I have been developing a hunch. This could easily turn out to be wrong, of course, but I do have something of a track record with hunches. (No, really. I predicted cupcakes were going to be the next thing when all anybody was eating was big ole slices! And don’t get me started on small plates. Or dim sum. OK, so a lot of my hunches do seem to be food-based).

This one isn’t.

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that in the next few years, book events are going to become more important than they ever have been before. Author readings and signings. Multi-author panel discussions. Schmooze over coffee chats. You name it–and get creative. Because the authors and their publicists sure will be.

We live in a world with so much cyber noise that we’re all going deaf. Some days I feel that if I get one more tweet, I’m going to fly away myself. Forget your latest 5 star review. You could tell me in 140 characters that the New York Times raved and I might fail to parse it. There is just. Too. Much. Noise.

But if we’re sitting down together? If I’m settled in a chair, amidst a crowd of fellow book lovers, about to hear a great tale, or share a laugh? And afterwards I might get to shake your hand and have a book signed? Well, then I’m all yours. Instead of staring dumbly at a screen, I’m connected at the human level–and in the end I think that’s what all the cyber noise is aimed at.

Recently Atria, a division of Simon & Schuster, came up with a unique angle on human interaction and enlisted four of their top mystery and suspense authors for it. Take one cool looking bus, put four writers in it, give them a driver and some roadies, and send them from New York to Missouri with stops at some of the best bookstores in the country, and what do you get?

Possibly the future of book-selling.

MJ Rose, who explored the self-publishing frontier the way the first astronauts ventured into space, only to break out with enormous mainstream success, and Liza Marklund, the only Swedish author besides Stiegg Larsson to reach #1 on the NYT list, were kind enough to answer a few questions about their experiences.

What’s the hardest part about spending your days on a bus with three other super-talented authors? (Another way of asking this might be, What’s the hardest part about spending your days on a bus with three other folks who kill people for recreation?)

MJ Rose: Trying to avoid getting killed is the hardest parts. No, seriously, suspense writers get their aggressions out on paper. And this trip proves that yet again. No hostility or creepiness. These guys are wonderful, funny and smart. The company is the best part of the bus ride.

Liza Marklund: These English speakers are behaving at their very best – at least verbally. Do not know what they are writing on their endless sessions on their computers, though (we have wireless on the bus, which worked everywhere but in Iowa). Me, on the other hand–I am the only one able to say anything without anyone else knowing the true meaning (I just switch to my native Swedish, hee hee…)

Is McDonalds selling its trillionth burger thanks to this tour, or what are you eating?

MJ Rose: What we do is drive to a bookstore, disembark, go inside, speak for a forty minutes or so, answer questions and then sign books and then step back on the bus. We get lunch on the bus while we drive to our next store where we rinse and repeat, then get back on the bus, drive for a while more, have dinner on the bus and then eventually get to a hotel where we sleep overnight, and then in then in the morning drive to the next store and do it all over again. Some stretches between stores are 2 hours. Some 6. It’s a lot of road.

Sort of like being in a pneumatic tube that’s gone from NYC to Madison CT, to Framingham MA, to Brattleboro VT… you get the idea.

The tour organizers pick chains that are close to the stores so we’ve been getting a lot of menus to pick from places like Cheesecake factory and Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Liza Marklund: Nope. Didn’t see anyone eating a single burger on the bus. Lots of chicken salads, though…

In all seriousness, does this tour seem to be more fun and entertaining than going it alone on a regular tour? For you, the bookstore attendees, or both?

MJ Rose: Being with four other writers is more fun that going alone for sure – the pressure isn’t all on me when we get to the stores. And for sure it’s more entertaining for the attendees.

Liza Marklund: We usually don’t tour alone in Europe, at least I don’t. In Sweden, we always go as a whole group of authors from my publishing house, just like we did on the bus. In Germany, there’s normally an actress, a moderator and someone from the PR department along. Normally, we fly or go by train or limousines, but there’s been an occasional bus as well…

I have to say I prefer to go with a whole gang of people, like the bus!

Who first presented this idea to you? The publicist at Atria, your editor, your agent? And how did you react?

MJ Rose: The publicity dept at Atria wrote me and my first reaction was that if the bus didn’t have Wi-Fi, no way would I even consider it. But they did:)

Liza Marklund: I don’t remember, frankly. My agent, I think, and I probably just asked “Can we squeeze it in?”. So we could, and we did, and I’m perfectly happy about it.

How did your families and friends–the people you’ll miss–react?

MJ Rose: With a combo of horror and warnings about what traveling long distances on a bus is like.

Liza Marklund: Well, I’ve done 20 of these in Germany alone the last 13 years, so nobody really gasped…

Can each of you give a brief thumbnail of the career trajectory that got you to this point? Maybe some details your readers wouldn’t already know?

MJ Rose: I don’t think I can get anyone to do that – sorry – at this point we’re all open books!

Liza Marklund: Nobody knows me in the US, so everything about me is probably details they wouldn’t know… What about this one: I’m the only Scandinavian author, except for Stieg Larsson, who’s been no. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list…

Quick–what’s the most embarrassing thing to have happened so far on the bus?

MJ Rose: Well, nothing embarrassing so far but the worst part is we ran out of toilet paper after leaving Vermont and all the places to get more were closed up for the night. Now all the women are carrying emergency rolls.

Liza Marklund: Oh jeez, I’m blushing away here… To use a quote from the bus: I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you…

Thank you, MJ & Liza, and if you get a chance to see these talented authors or buy their latest releases, I highly recommend you do so! (Next year they’ll probably be on a spaceship).

I am interested in writing teams–mother/son, husband/wife, as in the case in today’s guest post–just how do they DO that? And I’m also interested in the historical fiction that so many readers of this blog love and have pointed me to.  Today’s guest post has both.

The husband and wife team of Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, whose Moment appears here, have been penning a successful historical mystery series across many volumes. Today they discuss what writing a prequel to a successful series is like, as well as what innovative offers their topnotch independent press is taking part in. Welcome back to the blog, Mary & Eric!

Our Byzantine mystery Four For A Boy is the fourth book about our protagonist to be published by Poisoned Pen Press. However, it is the prequel to our chronicles of detections carried out by John, Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian.

It was this way. During prior books we had mentioned John, a free man caught and enslaved by Persians and subsequently sold to the palace administration in Constantinople, regained his freedom through rendering a very delicate service for Justinian. However, we had not described what this service had been in any of the previous books, so when editor Barbara Peters suggested writing a prequel and telling the story, we decided to do so.

Four For a Boy not only explains how John re-won his freedom and began his journey to high office but also the manner in which he met a number of characters, including some who are now close friends.

