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My first nonfiction book was published in 1984, and my first fiction book in 2002. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the publishing industry over the years, including book chain mergers, the rise of digital media, and the mainstreaming of self-publishing.

However, one factor remains constant: write the best story you can.

Before committing to a story, do some market research. This will prevent you from writing a story that nobody will care about. Take classes and learn from everything you read. I often learn the most from terribly written stories, as it shouts to me what not to do. Make the characters multi-layered and complex, even if they are minor characters. Write the setting so the reader feels as if they are there, standing in the middle of it. Make the events that occur resonate with the reader. Create a story that is unforgettable.

The days of a rough manuscript being discovered in a slush pile and polished to perfection by a team of editors are long gone. The largest publishers have replaced the slush pile and interns with third-party literary agents who will only recommend stories that are near-perfect and about which they are passionate. They have become the gatekeepers for the pinnacle of publishers.

There is an ever-growing number of small- to midsize publishers. Do your homework; some are better options than the largest publishers, while others are individuals in a spare bedroom.

Do not rely on family or friends to tell you how great your story is. Get the best editor you can afford. Every punctuation mark and every sentence structure must be perfect. I am comma-challenged; I was taught throughout my school years to place a comma anyplace where I take a breath. Apparently, I breathe at the wrong times. A good editor will catch each one.

If you plan to self-publish, you should understand that there is a world of difference between being a writer and being a publisher. Simply uploading your book online won’t sell it. Learn as much as you can about the publishing industry, marketing, and advertising online and off.

Often, traditional publishers and moviemakers will pay attention to self-published books that are rising in various bestseller lists. The more you understand about the industry, the better positioned you will be for success.

Padlocked is an epic historical and visionary novel that follows the lives of a group of ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary, life-altering circumstances as Nazi Germany invades Poland in 1939.

Two foreign photojournalists, an American and a Spaniard, are trapped between armies at Festungsfront Oder-Warthe-Bogen, along Poland’s western border with Germany. It is Hank’s last overseas assignment, and he’s been counting the days until he can go home to North Carolina to be with his family. Rafe fled Spain after the dictator, Francisco Franco, targeted his family. The experience changed him, and he now sees the rise of fascism in Europe as a battle between good and evil. They will find themselves embedded with the Polish, Nazi, and Soviet forces at varying times, forcing them to face moral and ethical decisions in their struggles to survive.

A young woman is separated from her sister in Warsaw as the Nazis encircle it. Agata made a vow that she would return to take Elsa to safety, but soldiers and barbed wire prevent her from entering the newly established Jewish sector. She is consumed with guilt over their separation, and when she discovers her sister was taken by train to a work camp near Krakow, she navigates her dangerous, war-torn country in search of her. Her quest will force her to confront a Hell on Earth to find her.

A young man joins the Jungdeutsche Partei, or the Young German Party. Once bullied as a child, Max’s new affiliations promote him to a position where he can dictate life or death and settle scores. In order to thrive under Nazi occupation, he makes daily choices that legitimize brutality and erode humanitarian principles and scruples.

While they don’t know one another at the start of their journeys, each will make decisions that have the power to transform them and place them on paths that ultimately converge on January 27, 1945, as the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front opened the gates to Auschwitz-Birkenau for all the world to witness.

This is ultimately a story about the strength of love, courage, faith, and resilience in the face of unimaginable hatred and obsession with power, and how every decision we make places us further along specific paths.

Enjoy an Excerpt

The throngs pushed her this way and that, so she felt like she was attempting to run through thick mud. She made slow progress, and yet, something inside her propelled her forward. She reached the end of the block to find cars racing past, ignoring intersection rules, and she hesitated to get her breath. Someone from behind pushed her to the ground, stomping over her dress as she lay prone, scores of feet scuffling over her while she tried vainly to rise.

A hand reached through the crowd. Amidst the shouting, his words were louder and deeper than the others. “Get back!” he shouted as he grasped her by the waist and hauled her to her feet. “Get back!”

As the mob stepped back and then rushed forward in another direction, the man pulled her away from the others. It was easy to see why the crowd had obliged him and given her space. He was a soldier in the Polish Army, his cropped, sandy hair almost hidden beneath a crisp cap bearing the Polish White Eagle. His trim figure was clothed in an olive uniform, and he wore a wide black belt and knee-length black boots.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Fine, thank you.” Agata wiped her hair off her forehead and was surprised to find pebbles from the ground in her hair.

“Where were you going?” he asked.

“I—” She hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“The school—”

“No. I need to leave the Jewish sector. I need to be across town.”

“Is that where you live?”

Agata looked around her in impatience. “I am wasting time here. Thank you for assisting me to my feet, but I must go. The Germans—”

“The Germans are coming,” he finished. “And we are digging in. You will be safe if you remain in Warsaw, Jewish sector or no.”

“Then, thank you, and good-bye.” She turned to run, but he held out his hand and stopped her.

“Do you have an address where you are going? I have a motorbike. I can get you there faster than you can run.”

“Shouldn’t you be somewhere right now? Like, fighting the Germans?”

He laughed so unexpectedly that Agata was shocked. “There will be time enough for that, don’t you worry. My name is Piotr. Come. My motorbike is over there, on the opposite corner.”

As Agata rushed across the busy street with him and settled behind him on the motorbike, she took a long look at the school down the street. It was difficult to know what was happening as people rushed in all directions at once. Her eyes fell on the top step, at two figures holding one another so tightly they appeared as if they might be one. A tear rolled down her cheek as the motorbike zoomed to life, and she held onto Piotr as they took off. Soon, the people blended behind them while the memory of Ira and Elsa on the step seared into her mind. “I will be back tomorrow,” she thought. “I will be back, just as I promised.”

About the Author: My full name is Patricia McClelland Terrell, and I have been writing under the pen name p.m.terrell ever since a publisher presented me with my first fiction book cover. The graphic designer had also entered my 026/05/author-image-3-239×300.jpg” alt=”” width=”239″ height=”300″ class=”alignleft size-medium wp-image-132842name in lower-case letters; my editor hated it, and I loved it. It’s been p.m.terrell ever since.

I began writing when I was nine years old, inspired by a schoolteacher and elementary school principal. Scott-Foresman published my first book, a computer instructional for universities, in 1984. Scott-Foresman, Dow-Jones (Richard D. Irwin branch), Palari Publishing, Paralee Press, and Drake Valley Press have published 27 books to date.

Before embarking on a full-time writing career, I founded McClelland Enterprises, Inc., in the Washington, D.C., area in 1984, specializing in workplace computer instruction. I opened another business, Continental Software Development Corporation, in 1994, which focused on custom application development, programming, website design and development, and cybersecurity.

I was honored to be the first female President of the Chesterfield County/Colonial Heights Crime Solvers. Since moving to North Carolina, I served on the boards of the Robeson County Friends of the Library and the Robeson County Arts Council.

I launched The Book ‘Em Foundation with Waynesboro, Virginia, Police Officer Mark Kearney, and assisted in Virginia, New Hampshire, and South Carolina events before establishing the Annual Book ‘Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, chairing it for several years before turning it over to Robeson Community College in Lumberton, NC.

Padlocked is available in all eBook formats, trade paperback, hardcover, and large print editions.

Buy the book at iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Kobo, in France, in Germany, or in all other ebook formats.