Things to be Thankful for--or Not

A new year begins. Time to reflect back on the old one. I can only say my writing career had jagged peaks and one very low valley when all but one of my books went out of print when my publisher closed down. The part to be thankful for is the rights for all of the other five books were quickly reverted to me allowing me to seek a another publisher. The Or Not-none have been reprinted though I do have contracts for all the Sinners books. I've done my part of getting them re-issued but still have no idea when they will reappear.
 
I am thankful my first publisher, The Wild Rose Press, took me back and by September had printed A Trashy Affair. They brought out Love Letter for a Sinner in November and The Convent Rose on December 26th. This is fairly quick work for any publisher. A Taste of Bayou Water, another new title, came out in November from Wings e-Press. So, now I have plenty of new books out. The Or Not-Trashy Affair was offered free on the Kindle and downloaded 9,900 some times. I am glad I might gain many new readers, but I worked three months on that book and so far have gotten $100 in royalties. I do understand the concept that this might translate into other sales, but please spare me the reviews that say, "I downloaded this book for free, but I don't like this kind of book, so I give it two stars." Then why did you download it in the first place? In the category of impossible dreams, I could have taken that trip to Italy if I'd earned $9,900. On the other hand, I doubt if anywhere near 9,000 people would have actually paid for the book.

I am starting the New Year as I did last year with knee surgery on January sixth. Six weeks of pain loom ahead. I elected to do this and must remind myself of that constantly during the ordeal of physical therapy.  I am not likely to be in any way productive during that time. I am grateful painful knee joints can be replaced. The Or Not-will try not to scream when a two-hundred pound PT guy is bending my knee against back to get maximum results. Prayers, best wishes, and good vibrations all accepted to get me though this.

One last thing to be thankful for: over three-thousand people have read this blog. Why I am not sure as I don't find myself that engaging, but I do appreciate it. For you, I will reveal early that Love Letter for a Sinner will be offered free duirng the week of January 28th. The Or Not-please don't download it if you don't like romances with hunky football players in them.

Untypical-That's Me

     I once asked my editor what kind of books she thought I wrote.  Strangely, an author often doesn't know. She replied Untypical Romance or perhaps women's novels with romances in them.  In other words, I seldom follow the tried and true formula of one man, one woman, one romance.  My lovers live in a larger world where other things are going on besides their love affair.  In my Sinners books, the members of the team form a community.  They help each other out when problems crop up - mostly having to do with women. They have wives and children and problems of their own, too.  They have sex, but not in every other chapter, just when it applies to the plot.
     Having recently finished writing Love Letter for a Sinner, I realize it is another of my untypical romances.  I have followed the career of quarterback, Joe Dean Billodeaux, from his first success and now to the end of his career.  He has gone from a womanizer to a family man, from a party guy to a team leader, and helped younger players along the way while dealing with his own dilemmas.  The new quarterback is on the bench waiting for his retirement and his last chance for a Super Bowl is coming up.  He must overcome his dislike of the new guy and even help him find a good woman in order to get his final wish for a fifth ring.  Will there be more Sinners books?  Maybe.  Joe's oldest son, Dean, is now seventeen and showing great potential as a quarterback.  His second son, Tommy, is gearing up to be a kicker.  Like all things in publishing, it depends on how the previous books sell, but being untypical, I write two books a year whether I have a market for them or not.
     I've always thought I simply wrote romances. But it took a contest judge to clue me in that Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball was a "big" historical novel with a romantic sub-plot.  I believed Mardi Gras Madness was a mystery.  Not so, my editor said.  A mystery must start in the very first chapter. I seem to recall Miss Marple wandering around her village for page after page until the actual mystery crops up, but you don't want to argue with your editor.   So, it is a romance with a mystery buried inside of it. Got another one of those coming up later this year, Courir de Mardi Gras, but I won't dare call it a mystery.
     Whatever I write, I try to give the reader a good absorbing story that reads fast and smoothly to its happing ending.  All I can hope for is that people enjoy them no matter how untypical they are.