It’s set at the time when an ailing Justin is still ruling the empire but Theodora and Justinian are waiting impatiently in the wings.

One of the main characters is a villainous type based on Theodotus, a real person who held the office of City Prefect and was called The Gourd– but not to his face — due to his hideously misshapen head.

The historical Gourd was believed to practice magick and overall had a very brutal character. We had great fun explaining the manner in which he accomplished his magick, such as how he is able to plunge his hand into boiling pitch without injury during a banquet at which Theodora is the guest of honour. The incident is described thus:

“Whose hand do you propose to use?” Theodora asked with an alacrity that made John wonder if she’d played magician’s assistant during her former career.

Theodotus flexed his stubby fingers. “Whose hand? Why, it will be my own!” Suiting action to word, he plunged his bared arm wrist deep into the bubbling mixture.

A high pitched babble of alarm and shock surged around the room. More than one guest looked hastily away.

John looked away also but toward the window. His keen hearing had caught the sound of someone running across the garden.

A collective gasp drew his attention back to Theodotus. The Prefect had withdrawn his arm from the boiling mix and was waving his apparently uninjured hand triumphantly.

He formed a fist and hammered at the air. “This is the indestructible hand that reaches into the darkest alleys to choke the life from the murderous bastards who lurk there! Why do you think they whisper my name with such dread? They know my powers. They fear me. And rightly so!” He glared at
his guests.

All in all, the Gourd was a bad egg, so we don’t think he would have objected to our portrayal of him, given when people fear a person in power, more power is granted to the latter. Which would certainly
have suited the Gourd!

In the same book we describe how John flies for a brief period although it is by utilising practical means rather than magick. We returned to magick in Six For Gold, wherein the diminutive Egyptian magician Dedi claims responsibility for sheep committing suicide –they belonged to a man with whom he is feuding — not to mention performing the miraculous cure of a crippled man through the medium of a human-headed snake oracle and summoning an air-borne flaming demon.

And yes, all is explained in due course.

Being counted among those who always want to know what happened in the end, I am happy to reveal Four For A Boy includes an afterword relating the later life of the historical Gourd. And without giving anything away, it turned out to be a good demonstration of what we nowadays call karma.

The husband and wife team of Mary Reed and Eric Mayer published several short stories about John, Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian, in mystery anthologies and in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine prior to 1999′s highly acclaimed first full length novel, One for Sorrow. Entries in the series have been honored by a Best Mystery Glyph Award, an honorable mention in the Glyph Best Book category, and was a finalist for the IPPY Best Mystery Award (Two For Joy), nominations for the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award (Four For A Boy and Five For Silver), and a Glyph Award for Best Book Series (Five For Silver). The American Library Association’s Booklist Magazine named the Lord Chamberlain novels one of its four Best Little Known Series.

Poisoned Pen Press is currently offering 99 cent downloads of the
first books in several of their authors' series
http://www.poisonedpenpress.com/discover-mystery/

Our Byzantine mystery Four For A Boy is among them, although just to
be confusing, it was the fourth book about our protagonist to be
published by the press. However, the matter is easily cleared up: it
is the prequel to our chronicles of detections carried out by John,
Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian.

It was this way. During prior books we had mentioned John, a free man
caught and enslaved by Persians and subsequently sold to the palace
administration in Constantinople, regained his freedom through
rendering a very delicate service for Justinian. However, we had not
described what this service had been in any of the previous books, so
when editor Barbara Peters suggested writing a prequel and telling
the story, we decided to do so.

Four For a Boy not only explains how John re-won his freedom and
began his journey to high office but also the manner in which he met
a number of characters, including some who are now close friends.
It's set at the time when an ailing Justin is still ruling the empire
but Theodora and Justinian are waiting impatiently in the wings.

One of the main characters is a villainous type based on Theodotus, a
real person who held the office of City Prefect and was called The Gourd
-- but not to his face -- due to his hideously misshapen head.

The historical Gourd was believed to practice magick and overall had
a very brutal character. We had great fun explaining the manner in
which he accomplished his magick, such as how he is able to plunge
his hand into boiling pitch without injury during a banquet at which
Theodora
is the guest of honour. The incident is described thus:

"Whose hand do you propose to use?" Theodora asked with an alacrity
that made John wonder if she'd played magician's assistant during her
former career.

Theodotus flexed his stubby fingers. "Whose hand? Why,
it will be my own!" Suiting action to word, he plunged his bared arm
wrist deep into the bubbling mixture.

A high pitched babble of alarm and shock surged around the room. More than
one guest looked hastily away. 

John looked away also but toward the window. His keen hearing
had caught the sound of someone running across the garden.    

A collective gasp drew his attention back to Theodotus. The Prefect had
withdrawn his arm from the boiling mix and was waving his apparently
uninjured hand triumphantly.

He formed a fist and hammered at the air. "This is the indestructible hand
that reaches into the darkest alleys to choke the life from the murderous
bastards who lurk there! Why do you think they whisper my name with such
dread? They know my powers. They fear me. And rightly so!" He glared at
his guests.

All in all, the Gourd was a bad egg, so we don't think he would have
objected to our portrayal of him, given when people fear a person in
power, more power is granted to the latter. Which would certainly
have suited the Gourd!

In the same book we describe how John flies for a brief period
although it is by utilising practical means rather than magick. We
returned to magick in Six For Gold, wherein the diminutive Egyptian
magician Dedi claims responsibility for sheep committing suicide --
they belonged to a man with whom he is feuding -- not to mention performing the miraculous cure of a crippled man through the medium of a human-headed snake oracle and summoning an air-borne flaming demon.

And yes, all is explained in due course.

Being counted among those who always want to know what happened in
the end, I am happy to reveal Four For A Boy includes an afterword
relating the later life of the historical Gourd. And without giving
anything away, it turned out to be a good demonstration of what we
nowadays call karma.

Please welcome back to the blog author Stacy Juba, whose Made It Moment appeared here in 2010.  Stacy has been a big supporter of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day and writes children’s books herself. She’s also making intense forays into the world of Kindle books and electronic media and today she shares a post that I think will have especial value to indie authors. Stacy is exploring the value of such programs as Kindle Select by gathering together a group of authors and pooling promotions. There are opportunities for readers to discover new books–and for authors to learn how some of these tools really work when put to a test. Here’s to great sales for all!

I recently came up with an ambitious idea – to spearhead two large group Kindle Select promotions. For those who haven’t heard of Kindle Select, it refers to a program in which authors give Amazon a 90-day exclusive for the e-book edition of their title in return for 5 promotion days designed to boost the book’s visibility on Amazon.

