I've moved

https://rhondapollero.wordpress.com/2016/02/11/throwback-thursday/

Moving Day

https://rhondapollero.wordpress.com/

Swimming in the Indie pool

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I changed publishers.  This happens more than we’d like to think.  So Former Publisher wanted a novella featuring Finley’s Mother and she wanted it for Mother’s Day.  So I did just that – for those of you unfamiliar with the Finley Anderson Tanner Mysteries, she has a rather challenging relationship with her mother.  I should also mention that old writing adage about ‘write what you know.’  So Finley’s mother, Cassidy, is a poorly veiled caricature of my mother.  The only difference is that my mother was more critical.  I used to snicker when someone would write a review insisting that Finley’s mother couldn’t be that bad.  Well, em, WRONG.  But I’ll save all the details for my therapist <g>.

So here I am with a completed novella with no home.  So, I decided – much at the urging of my agent – to go the indie route.  Sounds simple, right?  Well, it isn’t simple. I’ve spent a great deal of time finding an editor – and yes, after 40 books I still need an editor – that whole second pair of eyes thing.  Then I had to hire a cover artist (amazing person!) I got recommendations from other indie authors and their recommendations were spot on.  So now I’m waiting for the edit to come back so I 

can send it to a formatter.  Enter dear, old, friend @TraciHall

She’s been an indie author forever (and a very talented one), so I gave her a call just to make sure I was going about this correctly.  Bless her, she went through the whole process with me while I took copious notes.  Turns out I have a few more things to do.  So many thanks to Traci for taking time out of her Monday to help me.  Apparently I have to do a newsletter in addition to updating my website (happening now) and that blogs are going the way of the do-do bird.  So now I know what to look for from that formatter so I retain control over this project.

So, the point of all this is to remind everyone on the importance of networking and how much it matters to reach out and touch someone when you hit the wall.  With any luck, Finley should be live and yours for the paying ($2.99) in the next few weeks.  Then the goal is – depending on how she is received in this new format – more Finley Indies because I’m very in love with the character.  And coming from Grand Central – Peyton Tanner Mysteries – where you’ll meet Finley’s cousin.

Seriously????  We're supposed to mop while we walk? Is there no end to housework?

This little item came via my inbox and as soon as I finished laughing, I thought about the expectations it places on all of us.  Well all of us women - it doesn't come in men's sizes, though it does come in a rainbow of colors.  And then what?  you glide over to the washer and shimmy out of them without getting any yuck on you?  Or worse yet - what if you washer isn't within shimmy distance?  Do you have to de-mop and run barefoot through the house wearing the dirt on your hands?  I find this to be a troubling product.  I think I'll pass.

No Returns is now a reality, or it is to me once I see the cover.  Then it feels like a real book.  And I must say a huge thanks to Jess Dawson and Sara Lundsford for all their help. Of course I printed it and showed it to my dh and all he asked was who pays $750.00 for a purse?  Such a man thing to notice.


Had a lovely day yesterday with my critique buddy.  It helps when your critique buddy writes humor, lots of laughter as she shared her latest chapter.  Made me think about all the critique groups I've had along the way.  A critique group, or rather one honest person in said critique group, is responsible for me selling my first book.  I had spent nearly 10 years trying desperately to write a Silhouette Desire (yes, I go back that far).  I read every Desire released and I really tried hard to capture the feel and tone of the line.  Then one day, as we were carpooling back from critique group, the one honest person (who was and is a good friend) turned to me and said your action and dialogue and action are great but everything else sucks.  Have you ever considered writing romantic suspense?

Actually, no.  I'd never thought of it and even worse, I'd never read one.  So I spent a few weeks reading every romantic suspense released by Harlequin and Silhouette.  It was like a bulb turned on over my head.  I could relate to solving a crime while finding romance.  After all, who doesn't like a hot detective or PI?  So I set to work (on my typewriter) and the words just flew out of my fingertips.  It was almost effortless.  I'd always been a mystery reader and a true crime reader, so I was in my element.  And writing sexual tension was so much easier for me than writing actual sex scenes.  I had found my nitch, all because a dear friend had done me the favor of being honest with me.  Oh, and after 10 years of failure, I sold the first romantic suspense novel I ever wrote.

I tell this story and some people gasp at the notion that she told me my stuff sucked.  First, she was a good friend and didn't mean it in a nasty way.  Secondly, she knew ten times what I knew about the business of publishing.  I often think about how that single sentence changed my life and I am forever grateful to her for her input.  And I try to pay it forward.  I learned from that experience that sometimes you can be so close to a project that you don't see how it isn't working.  I also learned not to say sucks, unless it's a good friend.

So thank you my Sunday writer ladies for your input and your honesty!