A Work in Progress

You know what's uncomfortable? Me letting my work go out (the one that's been in a writing/editing/rewriting process for the last ten years) to my writing/ critique partners. It's like letting your baby -- your sweet, little child -- go to school on his first day of preschool.You are relieved, but terrified. Happy but seriously overwhelmed. There's a two-fold dimension of emotions. And I can't figure out what I want or should feel. Many of you don't know that this story has been with me since my now-high-school son was a three-year-old. It's been over ten years of trying to figure out what and how I want to tell this story. For a while, I thought it was just a concept that would never come to fruition. And that it was a crazy idea for a book. Shouldn't happen. Nah, dumb idea. But, it wasn't just that.  Okay, perhaps it is a dumb idea, but I never could give it up. AND (I'm going to speak "positive proph

I have a couple of things to share with you, and they all have to do with one of the best genres around: Middle Grade Fiction. 1. My fellow friend and author extraordinaire -- Kristiana Gregory -- just received a gold medal honor from Literary Classics, for her book Stalked . Yes, the book is fantastic! And yes, the book is more for young adults than kids. But, if you're over twelve, this book is for you regardless. I highly recommend it, too. Historical, fast-paced and action-packed, you'll be reading until way past your bedtime. 2. Another great read, called Dead Man's Hand by Eddie Jones will be released in a few days, and it looks riveting. Great for girls and boys, it had adventure written all over-- and absolutely inside -- the cover of it. Eddie Jones is a wonderful writer, speaker, teacher, and great-all around guy. I can say this because Eddie practices what he preaches. Got a middle grade boy in your house looking for a super sized order of adventure with

Okay, here we go. So, you know that extremely worn cliche that says "never say never?" Well I'm going to use that cliche right now. Don't EVER say never because odds are in your favor that you will do the very thing you said you'd never do. For example, over the past eight years, I've told my husband that I will never self-publish. Absolutely never. (Look at my last post to see reasons to why I didn't want to). It just wasn't for me. Okay, now here's where I explain how I'm going back on that promise. I am self-published (e-published) now, and the book is up on Amazon Kindle today! I've about a million feelings going through me right now: I'm completely scared that my work is no good, completely expectant, hoping for cool things to evolve from it, and I'm completely enamored that I can publish a book myself and see it on Amazon just like all the big-wig authors out there. My book is called The Puzzle Master . It's a