What this means for readers is that you’ll have an opportunity to download lots and lots of free Kindle books during our two promotions. And Kindle authors, you can watch our sales rankings to decide whether it might be worth your time to organize an event like this.

Here’s what you want to watch for:
Friday, April 13th
During the Friday the 13th Campaign, 13 mystery authors will be offering a total of 13 Kindle books for free. Readers can bookmark the list of books at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/lm/RXUK7UVMTPUOH and come back on the 13th, when every book will be free, many for the last time.

April 19 – Give Your Child a Free Kindle Book (or 15 of Them!) Day.

If you love children’s or YA books, or have kids in the house, then bookmark this link:

http://www.amazon.com/lm/R1UOP8U7FVOU4P

On April 19, all 15 books on the list will be free.

As if that isn’t enough, we’ll also have a free Agatha-award winning bonus book offered by author Nancy Means Wright, The Pea Soup Poisonings, downloadable in the e-book format of your choice from the Belgrave House web site.

I’m very excited about these two events as we have a great group of writers whose publishing history includes MIRA Books, HarperCollins, Simon Pulse, Dell, E.P. Dutton, Millbrook, Lerner,  and St. Martin’s Minotaur, to name a few. We have authors who have won or been nominated for the Agatha, been nominated for the Edgar, made NY Times and Amazon bestseller lists, and have had their books named to various lists. Since I’m organizing both campaigns simultaneously, I’ve been asked a lot of questions. I’ll answer the most common ones in case any authors out there are thinking about organizing an endeavor like this themselves.

1. How did these promotions come about?

Over the winter, I used 3 free Kindle Select days during the campaign for my mystery novel Sink or Swim, and had fantastic results, landing around #21 on the Top 100 Free list. When it went back to paid, it sold better than ever before, and an unexpected surprise was that sales really took off in the United Kingdom. I was thrilled with the results. However, once sales tapered down, I had 2 free days left and I wasn’t convinced that I could match the previous results since so many e-book sites had already featured the book last time. I decided it might be worth trying a group promotion for the final days.

It was a different story for my children’s books: the picture book The Teddy Bear Town Children’s E-Book Bundle, my classic YA family hockey novel Face-Off, and my YA paranormal thriller Dark Before Dawn. Teddy Bear Town performed well with its initial free campaign, and sales took off, but they were a fraction of what Sink or Swim sales had been despite having held an almost identical spot on the Top 100 Free List. Face-Off has always sold well, and the free days really didn’t have much impact. I think both of those e-books appeal to a niche audience of parents and kids, rather than a general Kindle audience. Dark Before Dawn did well on it previous free days, but considering how hot YA paranormal is right now, I thought it could have done even better. I felt that by banding together with other children’s and YA authors, who are also trying to reach this niche audience, that perhaps our free days would have more of an impact.

2. How did I organize it?

I posted on Murder Must Advertise, the Kindle Boards, and other Yahoo author groups. I asked for a blurb under 400 characters including space (the requirements of an Amazon Listmania list) and gave a deadline to contact me. For the Friday the 13th promotion, I instinctively felt that we should have 13 books and 13 authors, so I had to turn some authors down, which I felt badly about. For the children’s promotion, I used everyone who contacted me before the deadline, but I would have capped it around 15 books anyway as I didn’t want any titles to get buried on the list.

3. What kind of promotional activities have the groups done?

First, I made two email lists: one of my participating adult authors and one of my children’s/YA group. I collected their publishing credits and awards, (there were tons of them!) and crafted a “nut graf” description for each campaign. I also compiled everyone’s blurbs into an Amazon Listmania list, one for each group, topped by the nut graf. I made Word files of blurbs and links, so that we could email them to e-book sites and book bloggers. We also did press releases and have been brainstorming strategies for blogs, ads and social networks. Everyone really pitched in to help. It was amazing to see these groups of people who didn’t know each other that well, if at all, pull together for a common goal.

4. Would I plan more group campaigns for future books?

It depends on the results. If the results are superb, then I would consider it, but definitely not right away. I think this type of campaign loses its effectiveness over time. We’re being supported by some wonderful bloggers and we are incredibly grateful for their help.  I wouldn’t want to keep imposing on them. This is more of a ‘once in awhile’ event, and any subsequent event would be smaller scale, perhaps more ad-centered than blog-centered. Once these campaigns are over, my focus for the next couple of months will be on writing my books.

5. Do I have any advice for other writers that would like to plan a similar promotion?

Be organized about it. You can’t conduct something like this over Twitter or Facebook. You need to CC everyone on the emails, and break up the plan into small steps. One week the group works on a couple of tactics. The next week, you shift to a couple more. And you need authors willing to promote, and who ideally have a good social media presence. I’ve been fortunate to have two teams of enthusiastic, hard workers who want to succeed with this as much as I do.  I didn’t anticipate how much work would be involved, and if I’d known, I would have warned them more upfront, however the main reason the campaigns have gotten so big is that people kept stepping forward, volunteering to take on different jobs. I found the best teammates that I could have asked for with these projects. If you have authors who signed up, however, and then don’t follow through on the work, then the whole thing is going to fall apart.

5. Who’s participating in these events?

For the Friday the 13th mystery event, in addition to myself, we have Keri Knutson, Jean Henry Mead, Bonnie Hearn Hill, Joanna Campbell Slan, Maryann Miller, RJ McDonnell, William S. Shepard, Debra Lee, Timothy Hallinan, Alina Adams, Mike Bove, and Gerrie Ferris Finger.

For the April 19 Give Your Kids A Free Kindle Book event, I have three books in the campaign, and we also have Dorothy Francis, Renae Rae, Alina Adams on behalf of Dan Elish for the multimedia edition of his book, PJ Sharon, Norah Wilson, N.R. Wick, Mike Hays, Dalya Moon, A.W. Hartoin, Nancy Means Wright, and Xist Publishing with three titles.

If you have a Kindle or Kindle app., please support us by downloading the books, and please pass the word to your friends and social networking followers. If you’d like to see how the campaigns are going, you can click down the Listmania lists to see our rankings during and after the promotions.  Once again:
April 13 – Friday the 13th mystery event:
http://www.amazon.com/lm/RXUK7UVMTPUOH
April 19 – Give Your Child a Free Kindle Book (or 15 of Them!) http://www.amazon.com/lm/R1UOP8U7FVOU4P

Wish us luck!

Although Stacy Juba specializes in writing adult novels, she has also authored books for children and young adults – she pursues whatever story ideas won’t leave her alone. Stacy’s titles include the mystery novels Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and Sink or Swim, the mystery short story Laundry Day, the children’s picture books The Flag Keeper, Victoria Rose and the Big Bad Noise, and the Teddy Bear Town Children’s E-Book Bundle (Three Complete Picture Books), and the young adult novels Face-Off and Dark Before Dawn. She is a former journalist with more than a dozen writing awards to her credit and is currently working on a contemporary fiction/romantic comedy novel, as well as a new mystery novel. Many of her titles have appeared as #1 on various Amazon Kindle Top 100 lists.

