On Being a New Author

What a scramble! Getting word out about Dark Lady's Stone to all my friends--past and present--relatives, writers' groups, and acquaintances. Lots of fun reconnections... Get business cards printed up with the cover, directing people to Amazon. Thank all the gods for Pages! Every morning I check for sales. I've actually sold 3-4 books! Oooo! Of course it's nothing compared to J. K. Rowling or even "Robert Galbraith." But it's me.

I go to unfry my brain in the coffee shop. I take my proof copy of Dark Lady's Stone and put it out on the table. I've gotten several queries. It's fun to meet people and ask what they like to read.

I'm doing my own formatting for e-publication, Kindle Direct and Smashwords, following their guidelines. Time-consuming but I enjoy tinkering.

Progress to publishing

Lots of happenings. I found a musician for the cover of The Dark Lady's Stone and the artist found a Hi Res version, as well as a big black Standing Stone. I checked out 2 versions of the cover with friends, wrote a blurb (That is HARD!), and I should have the final this weekend. The editor's had a few delays, but she'll try to get my manuscript done by the end of next week. Oooo! It's all so exciting!

New Adventure!

I'm deep in the throes of self-publishing The Dark Lady's Stone! I found a free-lance editor to go over my final manuscript for the little things I've undoubtedly missed--grammar, spelling, typos, missing words--and as a bonus she's a poet, who can help with Loriano's troubadour poems. I am also working with a cover artist to come up with a way to depict my story. She and I have spent many hours looking for suitable images on the web. It's a joyful and frustrating process. Standing stones are easy, but I hadn't realized how hard it is to find usable pictures of a guy in his early 20s with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes who doesn't look too modern or too wimpy. I wish I were a skilled enough artist to paint my own hero.

Lawrence Durrell to Self-publishing

A couple of weeks ago I stopped by my favorite DVD shop to rent Season II of "Game of Thrones." (Only 10 episodes?? I absolutely cannot wait a whole year for what comes next!) On the "oldies" shelf I happened to notice "The Black Book." "Is that Lawrence Durell's 'Black Book'?" I asked the proprietor. It wasn't, but I remembered when I was in college I'd avidly devoured Durell's Alexandria Quartet and probably reread it 15 times. So, in a fit of nostalgia, I downloaded it onto my iPod Touch. Yes, I had almost memorized Justine, and it still captures me except that now passages I'd kinda passed over as beautiful writing take on new meaning. I've grown up a lot and I'm understanding things I did not back in 1960-61.

And on another note . . .

After considerable thought and feedback, I've decided to self-publish The Dark Lady's Stone. Recent speakers at my RWA chapter, friends, and members of Broad Universe have described how it works, how to format your manuscript, get copy-edits and find a cover artist. The advantages include that you control the whole process and you get to keep profits. I admit that my recent birthday and health have played into this decision, but now that I've made it, it feels right.

In the meantime, I'm working full-steam on the sequel, tentatively entitled The Dark Lady's Troubadour or Troubadour's Quest. My hero and heroine are working through a crisis point, which they must resolve before they can embark on a new stage in their relationship. Their story together is very hard for me to write. Relationship scenes are worse than pulling teeth, and this whole book is full of them! I just want to get past them and on with the story!