Last year, when Loose-Id announced it was closing, I had a real “why go on?” moment. I considered slowing down, or not writing at all for a while. Taking a break, if not from writing, at least from publishing. I had written for Samhain, Ellora’s Cave and Loose-Id, and they had now all gone.
While I admire people who can make a success of self-publishing, I really don’t want to take that course, at least not for everything I write. I love writing, not all the fuss and bother that goes with self-publishing. I do enjoy designing the occasional book cover, but apart from that, I’d rather avoid the production of my own books. And promotion is not my thing. Not of my own books, anyway. I have tried, but I guess I’m not outgoing enough.
I’d rather write, create the stories and bring the characters that invade my mind. Bring them to life and and tell their stories.
I still have a great relationship wih Kensington, so I could be happy telling my stories there. But The Shaws series is coming to an end this year, and I sent them something new, so I’m biting my fingernails rying to be patient while I wait for their response.
I had a historical romance that seemed to turn itself into a series. So I sent it to several agents, my dream agents. And waited for the rejecions to come rolling in. Instead, I got requests for more, and offers. I accepted an offer from Jill Marsal of Msrsal Lyons, and I’m now thrilled to announce that she is acting for me as my agent. I’ve always admired her, and she represents some of my favourite authors.
Here we go on a new adventure.
What will Kensington think of the new series, and will Jill find me a home for the new trilogy?
The waiting begins.
However…
I like to change things up a bit from time to time and write in a different genre. I had an idea for a contemporary romance series, and I sent it out to Tule, a publisher with some awesome authors on its books. And they accepted it! Everything seems to be happening at once. The new series will feature a pair of brothers, who discover that their supermodel mother hwd produced two other siblings they never heard of before. I created a designer of sport cars, and he came to life on my keyboard. I get so excited when that happens!
I’;m currently in the States, on my annual perambulation around the country. So far I’ve been to New York and Washington, DC, both of which are still as fantastic as ever, and now I’m in Los Angeles, staying with lovely Rosechel Sinio, who owns the amazing Lil Book Bug store in Lancaster. They are setting up tables for an author signing, (not mine!) so I get to meet another lovely writer.
Although the writing life is far from easy, it’s the best job I’ve ever had. I should have known better than to doubt it!