No, not those kind of bookies,the ones who appear in noir novels and tend to tie concrete blocks to their clients’ ankles.

This is a new use of the term.

I thought of it after reading an article in New York Magazine about how foodie-ism has become cool for the twenty-something, hipster set. To paraphrase journalist Michael Idov, donburi and pickled lamb tongues are in. So is spending 25% of one’s paycheck on food.This is not your parent’s golf game or night at the opera.

Hey, I love food as much as the most avid New Yorker. Some have accused me of squandering my children’s college funds on a pint of organic raspberries. But what I really spend money on is books. And while foodie-ism seems to me to hit heights of the ridiculous–saffron foam? bee pollen soot? really?–in much the same way that runway fashion does, books and bookstores seldom do. (Snookie’s advance aside).

Bookstores are places of conversation and stimulation and exchange sufficient to make the most tech-easy twenty-something, who’s able to chat with seven friends at the same time, wide-eyed at the riches. If you look at some of these photos, I think you’ll agree that a bookstore is a pretty cool place to be.

I’d like to see young people, old people, in between people pouring into bookstores the way they pour into restaurants or other sites of leisure.

Make your next date night at a bookstore. It’s cheaper than two movie tickets, and you actually get to take something home. A great way to get to know the guy or girl you’re with, or reconnect with a spouse, is observing what volumes they pick up, and which they walk away with. Over your dinner doused with bee pollen foam, you can talk about your new purchases.

I co-host a writing series at a wonderful independent bookstore, and we try to make our events an awful lot like a party. Food, wine, conversation, mingling after the panel discussion, and of course, books. People have met agents there, editors who want to see their manuscripts, and made writing friends for life.

Because you can have your rosemary biscotti or other foodie treat in a bookstore. Many of them have cafes, and one thing I predict more of is that these cafes will start being destinations of their own, serving not lumpen, over-sweet pastries made elsewhere and shipped in, but delicacies unique to that bookstore’s region.

Perhaps the bookseller will have a friend who’s always wanted to bake  pastries and the two will marry their businesses (as takes place in author Maryann McFadden’s soon-to-be-released novel about a bookseller and a writer). Or perhaps a restaurant will move in close enough to be kissing cousins with the bookstore-next-door as you have at the great Left Bank Books and Tap House & Wine Bar in St. Louis.

The perfect convergence of trends–social communion, local, homespun food, and deep thinking–can take place at a bookstore in a way that makes them much more than trends.

Life.

Lived at a bookstore.

How hip is that?

Leah Rhyne is an emerging writer, former student, and friend of mine. She also happened to have an experience that made me as green with envy as one of the bodily emissions Stephen King might write about. Whichever author may have shaped the inner contents of your writer’s soul, you can probably imagine getting to meet that person. Leah did–and I hung on every word of her description. Please read on, and leave a comment about the writer you’d get shaky in the knees at meeting!

I grew up reading the Stephen King classics.  IT. THE SHINING. CARRIE. They were my early favorites, and I read them all before the age of fifteen.  He terrified me, inspired me, challenged me.

(He also gave me an unhealthy fear of balloons and storm drains.)

When I learned he would give the closing address at the Savannah Book Festival, my husband and I bought tickets as soon as the box office opened.

On the Big Day, we waited hours to be among the 400 fans to get books signed by Mr. King. Once our signing cards were in-hand, we entered the auditorium and squeezed our way into fourth row seats, with more time to kill and Miles Davis on the sound system.

Finally, the lights dimmed and the music silenced and Mr. King took the stage, wearing jeans, a t-shirt and loafers.  He was taller than I imagined, and skinnier, but there he was, less than a hundred feet from where I sat with a silly, sheepish grin on my face.

An hour later, I jumped to my feet for a standing ovation, amazed at how time had flown.  While he held the audience captive, Mr. King regaled us with:

• His very own Made-It Moment, on a door-less public toilet when he was about 26. An ancient, bald bathroom attendant requested his autograph while Mr. King tried to attend the call of a very angry nature.
• His love of books, including LORD OF THE FLIES, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and George R.R. Martin’s series, A SONG OF FIRE AND ICE.  All of these are books I, too, love.
• Some tidbits about his writing style.  He writes “by the seat of his pants” (a comment made funnier by his earlier mention of pulling up his pants because he has no butt), letting his characters do as they please, often surprised at where they wind up. Sometimes he’ll let a character rest for a while, and when the character reappears in his head, he’s astonished at the interesting thing it’s done.
• A reading from his upcoming novel, DR. SLEEP, which is the sequel to THE SHINING, and the audience drooled with excitement.

And then, it was time for the book signing.

Mr. King apologized in advance for the assembly-line signing. There’d be no time to chat or for pictures.  There were 400 of us waiting to get our books signed, a Herculean task on his part.

But still, as I lined up, I was anxious. I wanted to say something, to tell him that I was a writer, just starting out, that I loved his books and wanted to be his new best friend. I had five seconds to make an impression.

Suddenly, there I was, handing over my book. I’d chosen ON WRITING, and wondered if he’d comment.  He didn’t.  Without thinking, I blurted out, “Thank you,” and smiled, a goofy, manic smile.  He looked up, expectant, and I realized I’d trailed off in a way that indicated I would say more.

I took a deep breath, and continued. “For years of inspiration and terror, Sir.”

He smiled, looked down at my book, then back up at me, still smiling.  “Well, I guess that’s a good combination,” he said.

And that was it.  This is no fantasy. I didn’t become his new best friend. He didn’t invite me to dinner so we could chat about our craft.  He’s not going to read my book.

But in that instant, I spoke to a living legend, and I made him smile.

I’d call that a good day.

Leah Rhyne is a Jersey girl, but she’s lived in the South long enough to call people “sir” and “ma’am” now, without much of a trace of irony.

In her day job, she is a Senior Quality Assurance Analyst at a multi-national computer software company. At night and on weekends, she’s a full-time wife and mother. Her daughter is growing up nerdy and she likes it that way.

Leah had been writing essays, blog-posts and other miscellaneous items for years when a friend challenged her to participate in NaNoWriMo in 2010. It wasn’t until three days in, when her husband jokingly told her to write about “zombie cows” that her first novel began to take shape. The ideas kept coming, and still won’t stop.

In Leah’s “spare” time, she loves running and yoga and playing fetch with her  hound dog.

