Launch Day for Lucky Charms!

A year ago, as I was completing my short story for submission to our local Sisters in Crime chapter’s anthology, I had no idea whether it would even be accepted, let alone end up being the first of THREE launches within nine months! The second will of course be Circle of Influence in March and the third will be the second Zoe Chambers mystery coming out in September.

But today is the big day for Lucky Charms: 12 Crime Stories. 

I’m sharing the excitement with eleven of my Pittsburgh area Sisters in Crime. It’s truly amazing how much talent we have here in southwestern Pennsylvania.

As previously mentioned, I wrote my contribution “Sweet Deadly Lies” a year ago, long before my contract with Henery Press—long before I knew my cast of characters from Circle of Influence would be hitting the bookshelves in short order. But it turns out to be excellent timing, because when I created this short story, I borrowed one of my secondary characters from the series for it.

Detective Wayne Baronick is a police detective for the Monongahela County Police Department. You’ll get to know him in the Zoe Chambers’ series as a good-looking thorn-in-the-side to Vance Township’s Chief of Police Pete Adams. In “Sweet Deadly Lies” we get to meet him and his younger sister, Abby, also a police officer, but in the shadow of her more successful brother. This is Abby’s story—her turn in the spotlight.

The story opens:

Mona Peterson had once told me the chunk of fake turquoise hanging on a heavy silver chain around her neck always brought her luck. Seeing that same silver chain cutting purple grooves into the gray skin of her throat, I had my doubts.

Interested in reading more? Perhaps you need a Christmas gift for a mystery-loving friend or family member. Go online here to purchase the print version and request a signed copy. Have a Kindle or a Nook? Click here for the Kindle version or here for the Nook Book.

Other e-book formats are available. I’ll have the links posted as soon as I receive them.

If you’re in the Pittsburgh vicinity, I invite you to come to Mystery Lovers Bookshop this Sunday, December 8 where all the Lucky Charms authors will be hosting our publication party and signing copies from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. I think I heard mention of champagne.  

Cover Reveal Day!

Today is one of those Oh-My-God-This-Is-Really-REAL kind of days. Henery Press has added me to their website and Circle of Influence has a page, too! I absolutely LOVE the cover!

So today is all about showing it off and getting the buzz started!

Release date: March 25, 2014! 

Coming Attractions

A multi-published author friend told me once I signed my contract, life as I knew it would change drastically. Wow, was she right.

I could definitely use a few more hours in each day. But I’m learning how to schedule my time. My real “creative” energies fizzle after about 3 p.m., so I have to fit my writing in before then. Businessy stuff (yes, I know there’s no such word as “businessy” but there should be!) can be done later in the day or pre-caffeine in the morning.

Now if only I could manage to block out the world during my creative hours. I’m working on it.

My Sisters in Crime chapter is all abuzz about the upcoming launch of Lucky Charms.

You can pre-order a print copy NOW from Mystery Lovers Bookshop. Want a signed copy? You can note that when you order. Want to meet all of us who contributed? We’re having a spectacular launch party at Mystery Lovers on Sunday, December 8 starting at 5:00 p.m. If you’re in the Pittsburgh area, we’d love to see you. Otherwise, the anthology will be available for sale in print and all e-book formats starting December 2.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement, Henery Press is revealing the cover for Circle of Influence this Tuesday, November 19. Wait until you see it! I absolutely LOVE what they’ve done. I’ll post it here then, too.

So the next few weeks look to be a wonderful thrilling ride. Now back to work on books #2 and #3.

October in Review

Somehow I seem to have blinked and missed October. At least I managed to grab some photos one foggy morning to prove autumn happened, because yesterday we had snow on the barn roof, and this morning the thermometer showed temps in the 20s. If winter isn’t here yet, it’s certainly pounding on the door.

It’s been yet another crazy busy month. My revisions on Circle of Influence are due Tuesday. I’ve “finished” them at least three times in as many days. Yet each morning I fire up the computer, open that file, and find something to tinker with. I can see it now—I’ll be giving a reading from the published novel and still find something I want to change.

In addition to turning in my revised manuscript on Tuesday, I’m supposed to get my first look at my cover art that day. Now that I’ve completed (yeah, right) the edits and Deadline Panic has evaporated, I’m eager and excited to see my debut cover. As in NERVOUS WRECK. Henery Press produces such great covers, I can’t wait to see what they’ve done for mine.

But I don’t want to have another upcoming major event get lost in the shuffle. My newest short story “Sweet Deadly Lies” will be included in Lucky Charms, an anthology my local Sisters in Crime chapter is putting out. Release is set for December 2. We have a great cover for it, too.

I’m thrilled for my fellow anthologists. (Is that a word? I guess so. Spell check didn’t call me on it.) The process of putting this collection together has been an amazing collaboration, of which I confess I’ve done darned little beyond sitting back and watching. We have a phenomenal group of writers in the Pittsburgh area. I’m proud to be in their company.

The Dream Meets Reality

It’s been a wild few weeks. A combination of euphoria, celebration, panic, and nose-to-the-grindstone work.

I have wonderful friends in the writing community who have been eager to celebrate with me. I’m overwhelmed. I keep recalling that infamous acceptance speech Sally Field made. You like me! You really like me! I’m touched and honored, because these people who are congratulating me and buying me chocolate and wine are the same people responsible for making me the writer I am.

