Get Those Books Out There

Recently, on our way to a book signing in Lake City, my aunt and I traveled down through South Georgia and half of Florida delivering ARCs (advanced reading copies)to independent book stores. I hate to say it, but the independents may be a dying breed. The large chains and internet stores have placed them at a great disadvantage. The ones hanging on by their nails are usually located in small towns and resort areas, or have branched into the used book business.
I love a small book store where the ambiance is cozy; the seller, in love with books and the attitude directed toward new authors is accepting. Three cheers for those staying the course. I visited four really great ones along the way. What fun.

Busy, Busy, Busy

The weather here in North Carolina is turning cool, the air is clear and you can see the mountains for miles in the distance. This is my favorite time of the year, football, color in the leaves and a cool breeze in my face. Wow!
My first signing went well. I met some very nice people. My next signing is in Lake City, FL., then I'm on my way to Orlando and Tampa.
The problem with this picture is, there is no time to write. After the Crucible is stopped in its tracks while I sell books, travel and talk on the phone. I miss Faith and Jonathan (characters in my new book) and the release gained while sitting quietly in front of my computer.

My First Book Signing

On Sept. 27th, I'll have my first book signing at Osondu Booksellers in a quaint little town in Western North Carolina called Waynesville. I'm glad to get my feet wet. I'm more than ready to talk about Going Home to anyone who'll listen.

I had an interview with the local newspaper yesterday, had a cleverly designed interview sheet in my media packet ready to go. Good for me; but as you would guess, she, too, had a cleverly constructed set of questions--different than mine:

"How does an author find the desire to write after a drawer full of rejections?" I write because I have to. If no one ever read my novels, I'd still write for the love of writing, finding the very best word to express a thought, twisting a plot, discovering new friends in the characters, and on and on.
"What is the name of your cabin on the mountain?" Point of View.
"Do you have a view?" Yes, a great view of the mountains and the paper mill in Canton.
"Paper Mill?" Yes, on overcast days, I flip the house sign over and it say "Point of Pew."

There is Something About the Feel of a Book

Last week I was thrilled to hold my first novel in my hands, the slick cover, the gold lettering, the cannon--I once thought looked like a trashcan--the puzzle pieces. it had all come together, finally. I wrote the folks I needed to thank and sent them copies; the ones in my Atlanta critique group who read every word, taught me about tension and reminded me when my point of view "head hopped;" the two editors who returned my manuscript covered in red and green marks or penciled symbols; the early readers who pointed me to the places where they found themselves lost or misunderstanding; and the expert photographer who helped me design the cover.

I read my new book again, all 300 pages--when I sent it to the publisher it had 400, seems it needed squeezing, so the letters between a southern girl, her Confederate brother and a Union Captain were not allowed page breaks. I cannot count the number of times I've read the book in its entirety, more than thirty, I'd wager. If you're a reader, you'll understand when I say, it read differently, bound and covered.

Now comes the difficult part for me--difficult for most writers, I hear--the marketing.

My First Published Novel

Wow! Am I excited or what? After years of writing, I finally have a novel in print, Going Home. It's not my first novel; it's my third, but the first two gather dust on the shelf. They were too "girly," had too many story lines, too many points of view, or so they said.

After more rejections than I like to count, I revisited the craft of story telling and writing. I started over, entered college again -- after all these years -- graduated in English Literature and minored in History. What I thought might be the end of formal study was only the beginning. Story telling is a gift, I believe, like imagination; but good writing is a learned craft, developed out of study and practice, practice, practice. Am I there yet? No. Will I stop? No. I've just begun.