I am so happy to welcome Gerrie Ferris Finger back to the blog because I have followed her series ever since the first amazing contest win that launched her writing career. Gerrie’s post today contains some invaluable advice on writing the sophomore novel–and the ones that come after–and also on building suspense. Best of all, if you leave a comment, you’ll be entered to win an ARC before almost everyone else in the world gets one of Gerrie’s latest book!

For me, every manuscript means getting a foot hold in a crevice when climbing a rugged cliff. Every book is avoiding slippery slopes and anticipating falling rocks. But oh the joy when I reach the top, when an acquiring editor accepts my manuscript, when a contract comes in the mail, and when I finally hold that printed edition in my hands.

I got there in 2010 with THE END GAME   I’d ascended the airy height successfully and thought, “I’ve made it! Yeah!”

Sooner or later, I had to ask myself: Didn’t you mean this to be a series?” Answer: Yes. Directive: Then get to it.

Like me, unless you know yourself to be a one book writer, ala Harper Lee, you get to start over. It’s not any easier getting a foothold on the second full-length novel than the first, and it’s not easier avoiding slippery slopes and foreseeing falling rocks.

Getting a Foothold

Alas, I left real life bliss to tackle fictional catastrophe – and face rejection. In today’s publishing world, rejection often comes if the first book doesn’t achieve the success expected by the publisher. No more bringing writers along until they find their audiences.

Since I prefer avoiding catastrophe in my life, I don’t walk the sidewalks in iffy neighborhoods or ride a motorcycle without a helmet. However careful I may be, I’m not in control of every situation and expect suspense at every turn. What if I’m in my bank and a robber points a gun at the teller?

I’ve learned to harness suspense by taking the “what if” approach in starting a novel. What if my heroine leaves her purse in the back seat of a taxi? What if my hero spots a man with a van forcing a woman into the back?  Action occurs, characters emerge and the cliff-climb begins.

I’ve a foot up the cliff in my second book because I know the main characters, Moriah Dru and Richard Lake. They first appeared in THE END GAME when I thought what if a call awakens them to a disastrous fire where two young girls are missing and their foster parents are dead in the blaze. By chapter two I had a good foothold on the villain and the resolution.

In THE LAST TEMPTATION I thought what if Dru and Lake are eating a lunch and a call comes in:

Lake was about to dig into his coconut pie when the call came. When it ended, the white flash of his smile ended, too.

Slippery Slopes

I encounter slippery slopes too often, and I don’t know a writer who hasn’t. It’s also called telling not showing, back story, info dump, character bores, lackluster scenes, dialogue drag, impossible plot and generally going off half-cocked.

For me, what derails plot most often is lack of action, long paragraphs of interior dialogue and static do-nothing. Readers go to movies and see the heroes and villains in action. ACTION. Don’t tell readers what’s going on. Get them involved. In editing  I take scenes where I’ve hit the main points and re-write to let readers see and hear and feel what led up to the action.

Falling Rocks

Falling rocks I want. I’m writing a mystery/suspense. My readers are reading suspense because they want to find out what happens next to whom and why. Therefore, I must create vigilant, apprehensive anticipation, also known as waiting for the falling shoe. This is done party with setting—cemetery, dark night, creaky house—but it’s the characters that provide most of the suspense. If readers don’t care about the characters I’ve created—if the main characters are cardboard cutouts or unpleasant —they won’t care what happens to them.

There is joy in writerville, though. Once my first draft is finished, the fun begins. I edit and revise to my heart’s content, taking care not to edit the life out of the story. (A well-known instructor once told his class, “Don’t smooth out all the wrinkles. Placid lakes are boring.)

When I’m done I know I’ve created a world and people that no one else could have.

Retired journalist Gerrie Ferris Finger won the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery competition That novel, THE END GAME, was the first in the Moriah Dru/Richard Lake series. The second in the series, THE LAST TEMPTATION, was a finalist in the St. Martin’s/Best Private Investigator contest and will be released July 2012. After spending twenty years with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a reporter, editor, and columnist, she moved to coastal Georgia with her husband, Alan, and standard poodle, Bogey.

Pamela DuMond shared her Made It Moment here last year and today she is back to update us on how her writing life and dreams have evolved since. Pam’s debut novel CUPCAKES, LIES, & DEAD GUYS was an e book hit and so Pam is situated to reflect on both the benefits and shortfalls of digital publishing. Read on for Pam’s unique take, and celebrate the e release of her brand new CUPCAKES novella!

Publishing: A Foot in Two Worlds – A Dream in All
The publishing world’s changing every day.

Traditional publishers, known as the Big 6, are now in 2012 thought by many (not all) to be the Big 7. This is because Amazon is pushing (also termed, ‘stepping-on-many-toes,’) in their quest to join this private club.

In 2010, “Indie Publishers,” was the term used to designate small presses.

In 2010,“Self-Published,” referred to those brave souls/individuals who chose to forge ahead and publish on their own. Two years previously, this action was frowned upon by well — almost everyone.

Times Change…. CUT TO –

2011 and 2012.

“Indie Publishers,” is now the preferred terminology previously used for “Self-Publishers.”

Formerly termed, “Indie Publishers,” are now called, “Small Presses.”

Many writers that used to call “Traditional Publishers,” now term them, “Legacy Publishers.” (FYI: Many traditionally published writers and their publishers do not like or condone this term.)

It’s a little confusing, yes?

Am I out of my flippin’ mind for wanting a foot in ALL these worlds?

Overview:

I finished my first novel – Cupcakes, Lies, and Dead Guys in 2008. Approximately forty agents rejected my ms. In 2009 I signed with a junior agent at a major agency. Color me happy!

In 2009-2010 my agent shopped my novel to approximately forty editors at traditional publishing houses where it was again, rejected. After nine months, the super-fine agency fired my agent, fired me and I was agent-orphaned. (This sucked.)

One Foot: Small Presses

Lucky for me, a writer friend/acquaintance picked up the ball and ran with it. She asked Ken Lewis at Krill Press if he’d read my book. He loved it, said yes, and we had a deal. Yay! Cupcakes, Lies, and Dead Guys was published in late 2010. To date it has sold nearly 8500 copies. These aren’t Amanda Hocking figures, but considering most self-pubbed and small press books sell between 100 to 1000 copies, it’s a decent number and I’m proud of it.

I also marketed the heck out of this book on a dime. (Different blogpost.)

In 2010, not knowing what would happen with Cupcakes novel, I wrote a novel in a completely different genre. It’s a YA time travel historical romantic thriller called The Messenger’s Handbook.

Second Foot: Traditional Publishers – I’m still dreaming.

