It’s been such a hectic month I haven’t managed to post any news. Here’s an overview of what I’ve been up to.
Vancouver Public Library Indie Author Day
The first annual Indie Author Day at the Vancouver Public Library was also my first public appearance as a published author. I met with several other authors that I knew, including Joel Mark Harris, Christine Dodd and fellow RWA member Cheri Champaigne, with whom I shared a table. I also did a short reading from my book Reconcilable Differences.
Surrey International Writer’s Conference
For the first time in several years, I attended the Surrey Writer’s Conference as a full delegate and indulged in inspiring keynote speakers such as Daniel Jose Older, workshops and panel discussions with new authors and perennial favorites such as Diana Gabaldon, did a blue pencil session on an unpublished manuscript with favorite author Susanna Kearsley and pitched the same to a few agents and editors, garnering several requests for submissions. Fingers crossed and good luck to book two in the Having It All series: Coming About.
Author Signing at Indigo Park Royal in West Vancouver
My first author signing event involved a bit of nerves and fretting, but ended up being a ton of fun as friends and family stopped by to buy books, get them signed and wish me well. And a few strangers too! Far better than the dreaded picture of me sitting alone in the book store at the mall having people walk by while avoiding eye contact and listening to the proverbial crickets.
Vancouver Women’s Conference
Finally yesterday I attended the full day inaugural Vancouver Women’s Conference organized and hosted by TV and radio personality and sex expert Maureen McGrath who brought together a room full of speakers and presenters to focus on issues of interest and concern, including the new POTUS, women in the workplace, balancing life and work, sexual health, assault and healing, empowerment, business modeling, mothering, fertility and menopause, and even fashion.
And that’s all, except for the fact that it’s National Novel Writing Month now, and I’m supposed to be hunkering down to revise and complete Coming About, book two in the Having It All series. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could get it published by later winter or early spring 2017. That’s what I’m aiming for.
In the meantime, one last promotional effort for Reconcilable Differences, which is free on Amazon Kindle today and tomorrow. So if you’re still looking for a digital copy, now’s your chance. Click here to start reading today.
A final request: if you’ve read it or plan to, don’t forget to leave a rating and review on Amazon or Goodreads. That way I can get put away my promoters hat and back to writing more stories. Thanks!
IT’S PARTY TIME!
EPIPHANY
I can still remember like it was yesterday the evening almost eleven years ago that I sat beside my husband in bed, doing aptitude tests and reading books like What Colour Is My Parachute? It wasn’t the first time I was trying to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I’d already been to university for years and earned several degrees. I’d tried to put all that worthy education to good use by building not one but two professional careers, first as an architect, then as an academic researcher in gerontology, and then, rather feebly, as an architect again.
Then a baby, aging parents and a huge home renovation got in the way. Et voila, five years vanished. Strangely, I put good use to my architectural training being my own house designer and project manager, and I put all that valuable gerontology knowledge to good use caring for my mother-in-law and mother. But once junior was in full time kindergarten, I began to get restless and look for new outlets for my energy and creativity. Thus the soul-searching moment I mentioned above. At that point in my life I really needed to close those doors and move into a new arena.
Or not completely new, as I’d always been an avid reader and book lover, and had attempted to craft my first novel at the age of nine. I made it (longhand on yellow foolscap) ten chapters in before something else stole my attention away. But I never lost the desire, and the books, or their genesis, accumulated inside my head over the years, like secret friends whose voices called to me.
Five years came and went in the blink of a cursor, and no book publishing happened. I suppose for some writers it happens faster, but I believe for most there are many quiet years of devotion and diligence, and perhaps dabbling, that precede those fabulous debuts. But the path to publishing is paved by many a stumbling block. Mine included perfectionism, an addiction to research and learning, crushing self-doubt (a cliché in our business), a desire to learn how to navigate the online world of social media in order to build my author “platform”, a desperate attempt to learn about and keep abreast of the quickly shifting sands of the publishing industry. All necessary parts of the author’s career. Oh, and did I mention crushing self-doubt? None of these new challenges came easily, especially the digital-technical stuff, which seems to get harder the older I get.
Having several completed works is one of the side benefits of working diligently for eleven years– I have an “oevre.” And I’m certain at least one of those books will be published very soon. One way or another. I now have a solid sense of the industry and my place in it, and a lot more confidence about how I want to manage my writing career.