Way Back Wednesday: Note to Self -- Don't Release a Book During a Pandemic

Last year was a year of many lessons. As an author, one lesson I learned is not to release a book during a pandemic. Then again, given that the only options are a time machine (to release it earlier) or trying to outlast the pandemic, I guess I didn't have many other options. Not realistic ones anyway.

So this one came out with very little fanfare. No release party or big celebrations. Unlike Marita and Bets, it entered quietly and has pretty much stayed under the radar ever since.

Still, I'm really proud of this book. My characters have grown and so have I and, while I'll always have a special place in my heart for both Casting the First Stone (my first novel!) and Chasing a Second Chance (my first self-published book, with a major assist from my friend and fellow author Laurie Edwards), this one is, in my opinion, the best of the three. Its ending was quite different from the one I (and many of my readers) anticipated, but I'm happy with it. It's also the first book I did entirely on my own -- the writing, the cover, the publishing -- which is why it took so very long to arrive. 

Today, just a few weeks shy of this book's first anniversary, I'm taking advantage of the time between semesters to focus on other projects. I'm spending my time at the keyboard with a new cast of characters, ladies very different from Marita, Bets, Angel and Charli but nevertheless united in friendship -- at least so far. I haven't closed the book (so to speak) on Marita and friends entirely, which means they might still pop up here. I just haven't yet decided how that will look.

Thanks to all of you who supported -- and continue to support -- my characters (and me). Writing in a vacuum is no fun, but it's great fun to imagine how readers will respond to the various twists and turns of each adventure. 

Available on
 Amazon.com

After a long delay, the final book in the Marita/Angel/Charli series is finally here! I'm very excited, though I must admit I'm not sure where I want to go next. This book has been my writing goal for so long that, aside from continuing work on the paperback edition, I don't know where to turn my attention. In addition, release days for indie authors during a pandemic are a little like a birthday during these times: exciting and meaningful to the person to whom they belong, but unable to be celebrated in the usual fashion. While I'm shouting about the book from the social media rooftops, I can't get together with friends to toast the book, or celebrate its existence. All in good time, I suppose.

The fact remains that the book is out there and the series is finished, something I find both exciting and bittersweet. I've been hanging out with these characters for over a decade and, although I know other characters await, I feel a little sad saying goodbye to this group. Yes, I'm aware they're not real people -- but the job of an author is to make them feel real to readers and, to accomplish that, they have to first feel real to her.

Mission accomplished.

Fortunately (or not, depending on your perspective), this isn't a group that will go away quietly. They might be a welcoming committee on the porch swing as new characters visit from other neighborhoods or, like grown children, they may drop in to visit over the holidays. But one thing is for sure.

You can always find them in the pages of these books. Happy reading.