work
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Merry, merry month of May
I spent April in a frenzy of family activities, spring break, out-of-town visitors, and then playing catch-up, but when May 1 rolled around, it was nose-to-grindstone time. I am working a 31-day fast-draft challenge to finish my WIP, a genre chick-lit novel that is sexy romantic suspense. It will be released under the Scarlet Letter Press indie imprint in early summer under my pen name of Jae Bailey. More deets to follow. But trust me. It will be fun. News on Reaching for the Moon:More Diaries of a Roaring Twenties Teen (1927-1929) — the second Doris Diaries volume received an honorable mention at the San Francisco Book Festival. One of my…
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What’s new? “My Writing Process” blog tour
This week I’m writing as part of the “My Writing Process” blog tour. I’d like to thank Rebecca Lawton for inviting me to write my story as part of the blog tour. You can read more about the lovely and talented Becca Lawton at http://beccalawton.com/ and http://beccalawton.com/blog/. 1) What am I working on? Currently I am hard at work transcribing diaries from 1930. I’ve been editing and publishing Doris Bailey Murphy’s diaries for about two and a half years now; I’ve published two books about the 1920s and am heading into the Great Depression, 1930-33, now. I transcribe her fountain-penned pages and laugh at her thoughts, and then I stop and go look for background…
- appreciation, Catching Up, gratitude, indie pub, My World and Welcome to It, novel, poetry, random, tea, work, writing
What I’ve learned: Publishing and the march of times
When I was in my twenties and reading voraciously and spewing poetry on the page like a hydrant hit by a drunk driver, I wanted to get published more than I wanted a happy marriage, a suburban house and 2.5 children. In fact, I didn’t have a happy marriage, although we did get that house, and three whole children; my desire to be published outlasted everything but the children, who are grown up and doing very well on their own now; thanks for asking. I subscribed to Writers Digest and Byline Magazine, and kept a journal and wrote every single day, if I could, if I didn’t have sick babies…
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12 tips to make the most of your book fair (and 3 ways not to)
Friends in low places:Truman the Reading Dragon says “Hey.” As independent authors, we have to promote ourselves, and one place to do that is at a book fair. After a few unsuccessful book fairs, I began to dread and loathe them as crowded and noisy – or deadly dull – and I sold few books. Not only was that frustrating, it was a waste of my time and money – to get there, to stay overnight somewhere if it was a weekend event, and the time away from family and deadlines. But a recent book fair changed my outlook. The Sonoma County Book Festivalwas set for outdoors, but unseasonable rain…
