This Old Book

When I was going through my old manuscripts a couple of months back, I came across one that was never published.  Facing the Music is my only semi-successful attempt at writing a contemporary romance, before I found my niche as a Regency author. And guess what? It’s not awful. Oh, it’s no masterpiece. While I did have an agent interested, it didn't sell. With experience under my belt, I understand why. For one thing, it doesn't really fit into any category. It's not a traditional category romance. It's not chick lit. If anything, it’s closer to the romances written by Elswyth Thane, one of my influences.

For all the negatives I just listed, it's still a book I like. I like the characters, who are people I'd like to meet in real life. The premise is slim, but can be beefed up. So can the characters' motivations. Do you see where I'm going with this? This book has caught me. It’s changed my direction.

I’m going to rewrite Facing the Music. It’s a pleasant little book. It’ll never set the world on fire, and it’s still unsalable in the traditional way, but that’s where epublishing comes in. It will give the old, new life.

So, after being creatively dormant for over three years, I’m going to take a deep breath to calm my anxiety and plunge in to rewriting and revising this old book, for which I hold a great deal of affection.  Wish me luck!

Yay, Me!

I am now officially an indie author.  With my books for sale at Amazon for the Kindle, at B & N for the Nook, and at Smashwords, I have become a publisher as well as a writer.  Like many another indie author, I check my sales obssessively.  So I am happy to announce that I have sold 100 books in April already.  Yay!

There's Cake in My Future - I Think

I met the New Bedford Free Public Library's 50 Book Challenge!  Last Monday, April 11, at 11:14 PM, I finished book #50.  The date and time are important because I'm in a race.  My boss and I are in a competition to see who can finish first.  Since she was on vacation this week she had a time advantage over me.  However, I was a few books ahead, so I *think* I won.  And what are the stakes of this competition?  Pizza for her, if she wins; chocolate cake for me.  With chocolate frosting, of course.

The last time we had a competition, to see who could read the most books in 6 months, we tied, at 82 each.  I don't think that's going to happen this time.  Cake, anyone?