publishing – My Life in Paragraphs

Are People Hearing What You’re Saying?

I’m getting a little annoyed.

Look, I love Grammarly as much as the next writer. I appreciate that it can keep me from mispelling words I have mental blocks on (like separate and congratulations), but I think it’s getting a bit uppity.

Or maybe just invasive.

If It Seems to Good to Be True… (Navigating the New World of Author Marketing Emails)

Just about every time I open my email of late, there is another ‘publicist’ raving about one of my books. They tell me my books are getting the short shrift and deserve a wider audience.

I couldn’t agree more.

These emails were flooding in at such a rate that clearly my TikTok has made me a star, Bradley Cooper has finally outed me as his secret crush, or something is afoot at the Circle K.

What Are YOU Doing with Your New Year?

I love new years—the fresh starts, new habits, and the grand opportunity to leave a few things behind.

Every year I create challenges for myself. No one tells me to do it and there’s no great reward at the end. The stakes are basically nothing. Sometimes, I invite others to join me, which, at least on the surface, creates a little accountability.

Last year, I created the Lighten Your Load, Lighten Your Life challenge. I planned to let go of five ‘things’ every day, all year.

New Book Coming in 2025!

Finally! After a three year drought, I have a new book coming out in 2025! And this one was sure worth waiting for.

Note: Maybe this is old news because you follow me on Facebook or subscribe to Another Good Dog. So if that’s the case, you have my permission to skip this blog post. Or you can read it again because, hey, this is good stuff and there’s dog pictures!

My newest book is a little different. It’s a passion project, for sure, and it’s been five years in the making. It’s also a nonprofit venture.

The Long and Winding Road to Publication

My most recent novel, Blind Turn, has had the longest and most winding road to publication of all my books. I looked back through my files to try to figure out when I started writing it – as best as I can tell, I began writing it in 2010.

I was inspired to think about this because it was chosen to be the Ereader News Book of the Day for this Friday, August 30. For one day it will be just 99 cents!

So, if your reason for not buying a copy has been that you don’t want to spend the money, here’s your chance to get an e-copy for less than a dollar. There’s not much you can buy for less than a buck these days, so I hope you’ll take a chance on me..]

Back to my long and winding story, which I’ll try to keep brief by sharing it in a timeline:

Impact Hour

I listen to podcasts or audiobooks pretty much every day – while walking, doing puzzles, or driving (three activities I seem to spend a lot of time doing).

I’ve gotten addicted to a podcast called Primal Potential. I found it because I was trying to figure out how to lose the menopause/COVID/drinking-too-much-wine-weight that is not going away even though two out of those three causes have.

Can You Handle the S#*t Sandwich?

And I’m off!

Where to, you ask?

Why, success and fame, of course.

(success and fame are relative terms.)

#Truth: The Publishing World is Rigged

Let’s be honest—the publishing world is rigged.

After twenty years wrestling with words, agents, editors, publishers, and social media, I’m not saying this in a bitter way. Just as a matter of fact.

SHOW YOUR WORK A Week Later

Okay, okay, so I kind of fell off the SHOW YOUR WORK daily bandwagon, but I have great excuses.

Excuse #1: I was getting tired of me, me, me.

When you have a new book coming out, you have to promote yourself. I always struggle with this, and that probably Continue reading “SHOW YOUR WORK A Week Later”