I got an email that said I’d sold a book which you won’t see any time soon (see later in this post for why). Then a week later I got another email. Then 2 weeks later, I got another. It was sort of … surprising. To be honest, I didn’t really celebrate — I was so busy with contracts and rewrites, it was a few months later before it really sank in. Of course, then I treated myself to a nice, relaxing weekend … and that’s why I’m looking at buying a new computer. I figured by the end of this hectic year, I deserved it (I signed my first contract at the beginning of October, so that’s the year I’m talking about).
Re: series and selling: Oh, yes. I keep working on the series, no matter what. The next one is set in 1934 America, around the time John Dillinger came to town — St. Paul, that is. Then the next one will be in 1918 America, then … well, I’d better not get ahead of myself. But I have 7 books planned in the History Patrol series and four of them drafted. I hope my publisher will like what I write …
For my other books, it’s a matter of ‘submit. Do they like it?’ If yes, YEA! Another book sold. If no, ‘ hmm. Who should I send it to?’ There’s a never-ending hope that my current publisher will love what I write, but one never knows. I have four more third-person RS books, in the same vein as “Grace”, that are ready to go. They all feature older heroes and heroines — that’s what I write and I doubt I can ever write anything else. I also have five more first-person books, with a ‘Brownie’ flavor (pun intended) that are ready to go and looking for a home.
I have two publishers, one for my first-person mysteries (the Brownie book) and one for my third person romantic supsense (Your Saving Grace, If Not For You). And, right now, I have the same publisher for the paranormal series. I’m happy where I am with all my books and would like to stay there … here’s hoping!
I had sort of an odd introduction to romance. I’ve only been reading it for about 4 years. Seriously. Never picked up a romance novel until around 2003 or so. It’s a long story how I discovered it, but suffice it to say, it was all by accident. I thought the Book on Tape I checked out from the library was a time travel book. It wasn’t until I got to the part on the tape where the hero and the heroine have their wedding night that I discovered that “Outlander” by Diana Gabaldon really isn’t your typical time travel/SciFi book I thought it was. I immediately went to my local librarian and said, “Show me more like this one.” I read through a bunch of books for about 6 months, then I discovered RWA, which led me to my local RWA chapter, which led me to … here.
Those romance books were so much fun, I felt I had to give it a shot. I started seriously writing in 2004, entered contests in 2005, and sold my first 2 books in 2006, sold 3 more in 2007. I know — the math doesn’t add up, does it? I sold a book to Triskelion, but it never released and they are no more. So I sold 5 books but only 4 will be released this year. Unless I sell another one ASAP, which might happen. One never knows.
My first love is really science fiction. I’ve been working on an alternate-America series for a while, and I’d love to go back to it. But I also love mysteries, and I find myself drawn more and more to those. While I’m comfortable writing ‘hot’, I’m finding more and more that I prefer the first-person books, and I’m just not comfortable writing ‘hot’ and first-person. Maybe because I’m already have hot flashes, and more heat just isn’t needed in my life right now {grin}.
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