Recently I had the opportunity to read a fantastic debut novel by author Lynne Bryant called Catfish Alley and thoroughly enjoyed it. Because her story was so original, enjoyable (not to mention southern women’s fiction) and being that it would be her first published novel I jumped at the chance when the opportunity arose to have Lynne talk about her path to becoming a published author! Please do take a look at her debut novel Catfish Alley, especially if you were a fan of The Help, authors Sarah Addison Allen or Mary Kay Andrews books I know you’ll love it. Take it away Lynne!

November 1, 2008, was a cold gray day as I settled into my favorite chair in my writing studio, took a deep breath, and began to write the first words of what, two and a half years later, turned out to be my debut novel Catfish Alley. I was participating for the second time in National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org/), an international writing competition with the theme “Thirty days and thirty nights of literary abandon.” During the month of November, the participants go through all forms of self-torture to produce 50,000 words toward a new novel. The only thing that can be written before the start of the contest is a rough outline. On November 1 you start fresh, suspend your inner editor, and write your tush off, producing a minimum of 1,667 words a day, every day, until the deadline at midnight November 30th. Each participant has a personal account on the website to which you upload your work for word counts. If you succeed, you get a certificate—you can even order a t-shirt—and a tremendous amount of satisfaction! I’m pleased to say that I was a winner with the first 50,000 words of a novel I called Catfish Alley—a title representative of a particular place in my hometown.

Earlier in the fall, while doing research on antebellum homes for a different novel, I had discovered the list of sites for the Columbus, Mississippi African-American Heritage tour. I had begun to think about what would happen if a white pilgrimage director had to collaborate with a black historian to create an African-American tour. So, when I launched into NANOWRIMO, it was with a list of the existing tour sites as a framework for the story. However, the picture in my mind—the one that wouldn’t go away on that November morning—was a hot summer night in Mississippi.

In my mind’s eye it was the dead of night and a young black man, terrified and dripping with sweat, was climbing through thorny, snake-infested undergrowth up a steep river bank, to secretly deliver a package to a wealthy white girl looking out from her bedroom balcony overlooking that same river. What will happen to this man? I wondered.

At the end of November I set aside Catfish Alley while I continued to look for an agent for my completed novel. I signed up to pitch at the April, 2009 Pikes Peak Writers Conference. I also signed up to read from my completed novel in a Read and Critique session with a different agent, Kevan Lyon. I’m now happy to say Kevan didn’t find the story very interesting-“sounds like kitchen table conversation,” I remember her saying. But what I did notice was how intrigued she was by a very tiny historical detail in the excerpt I read, and I took notice when she said how much she loved historical fiction.

I went home that day discouraged, but curious. What if? Catfish Alley wasn’t finished, and I knew if I pitched it, I’d be breaking one of the rules of pitching: “Always pitch a completed manuscript.” However, I decided it was my “go big or go home” moment, so I cancelled my pitch appointment with the other agent, and took a chance that Kevan might have a cancellation in her pitch schedule. And I got lucky! She had a cancellation, and when I pitched the story of Catfish Alley, she liked it! I still have a vivid memory of the conversation. Kevan said, “I’m intrigued. Send me a hundred pages.” I, of course, agreed—trying to remember to breathe—especially when she continued with, “You know if I like this, I’m going to push you.” I nodded, and smiled, and shook her hand, then proceeded out of the pitch room so I could have a small nervous breakdown. A hundred pages! I had close to two hundred pages written, but none of it was polished and ready for anyone else to read—not even my mother!

With the feedback of an editor, Elizabeth Roberts (another great story), I worked quickly to polish the first 100 pages of Catfish Alley and sent it off the Kevan. It was during polishing that I made a decision which altered the course of my writing journey. I changed from third to first person POV. I knew it was a risk, but once I experienced stepping into the mind of the characters and writing the story through their eyes, there was no going back!

Kevan called within a couple of days with a message for me to send her the whole book. Again, I panicked! I called her back and said, “Um…I’m the one who doesn’t have the book finished. Remember?” And, miraculously, she said, “Oh that might be even better. I can give you feedback as you finish it.” That was when I knew I’d found a jewel for an agent!

The next several months, as I completed sections of the novel and sent them to her for feedback, were not so much about being pushed as about being encouraged. She believed in the story, and her constructive feedback helped me to make the novel stronger. I finished Catfish Alley by Labor Day of 2009, and by October, Kevan had sold it to Ellen Edwards at New American Library, a division of the Penguin Group. What a fabulous present for my fiftieth birthday!

Thank you so much Lynne! It was a pleasure having you stop by Chick Lit Reviews today!

Again, Catfish Alley is out in stores in the US already! Make sure to pick up your copy on your very next trip to the bookstore!

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