that if Nicolas ever discovered what she was going to do that day, his face would take on one of the shades of thundercloud that had become more and more familiar to her as they drifted apart, and then she would be obliged to cajole him back to a placid pale pink.

What are the next steps in your career?

I'm on a long trajectory, since this is my 12th published novel. But I've also written a series of six novellas that feature my protagonist's rival, which I will be releasing later this year. I had enough material for an entire second novel! But I decided to give the novella series a try instead. The series is called "Behind the Painted Fan."

Why would you recommend a writing coach to get to this point in the writing journey?

I started this novel long before I knew there was such a thing as a book coach. Once I had my own certification, I forced myself to apply what I'd learned to this book, and did a very long Inside Outline to figure out what was working, what wasn't, what didn't belong, what was missing. It made a huge difference. I think if I'd worked with a coach I would have gotten there sooner.

I’m a huge believer in the power of Author Accelerator’s book coaching tools. I’ve seen them work for me on several projects, and for my clients.