I’ve been shopping The Messenger’s Handbook to agents and publishers (small, big, and micro) for a while. Again, for the most part I’m hitting closed doors, closed minds, and hearing a cacophony of, “Nos.”

One micro press loves it and offered to publish it. But also encouraged me to continue shopping it to bigger presses with better distribution. Several well-connected small presses requested the full ms. A few said no, and I’ve yet to hear back from others.

Some agents are perusing my ms’s fulls and partials. Just today I got yet another agent rejection.

Thanks to Jenny Milchman’s encouragement, I entered The Messenger’s Handbook in the ABNA competition where, thanks to writers who helped me hone the pitch, it made it to the second round.

Foot Number Three: Self-Publishing

In summer of 2011, readers started asking about the next Cupcakes book. Oopsies! I was working on two sequels but knew neither would be completed before the end of 2011.

I decided to set these aside and instead wrote a Cupcakes Novella. I hired my editor. I hired Booknook.com, an e-book conversion company, (which I highly recommend.) And my friend and fab screenwriter, Michael James Canales, created the novella’s cover.

I self-pubbed Cupcakes, Sales, and Cocktails on 12/24/11.  As of 3/6/12, it’s sold over 1600 copies.

I embarked on another adventure by putting the novella up for free on the Kindle DP Select program. Exciting- yes. Scary – yes. Necessary – yes. I did two give-away days in early February. 18, 200 copies were dl. In the “Free” Kindle store, the novella hit #8 in overall sales, #1 in Humor, #1 in Mystery, and #1 in Female Sleuths. Exciting! I did another giveaway on March 1^st.  And only gave away 262 books. Go figure.

Back to the Second Foot: Traditional Publishers

And I’m back to my dream. In today’s market, with all the craziness —  how long does one wait for the agents and traditional publishers and even small presses to respond?

Unlike Jenny Milchman who persevered for eleven years, (major congrats on Jenny’s tenacity and her book deals,) remember, I don’t currently have an agent. Which means I cannot shop my YA to traditional publishing houses.

I have harbored the dream of breaking into traditional publishing for years. I want a savvy agent. I want to work with an incredible editor at a well-connected house. I want to walk into a bookstore and see my books. I want to attend signings. (My own as well as other authors.)

I’d love a foot in all worlds. But when is it time to face the reality? Call it a day? Move on? What would you do? What do you think? What is your story?

Pamela DuMond was born and raised in the Midwest. She moved to Los Angeles for love. When that tanked, she stayed for the beautiful weather. While Cupcakes, Lies, and Dead Guys is her debut novel, she contributed essays on intuition to Soul Moments: Marvelous Stories of Synchronicity – Meaningful Coincidences from a Seemingly Random World, edited by Phil Cousineau. She’s also edited more than her share of self-help books.

Pamela discovered and pitched Erin Brockovich’s life story to a production company. Erin Brockovich the movie was nominated for four Academy Awards. Julia Roberts won her Best Actress Oscar for portraying Erin.

With Joe Wilson, Pamela co-created Celebrity Jar of Air, the internationally acclaimed comedic jar that may or may not have contained air molecules breathed by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Pamela is an author, writer, chiropractor and cranio-sacral therapist. She loves reading, writing, the beach, yoga, movies, animals and her family. She lives in Venice Beach, California with her furballs. She’s currently writing the second book in the Annie Graceland series, as well as a YA para-normal romance. She lives for a good giggle.

One of the most amazing things about this writing life is the connections it builds between authors, writers, and readers everywhere. My world feels like one of those maps with pushpins sprouting up all over. It’s heart-warming, enriching, and exciting–something I’m grateful for every day.

Recently, an emerging writer has shared some questions and ideas as he seeks a home for his novel of hope, loss, and inspiration. It’s been interesting for me to correspond with someone who is entering the biz at a time when multiple paths are available for getting your work out there. No more is it a given that you will query and query and query, until your fingers bleed, or you give up, or you finally break through.

This increased complexity is both liberating and confusing, and I hope that the Q&A between Derek and myself may clarify things and/or trigger a dialog of the sort Suspense Your Disbelief readers are so great at having. So with no further ado, Derek, please take it away.

Derek McFadden: Recently, I was directed to a website where an agent was giving advice. I’ve been querying for a while with no luck, and have been considering self-publishing as an alternative. Perhaps I could gain some insight from this agent. I that said that I think my novel is outside of a particular genre. Genre bending, if you will. Her response was: “Perhaps the fact that you’re not sure which genre your book is in turns some agents off. Whenever I read a question like yours, I think, Does the author understand the market they’re writing for?”

As a writer, should I find a genre and write to that market? Or should my focus be to write the best book I can? Shouldn’t an agent want fresh and new [material]? Even if this involves changing his or her expectations a bit?

Why do writers become writers in the first place? Because they love to write and create. Place constantly shifting market trends as the path for an author to get his or her foot in the door, and you might drive a writer crazy.

Jenny Milchman: Sometimes agents will say something like, “This is too hard to market” because it seems better than saying, “Hey, I just didn’t like this.” (And keep in mind that this take is always subjective, the opinion of just one person, unless you keep hearing the same thing over and over again). I think this contributes to a resentment on the part of writers much as you’re expressing:

Why would they want *another* stale vampire love story? The answer is: They don’t. It’s just a shorthand of sorts.

Another thing to consider is that agents need to sell books and editors need to buy books that will sell. That doesn’t mean writing to trends–and any real agent or editor is far too wise to believe you should do this. By the time a manuscript is written, edited, and published, any trend bubble will likely have popped a long time ago. But it does mean they’re looking for books that fit into established, albeit broad, parameters.  Romance readers read voraciously and they have certain expectations. Same for mystery readers and the other genres. Literary fiction can be a catch-all category, but even here conventions apply. For instance, the writing and characters are given the most attention.

Now does this mean some gems will be missed? Definitely. That’s why every so often there’s a sleeper that was turned down everywhere and surprises everyone. But as a rough strategy the above works.

Once you venture into self-publishing, things change. There is less money to be spent up front and thus much less risk. Put something totally different up and see if it has the potential to take off, or simply attract the few, loyal readers such an unusual animal can’t help but draw when the playing field encompasses millions. When there’s not a lot of money at stake, the so-called long tail can come into play. Agents and editors can’t hang out in the long tail because their model depends on large numbers. That’s one of the liberating things about self-publishing.

DMF: Here’s the funny thing about me. If an agent doesn’t like my book, I wish they’d just flat-out say that, and maybe take a sentence or two to tell me why. Instead of, “I didn’t connect with this story,” say, “I didn’t like this because…” Why not?

