What if?

The two little words "what if?" can be both harmful and beneficial depending on how we use them.

In our daily lives, if we constantly ask ourselves that question, we will become chronic worriers. "What if I loose my job?" or "What if he/she never speaks to me again?"
As writers, that question can be harmful too. What if no one likes my book/s? What if I don't get any positive reviews? Or, worse yet - What if the only reviews I get are negative?
The list can go on and on, taking on a life of its own, overwhelming us. We are tense and stressed, which wears on our health and our happiness. I try not to ask that question in my personal or professional life.

My fiction is another story, pun intended. I've learned that those same two words can provide the plot for a scene or an entire book and they can create tension and suspense.
For example:
What if the reader knows that the killer is hiding in the basement but the main character - let's call her Laura - doesn't know?
What if Laura is about to go down there?
What if Laura's next-door-neighbor is a voyeur, always secretly peeking in her windows?
And, what if, while he's watching, he sees a man attack Laura and rushes to her rescue?
So many "what ifs."

In my new release, Secrets in Storyville, Kate has made some shocking discoveries, long buried secrets which, if she chooses to reveal them, could have disastrous results. As she struggles to decide what to do, she finds herself constantly asking "What if?"

New Release!

Kate Morgan, a single mother, lives in the small town of Storyville, Ohio where she grew up. A want-to-be author, she works as a sales clerk in the town’s only department store doing what she describes as “a job a monkey could do.” Although she’s bored with her job, she’s reluctant to consider making any major changes in her life. However, she’s about to find out that change is inevitable.

When Kate’s ten-year-old daughter, Mandy, tells the family she plans to do a family tree for a school project, the negative reaction of Kate’s parents and grandmother shocks her but also arouses her curiosity. Why are they so against Mandy’s project? Surely her family is too “normal” to have any skeletons in their closet.

Kate decides to support her daughter even if that means defying her parents. As she searches for the truth, she discovers some long buried secrets that, if she chooses to reveal them, will change her life and the lives of the people she loves – forever.

http://tinyurl.com/8sd2cz4

Any day now . . .

UPDATE 6/25: Secrets in Storyville was just released at amazon.com! Type the title in the search box and it will appear!
 
Self-publishing for the first time has been quite a journey for me. I didn’t expect it to be easy but I had no idea of the “glitches” I would encounter along the way. I did a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong – but, with each step I took, I learned.

 

I realized from the beginning that creating a cover was a daunting task. I didn’t even have Photo Shop on my computer but I was fortunate to have two good friends help me with that. I purchased the image for the front cover and my friend, Dave Griffiths, used his expertise to help me choose the colors and design. The same was true with the back cover. I provided the information and photo and my fellow author and friend, Marja McGraw, set it up for me. Lesson learned: Install Photo Shop before trying this again.

One of the things I did right was to take my time with the actual manuscript. In other words, not to rush to send it in. After rewriting, proofreading and editing numerous times, I enlisted the help of other authors to be my beta-readers. And yes, they found errors I hadn’t seen. So, I submitted a  “clean copy.” Crucial if you’re self-publishing because there will be no editor to catch your mistakes before the book is published.

The submission process was basically trial and error for me. Fortunately, the people at CreateSpace have been great to work with – and very patient. It turned out that the way I was accessing the Internet was not compatible with certain functions I needed to perform in order to load the cover and to check my manuscript. So, I was basically trying to do the impossible. I spent an entire day figuring out what the problem was – and reaching for the Excedrin. I sent my book for review three times before all the errors in formatting were eliminated. I ordered a proof copy in the mail after the second submission so I could double-check everything.

There were many times during the process when I shook my head and said, “Never again!” But, now that I’m close to holding my book in my hands, I don’t feel that way anymore. As Marja McGraw said to me in an email yesterday, “Inches. You’re inches from your destination.” And knowing that makes it all worthwhile!

Update on "Secrets in Storyville"

I sent my final manuscript and cover images for Secrets in Storyville to CreateSpace and I received confirmation from them yesterday that my book is good to go. Since this is my first time self-publishing, I ordered a copy of the book for review - as they recommended - and I should receive it in about a week. Once I proofread it, I'll give the go ahead to publish and, according to CreateSpace that will happen by the end of June.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. I'll admit this has been one stressful undertaking because it was all new to me. But, with help from my friends, I did it!

Coming Soon!

As I promised last week, here’s the final cover for Secrets in Storyville. The book is a standalone mystery completely different than and separate from my Malone mystery series.

Writing this book has been an eye-opener for me in many ways. Because this was the first novel I’d ever written in the first person, I made a few mistakes. For example, when one of my beta-readers finished reading it and gave me his feedback, I was shocked to see how many times I, as the author, had intruded on the story. Phrases like “Trust me” and “You wouldn’t believe” needed to be cut immediately – and they were. I was also appalled to see how many exclamation points I’d used. Mary Higgins Clark may be the “Queen of Suspense” but I deserved the title “The Queen of Exclamation Points.” That was something else I needed to – and did – fix.

While I loved the characters in my Malone mystery series, I had so much fun creating new ones and getting to know them. Plus, after writing five books set in “real” places, it was an adventure to set the story in a fictional town, a product of my imagination, where there were no geographic or historical limitations.

Because there are so many “firsts” with this book, especially the fact that I’ll be self-publishing for the first time, I’m as nervous and apprehensive as I was when I sent my first book, Mixed Messages, to my publisher. I didn’t know what to expect then and I feel the same way now. But, I’m also excited and eager to hold the book in my hands. I’ve rewritten, edited and revised my manuscript more times than I can count and, like a mother bird, it’s time to push my baby from the nest.