Just don’t say you are going to be a writer, just write,” that is the advice to young writers from Colleen Braithwaite who has published a romance novel that promises to be the first in a series of fiction from her.
‘At Your Service’ is a love story between a Deputy U.S. Marshall and a Flight Attendant, and the Guyanese author, using the pen name C.M. Braithwaite, who now resides in Decatur, Georgia spoke with Guyana Times International about the inspiration behind her novel.
“I’ve always been a strong reader, I read a lot and all sorts of stuff. And I was going through a romance splurge. At the time I was reading (lots) of romance novels, and I read one and was a little disappointed with how it ended and I said you know I have read so many books that I could write one. And so I just started to write,” she said.
She started inking her thoughts at the end of August 2009 and late 2010 the book was completed following extensive research and collaboration with the publishing company – iuniverse.
She said that she did self-publishing, and chose iuniverse, who called her book, a print on demand. She added that she bought a publishing package and they helped her through the steps; but mostly the marketing of the book is left up to her.
Braithwaite claimed that the marketing and promotional aspects are somewhat challenging. However, she has a plan that is aimed at selling her book. She will promote the novel at the Labour Day activities in Georgia at the end of May, and is also slated to introduce the book to patrons at the 2011 Caribana in Canada and the Guyana Folk Festival in New York.
In the meantime, the book can be purchased online at Barnes and Noble, Borders and Amazon.com, iuniverse.com and on the author’s website cmbraithwaite.com. There, readers will purchase personally signed copies of ‘At Your Service’ and will also receive free items, coupled with enjoyment and satisfaction Braithwaite hopes each reader gets from her book.
She said: “When you finish reading a book, you should be sorry to turn the page and see the end…so I hope that they like it so much they want to know what happens after the last page.”
Braithwaite is planning what could be her second and third novels – one of which is set to be about the romance that unfolds with one of the secondary characters in ‘At Your Service.’
As a former sport journalist/broadcaster at the Guyana Television Broadcasting which is now National Communications Network and Public Relations officer with Omai, Braithwaite credits her ability to write to the experience in the media field in Guyana.
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