Today I am so pleased to welcome Laura Bailo to Joyfully Jay. Laura has come to talk to us about her latest release, The Sun Still Rises. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!
The Sun Still Rises is my latest release, but it was also my first one. This was the first story I wrote in English (I’m not a native English speaker) and it was a complete gamble. Would I be able to write a novella in English? Would I be able to write a novella? Up until I wrote The Sun Still Rises, I had only written short stories in Spanish, any attempts to write anything longer had failed. So this book was a huge achievement for me. Not only I’d written something longer than two thousand words, I’d done so in English and a publisher wanted to sign it!
While I’ll always be grateful to that publisher for giving me a chance, for helping me believe I could do it, I requested my rights back in May when trouble with payments started (and yes, in case you’re wondering, I am talking about Dreamspinner Press). The rights reversion was quick and painless, and I started the process of resubmitting my first book.
Thankfully, I already knew where I wanted it to go, so as soon as I got my rights reversion letter I submitted this novella to NineStar Press; I even asked for a particular editor I had heard nothing but wonders about! And I was lucky! She was interested and I spent the whole afternoon jumping in a state of complete elation when I received her email.
And just from that first email, I knew everything I’d heard about her was right. She was already looking at the story with a critical eye, and pointed out some things she would like changed or revised. I fully accepted those changes and went into my new contract with my eyes wide open.
Reediting this book was a whole new experience. I’ve learned a lot as an author since I first wrote it, even my hold of the English language has improved! So I found myself cringing at some points, but loving every minute of it. My editor was amazing; she helped me made the story stronger without changing the core of it, by simply expanding some key scenes. And I adored her for it.
Copy editing was when I really cringed, and not only for myself, but from the previous editing. We removed almost eight-five instances of the word “just” from only thirty-two thousand words. Those should have been caught the first time around. I may not have known best, but my first editors surely should have. Anyway, it was done, and we were cleaning up the story now as well as we were able.
Along the way, I fell in love with this story again. With Erik and David. With Pamplona. I hope you do too.
Blurb
Whenever his father asked Erik to accompany him to Pamplona for the San Fermín festival, he said no. Now his father is gone, and in a spur of the moment decision, Erik finds himself in another country to run with the bulls in his memory. Erik hasn’t booked a hotel, and he’s completely unprepared for a city bustling with people. No accommodations to be had, he’s resigned to sleeping in a park. Until help comes from an unlikely place.
David works in the tourism office, and Erik is surprised but grateful when he offers him his spare room, despite being a complete stranger. Faced with the choice of sleeping on the ground or the friendly offer of an extra bed, the decision is an easy one. The two of them get to know each other as David shows Erik what’s to love about Pamplona. For the first time in a long while, Erik feels something for another person, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is only temporary and he needs to go back home, does it?
Bio
Laura Bailo is an asexual Spanish author of queer romance. She’s an anxiety-ridden writer who, when not writing or reading, loves exploring the narrow streets of Pamplona and thinking about all the stories she wants to write in the future. She has a penchant for writing sweet stories with a Spanish flavor, be it fantasy or contemporary, and she’s still dreaming about writing her first historical.
She loves hearing from people and you can find her at:
Laura, congratulations on the release of your first English story! I hope it will be the first of many.