Mark Noce's Publishing Journey

Hi everyone! Welcome to my regular guest feature! Today, Mark Noce is here to share his publishing journey with us. 

Take it away, Mark!

Thanks, Misha for having me here! I’m pumped to have my debut novel, Between Two Fires, coming out with St. Martin’s Press this August, and I’m here today to share a little bit of what my “journey” to this point so far has been like.

I love reading and writing historical fiction, double-majoring in both History and English in undergrad before getting my Master’s in English. To improve my craft further, I started attending the San Francisco Writer’s Conference about five years ago. I learned a lot, became a better writer and eventually got my super fantastic agent, Rena Rossner of the Deborah Harris Agency. This February I’ll be a guest speaker for the second year in a row at the very same San Francisco Writer’s Conference I used to attend as a budding writer. Needless to say, I’m pretty stoked.

But of course, it wasn’t all a bed of roses. I wrote plenty of other manuscripts before Between Two Fires and got plenty of rejections along the way before I found my niche. Now I’ve got a two book deal with Thomas Dunne Books (an imprint of St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan) and my editor is the head of the imprint himself. But guess what? Rejection is still part of the game. I still run through lots of drafts that my publisher either likes or does not like, spending a good deal of time making each chapter shine until we can’t possibly do another thing to improve it. I’d liken it to pulling rabbits out of hats, except it isn’t magic. It’s a lot of darn hard work. But it has a happy rainbow at the end of the tunnel when I’m left with a great story of which I couldn’t possibly be more proud.

So what’s this Welsh epic of mine all about? Below is a blurb about Between Two Fires, and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I have. You can pre-order Between Two Fires on Amazon or add it to Goodreads! You can also connect with me via marknoce.com, my blog, Twitter or Facebook.

Thanks again Misha for having me!

Between Two Fires

Saxon barbarians threaten to destroy medieval Wales. Lady Branwen becomes Wales’ last hope to unite their divided kingdoms when her father betroths her to a powerful Welsh warlord, the Hammer King.

But this fledgling alliance is fraught with enemies from within and without as Branwen herself becomes the target of assassinations and courtly intrigue. A young woman in a world of fierce warriors, she seeks to assert her own authority and preserve Wales against the barbarians. But when she falls for a young hedge knight named Artagan her world threatens to tear itself apart. Caught between her duty to her people and her love of a man she cannot have, Branwen must choose whether to preserve her royal marriage or to follow her heart. Somehow she must save her people and remain true to herself, before Saxon invaders and a mysterious traitor try to destroy her.

Thanks for stopping by, Mark! Anyone else interested in being featured on my blog? If you are, please mail me at mishagericke(AT)gmail(DOT)com with "Thursday Feature" in the subject line. 

Have a lovely day! Don't you just love this book's cover?