JM: The reason agents don’t explain why is because doing so requires specific analysis. Agents, as we all know, are overwhelmingly busy. They don’t have the time to think why they didn’t like something, much less put it in terms that will be helpful and comprehensible to the (rightfully) invested author. The other reason I’ve heard agents give for not doing this is because offering feedback, however minimal, often invites rebuttal or argument from the author, whereas a generic reply (i.e., a form) doesn’t.

DMF: I’m leaning away from self-publishing because I just don’t think I alone can generate a large number of readers. Really, when you get down to it, what are the chances of hitting it big?
JM: I’m going to go out on a limb here and say your (or anyone’s) chances of making it big in traditional or self-publishing are almost exactly the same.  To put a number on that–basically zero. Historically—and consistently—about 200 authors made a living off their fiction. E publishing has already made that number rise. Midlist authors are able to pay the light bill, the mortgage, and discretionary expenses with income from formerly out of print books or from new works they’ve decided to e-publish. But make it big? Stephen King kind of big? Very few get that lucky. Even with talent, there’s a lot of luck involved. But the Big 6 aren’t going to find that many Stephens, James or Janets, either. More than on the indie field? Possibly—that remains to be seen. But there just aren’t that many people who write what a huge number of people love—and there never have been.

DMF: As an author, I am experienced. As a query-er, I am not. I freely admit this, because I think the query may be the wall that’s up in front of me right now.

JM:  Getting the query right is definitely crucial—you’re smart to separate out the two writing challenges. The template for a query that I used myself went like this:

1. An introductory sentence explaining why I was querying this particular agent. I began querying in the bad old days before email. When you’re sending snail mail letters—or worse, FedEx, as I was green and stupid enough to do, as if anything in this business ever moves fast—you make sure you’re targeting agents intelligently, or try to. I recommend against email blasts. Find agents who rep authors you love or who are actively looking for work similar to yours (which brings us back to the start of this discussion).
2. A pitch paragraph, set off from the rest of the letter/query, and in bold font. The pitch should read like the flap copy of novels like yours. Pick up books you admire and read their flaps (or Amazon product descriptions) aloud. Writing the pitch can be harder than writing the whole novel, I think. If you are struggling with it, a bare bones approach is to boil your novel down to five sentences: one for the beginning, 1/3 turning point, middle, 2/3 turning point, end. These sentences will be the skeleton of your pitch. Add a little flesh to turn it into flap copy and you’re good to go. (This is also an excellent exercise to gain a rough sense of how the structure of your novel is working).
3. Any credentials you have that are relevant to your being an author. These could include your professional background if you’re a lawyer and you wrote a legal thriller; or it could be publication credits you’ve amassed. Just make sure anything you include isn’t “small potatoes.” It’s better in this industry to be new and undiscovered than around the block several times. A query’s purpose is to paint your book—and you—in the best possible colors.
4. A pleasant sign off whereby you offer a partial or full manuscript upon request.

Thanks so much for sharing your process so far, D. Whether you continue to pursue traditional publishing, or swim off into uncharted waters, I know you’ve written a meaningful book that will draw readers. I wish you the best of everything with it—I know you’ll be sharing your Made It Moment here one day.

Contest Update: Congratulations to reader Lucy Francis who won a signed copy of Carolyn’s novel A PLACE OF FORGETTING! Thank you all for entering, and here’s to many more giveaways to come!

Please welcome back author Carolyn Rose to the blog, with a deeper-than-the-usual look at what makes for chemistry between protagonists and heroes in books. Not to mention a much-funnier-than-the-usual look at marriage. Her own.

Leave a comment with your own thoughts about how an author depicts genuine feeling between characters, and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Carolyn’s A PLACE OF FORGETTING. This not-a-love-story, not-a-mystery book is something pretty special, crossing genres and appealing to readers who like their emotion real and laid out for the reader to feel.

Recently, I looked up from a mystery and said to my husband, “I just don’t feel much chemistry between the protagonist and her love interest.”

Mike, who had read the book a few weeks earlier, frowned. “I did,” he said in an insistent tone.

Now, anyone who’s been in almost any kind of a relationship knows that the other person will sometimes take the opposite view not because he or she has a firm grip on that 180-degree opinion, but for a number of other reasons. Those can be based in the history of the relationship, conflict-riddled events within that history (recent or dredged from the distant past), or the desire to play devil’s advocate, stir things up to break the routine, or just be a pain in the butt for the amusement value of doing that.

But, I digress.

Grilled about his statement, Mike seemed sincere about his impression. He stuck to his contention that he felt a chemical reaction—indeed even significant heat—between the characters. I maintained that I’d see more sparks if I struck two slices of bread together in the rain. (Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, but on a character chemistry scale ranging from icy to sizzling to three-alarm blaze, my needle got no farther than tepid.)

Neither of us would budge. So my choices were 1) to consider that he was misreading, misguided, or missing no opportunity to tweak me, 2) to determine whether I had some prejudice against the characters, 3) to admit that I might have missed something crucial, perhaps while reading too rapidly or in a near-sleep state one step above coma, or 4) to examine the text for evidence to either back up my opinion or change it.

I studied the alternatives presented by this four-tined fork in the literary/emotional road. Choice number 3, admitting to a weakness of my own, seemed, well, weak. Choice number 1, putting the blame on him, seemed like, well, the same old same old. That left me to examine whether I was carrying baggage where these characters were concerned—baggage from previous encounters or baggage based on their backstories. Had I read an earlier book and not liked it? Did one of the characters have a name I loathed? A name of say, a former boyfriend?

Nope, no baggage.

So I was down to choice number 4, examining the text for the elements that I feel create chemistry between characters.

First I looked at whether the male character filled a hole in her heart, satisfied a need in her life. It seemed that he did. Then I searched scenes where they were in conflict and found several. Good. I winnowed through the dialogue hunting for witty exchanges. Check. Quite a few of those. I considered their faults and then whether he seemed to have been created simply as a love interest or as a character with other purposes. No problems there. Plenty of faults. Plenty of other reasons for him to exist.

I dug some more. And that’s when I discovered what it was about the male love interest that kept me from seeing him as a satisfying match for the protagonist, a smart, strong-willed woman, capable and independent.

It was mostly a matter of adjectives and verbs and how those descriptive modifiers and action words resonated with me—or in this case, didn’t resonate with me—as a reader/voyeur watching the protagonist and her lover.

But it went deeper than that. I found I also responded to those words as a woman—a woman projecting herself into the role of the female protagonist and imagining herself involved with that man on many levels—intellectually, emotionally, and sexually.

And I just couldn’t see it. He wasn’t my kind of guy.