Anyhow, while the celebrations keep cropping up (surprise pie courtesy of Paula Matter at the Pennwriters board of directors meeting!), mostly I’m settled into the rhythm of work. Write, write, write, and write some more. My goal was to finish the first draft of Sins of the Fathers (book #2) by the end of September. Today! And I did it! Okay, it’s a prime example of what Anne Lamont calls the “shitty first draft,” but it’s words on a page. So much easier to fix than a blank one.

In the next day or two I expect to get Circle of Influence back from my editor with copy edits. So there’s no time for rest beyond the two Godiva truffles and cup of coffee I’m currently enjoying. I’ll need to work on those revisions to the first book while polishing the second one so I can ship it off to my beta readers and critique buddies.

And in my spare time, I’ve been asked to compile a list of media markets in the area. Thank goodness I’ve done some of this media/promotion stuff for Pennwriters conferences. I’m not starting out cold. Just chilly.

AND there’s a small matter of book #3. I’d like to get it outlined by the end of October so I can start drafting it in November.

I love it. Yes, it’s more work than I imagined, but this is what I’ve wanted for…well… forever! Writing every day is no longer an option or a luxury to be squeezed in after my other commitments. Writing every day is now a requirement and comes FIRST. Gradually my family is getting used to the idea. Hubby, who used to refer to it as “playing around on the computer” now says stuff like, “Oh, you’re working. I’ll get out of your hair.”

Who is this man and what has he done with my husband???

On the other hand, I do have to get out and remind people I’m alive. I’m scheduled to teach two workshops at A Writers Road Trip, a one-day mini conference held by Pennwriters in Erie, October 12. If you’re in the area, you can register here. 

Dreams

Last week was huge.

It started on Monday when Diana Nyad completed her life’s dream and successfully swam from Cuba to Key West. After her feet touched sand in Florida, she managed to say something that I plan to print and frame:

"I have three messages. One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is, you never are too old to chase your dreams. And three is, it looks like a solitary sport but it's a team."

All three totally apply to us struggling writers. I took it to heart.

Then on Wednesday, my own dream started to come true. Henery Press offered me a three-book contract for my Zoe Chambers/Pete Adams mystery series.

The contract was signed on Friday and all became official. I’m the newest hen in the Henery Hen House! My debut novel, Circle of Influence, will be released in March 2014.

I have bruises on my arm from pinching myself. Seriously. More than once I stop in the middle of the day to wonder if I imagined it all. Thankfully the news is all over Facebook, so I only have to look at the posts to realize—nope. It’s definitely real.

No, I’m not comparing my journey to Ms. Nyad’s. I certainly don’t expect to swallow salt water or get stung by jellyfish. But she inspired me.

The point to my struggling writer friends is NEVER give up. You’re never too old. And join writing organizations like Pennwriters or Sisters in Crime. Because it does take a team.

Rock on, Diana Nyad. And WRITE on to all my fellow authors!

Post-op Post

Fair warning to my male readers: You may want to skip this post. “Female issues” will be discussed. The kind many men would prefer to avoid. HOWEVER, have the women in your life read it. Just saying…

I wasn’t going to blog about this. But every time I’ve mentioned what’s been going on with me over the last month, my women friends jump in with their own stories. Or tell me they haven’t had an exam in a long time and now think they should schedule it. So in the spirit of shining light on women’s health issues, here we go.

In early July I had my overdue annual exam at the Midwife Center. Yes, they do more than just deliver babies. I’ve been in fine shape. No symptoms of anything and I expected a routine “everything looks good, see you next year” comment. But during the exam, she palpated a “mass” and referred me for a sonogram. I could have it done at the same place and same time as my also-overdue mammogram, so no big deal. I still expected to receive an “everything looks fine, it was nothing,” response.

Except everything did not look fine. There was something there, probably a fibroid since I had a history of them. But whatever it was blocked their view of the right ovary so they couldn’t give a definitive diagnosis. Whatever it was, it was big and needed to come out.

I spent the next few weeks going through proper channels and getting an appointment with the same doctor who had removed a large fibroid from me twelve years ago. I love my doctor even though he sent me for every blood test known to mankind (womankind?). SIXTEEN vials of blood. I also had a second sonogram and an MRI. He wanted no surprises. Everything came back “benign.” All signs pointed to a fibroid.

Last Wednesday I went in for a total hysterectomy. I admit I was anxious. And annoyed. I felt FINE! But I knew when I woke up I wouldn’t. Abdominal surgery is painful. This wasn’t my first rodeo. I knew what to expect.

And I was right.

However, it seems in spite of all those tests, my doctor got a surprise after all. While, yes, I had two small fibroids, the “mass” was actually my right ovary gone wild. He told me the name for it, but I’ll have to get back to you on that. I haven’t seen the ten-dollar word for it in print yet, and my drug-fogged brain didn’t detain it. But the important word is still BENIGN.

My ovary was 10 centimeters, which as I understand, is over twice what it should have been. Yet I had no pain. No discomfort. NO SYMPTOMS. I was lucky it was benign. Ovarian cancer is a silent killer, and now I truly understand what that means.

Ladies, girlfriends, moms, sisters, pals: Have your annual exam. Get a sonogram. Don’t assume just because you feel fine that you ARE fine.

As for me, I’m in recovery mode. I’m catching up on naps and books. Even post-op, life ain’t bad.