Author seeks Heart-starting support

First-time author Bridget Perrett is on the verge of publishing her debut novel, and is hoping for a little crowd support to get it over the line.

The Breakwater resident has written and revised The Heart of Grinnwick as a passion project for the better part of a decade in her spare time, including having it professionally edited.

She will self-publish the fantasy novel for young adults – intended to be the first in a series – at the end of October on several platforms and has also launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce more copies. According to Perrett’s website for The Heart of Grinnwick, the one thing you need to know about the Heart is that “it is not what it seems”.

“Shrouded in mystery, not much is known about the Heart,” the website states.

“Yet its truth has been embedded in the roots of Grinnwick since the beginning of time. And while its power has only just been hanging on for centuries recently gone, its spark is about to reignite.”

“There’s a lot of mystery and a lot of unknowns that I think will strike the reader in wanting to work out the connections, because everything’s connected or becomes connected in time,” Perrett said.

“So I think they’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of that, especially with this one.

“It starts with two different characters and they’re two seperate journeys. It’s a little bit steampunk-y with advanced technology, and at the same time, it’s got a magical element.”

The start of The Heart of Grinnwick can be traced to about 10 years ago.

“I’d just write for myself, just for fun, and I wrote different versions of a similar story, until I was like ‘This isn’t what I’m trying to tell’ and I would get rid of it and start again, over and over,” Perrett said.

“So it’s just been a side thing for my own imagination. And it kind of kept on going… and much later, I had 450 pages! So that was insane.”

She edited and re-edited the novel over the space of three years and started a Bachelor of Creative Writing part-time in 2018, which improved her skills but also led her to want to make to further edits and additions.

Perrett found a editor at online site Reedsy for a developmental edit on the overall structure of the story.

“I probably spent six months going over those edits, and then did a line-by-line copy edit… I think that must have taken about 18 months,” she said.

She also found an artist via Reedsy to produce the “creative and whimsical” cover illustration for The Heart of Grinnwick.

“You tend to see so many fantasy books, and they kind of all have a similar vibe, so you want something that will stand out,” she said.

She said she always intended to self-publish her novel but only discovered Kickstarter recently, and was inspired to try it out after learning about American fantasy author Brandon Sanderson and his successful Kickstarter campaigns.

She has raised nearly $2,000 of her $10,000 target, with the deadline set at October 12.

“In the early stages I did think about traditional publishing, but it’s a lot harder, and as I kept on doing everything myself – going to an editor myself, getting the artwork myself – I figured I should see it through myself,” Perrett said.

“It’d be amazing if (the Kickstarter) did make it, but if it doesn’t, it’s okay – it will just be slower.

“It’d definitely help support the journey that I’ve already been on, but also the following book; it’d give me time to work on it.”

Perrett said she had no doubts about going down the self-publishing route instead of using an established publisher.

“In my instance, I feel the opposite – I’ve grown so much doing it myself in comparison to having someone guide me. There’s a lot more work that goes into it from one person.

“But I think Kickstarter itself is a great way to get it out there, and get the story heard by people.

“For so many people, they’re not aware of what it is, so you get to kind of take them on the journey with you, and it’s nice to be able to do that.”

To donate to The Heart of Grinnwick Kickstarter or to donate, head to kickstarter.com/projects/bridgetanneperrett/the-heart-of-grinnwick

For more information about the novel, head to theheartofgrinnwick.com