For one thing, he didn’t have enough bulk, enough physical presence. He was tall and slender. Tall is good. Slender? Not so much. Weighing in right on the line (and sometimes a smidge on the wrong side) of a body mass index number that’s barely acceptable, I gravitate toward clothing that makes me look thinner. Why would I pick a man who would make me look heavier?

And, this male character was enchanted with people and things. That seemed too much like a prince in a never-gonna-happen-to-me fairy tale. I grew up in a practical family populated by carpenters, nurses, and teachers. That could explain why the guys I go for aren’t enchanted or beguiled or enraptured or charmed or intrigued or captivated or delighted or infatuated or dazzled or even fascinated. The guys I go for are hooked, riveted, excited, stimulated, fired up, overwhelmed, or overpowered.

The male love interest walked softly. He may even have danced or skimmed in the course of the story. I want a man who puts his feet down with purpose. I want to know where he is when he’s walking around the house.

I always knew that verbs were important, but now I saw how they burrowed into my mind, linked up with my personal backstory, and formed opinion. Now I saw why the love interests I created for my characters had some heft to them, some degree of earthboundness. (And, yes, my computer insists that isn’t a word, but I’m going with it anyway.)

Pleased with myself for putting in so much effort and thought, I thumbed through the book, citing evidence for my conclusions as I presented them to my husband. “See,” I said when I finished, “you sort of became him when you read this and you felt a connection to her because she’s the kind of woman you like. But I sort of became her and couldn’t connect to him because I’m still me and he’s not what I look for in a man, so I didn’t feel anything between them.”

He glanced up from the TV, considered for a second, and then said, “Well, I still think they had plenty of chemistry.”

What could I do after spending hours thumbing through pages, highlighting phrases (it was a paperback and I owned it), and formulating a theory?

I threw the book at him.

Carolyn J. Rose grew up in New York’s Catskill Mountains, graduated from the University of Arizona, logged two years in Arkansas with Volunteers in Service to America, and spent 25 years as a television news researcher, writer, producer, and assignment editor in Arkansas, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. Now getting her quota of stress as a substitute teacher, she lives in Vancouver, Washington, and founded the Vancouver Writers’ Mixers. Her hobbies are reading, gardening, and not cooking. She is the author of a number of novels, including No Substitute for Murder, A Place of Forgetting, An Uncertain Refuge, and Hemlock Lake.

She has also authored five books with Mike Nettleton, her long-suffering husband. He recently released a solo effort, Shotgun Start.

So my novel finally sold after 11 years, and the excitement came amidst mundanities, like housecleaning (that’s me at the bottom of the stairs) and routine medical appointments. It took me a while to believe what had happened. It took me a while not to feel numb.

One thing I need to say, before I tell you guys what happened next, is something related to a very core belief of mine. I had enough time, while the publishing world was changing underneath all of us, to learn a lot about the different publishing paths. There are three main ones–traditional, small press, and indie–and I think they all have different things to offer. There are pros and cons to each.

Some of the details I’m going to talk about here are unique to the traditional publishing path because that’s the one I felt was right for me–and the one that opened to me at the right time. In the end, getting published will always be a combination of kismet, stars aligning, and the alchemy of knowing when to leap.

Anyway, some of these details will sound great. Some of them come with a cost (hello, twenty month delay till you see my book). Some of them I don’t even know yet. I pledge to be honest with you, the readers that come here, who mean so much to me. I’ll be honest about everything and I hope that doesn’t ever strike you amiss. If it does, please write me so we can talk about what I might be missing or not understanding.

Anyway…with that said…You know how, when you’ve been trying something for a very long time, you get used to the state where that something hasn’t happened? Then it happens, and you’re catapulted into another state, and you almost don’t feel like you’re you anymore.

This was me: I was unpublished. I was an aspiring writer. I was the one who kept coming close, but not q-u-i-t-e making it.

Now…I was going to be an author.

I still can’t say those words and feel quite like me. It was like when I met my husband-to-be after years of being the single Sally. (Is that a phrase or did I just make it up? Oh well. Let’s go with it). Anyway, I couldn’t get used to saying, “My boyfriend/fiance/husband.” I was Single Sally.

After a book sells, two things happen. I’d been hearing about them for, oh, a decade or so.

The first thing is that an announcement appeared in Publishers Lunch. Pub Lunch is an offshoot of Publishers Marketplace, which is a service I recommend to every writer I meet who’s looking for an agent. On PM there is a sidebar with ‘agents actively looking’. These agents are building a client list and they are GOOD.  I met my agent this way.

But I never expected to see in PM something else, namely the announcement that my book had sold, with a title, description, and whose work the publisher was comparing it to.

By the way, I’m fuzzing two things out for two reasons. The first is the pitch used to sell my book. It contains a spoiler that I am really hoping my publisher finds a workaround for the flap copy. I don’t want to give this away to you guys! It’s a surprise that comes at the end of the first chapter. I’m also fuzzing out my agent’s name. Some of you have written me over the years and know that I do share my agent’s name, even refer someone to her when the work might be right. So never hesitate to get in touch if this is something you’d like to talk about.

This is my book. I have to say that again. This is my book, right there, right here, for other people to see. It existed, and now me, my agent, my loyal trustys, and family–them of the Gat Publisht kids–weren’t the only people to know about it.

I felt so…real.

The phone calls and emails started coming in as soon as that announcement appeared. Early. An author whose book I’d loved last year contacted me. I can still see myself, standing by the kitchen counter–cleaning again–talking to a dear writer friend I hadn’t spoken to in over a year. The bringing together of people is one of the most powerful aspects of books for me.

The next thing that happened took some preparation. My new editor invited me and my agent to lunch. Because this is raw and real and I promised to tell you guys the truth, I will add that my husband called up the restaurant website and then he said, “Whoa.”

We’ve lived in or outside NYC all our lives. We’re fairly used to city dining. But to think that someone had chosen this restaurant to take me to–just because I had written a book–well, that was another sort of dream come true.

Of course, I had to buy a dress. And get my hair cut. And do something about my makeup, or lack thereof. I’m someone who spends a lot of days in my pajamas–and this was even more true 8 months ago.

That lunch was like a fairy tale. It was as if some sprite had come and draped the hard, fast-paced city with airy webs of light and sprigs of flowers. It was a time and a place out of time and place. My agent arrived first and she and I had a second to trade a hug and then my editor arrived and we all just really…clicked.

My editor and agent are clearly good people people–you’d have to be in the positions they occupy in the industry–and maybe all authors feel like this at their first lunches, but there seemed to be something special about this one. Something that felt destined. It had taken me a long time, such a long, hard, painful time, but I felt like I had wound up in the place I was always meant to be.

Midway through that lunch, my editor felt comfortable enough to tell me I had something on my lip.

And I felt comfortable enough to laugh about it.