When my first book came out, I knew nothing about promotion accept to arrange a book signing which I did at a local bookstore. The publisher sent me some free books, but I gave them away to relatives and friends. I had no idea they should have been sent out for review.

I wrote another historical family saga based on the other side of my family, also using the genealogy my sister researched, thinking Dorchester would be happy to publish it. Unfortunately, the editor I’d had left the company and the woman who took her place wasn’t interested. This time I sent queries first before sending out the manuscript.

My path to publication was as rocky as trying to do this post. For some reason, I haven't been receiving all the instruction emails that were sent to me.

I've written all my life. Short stories as a kid, most extremely similar to whatever I was reading. Plagiarism is what it's called, though I didn't know anything about such things at the time. During my teen years I wrote plays and even published a magazine and wrote all the stories in it.

While mothering my five children, I did the PTA newsletter and wrote plays for my Camp Fire Girls to perform-and I also tried my hand at writing novels. Not very good novels, but I was trying. I sent one in and it was rejected, I decided I probably didn't have what it takes, and threw the manuscript away-and one or two others as well. At this time I was reading lots of romances and the novels I wrote were mostly romantic.

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I’ll admit that my muse is silent sometimes—but I write anyway. I’ve heard authors say that “It’s easier to fix a bad page than a blank one.” I agree with this statement. So, even when the muse isn’t whispering so sweetly in my ear, I write.

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It is such pleasure to be at Novelspot this week! I've been thinking about the different posts I would write, and decided that for my first day, it would be best to start from, well, the beginning...

An idea.

Novels can start from the simplest of ideas. Brief whispers of imagination. Glimmers of a character. And from these small beginnings…well, lots and lots of pages can be created. 

I love it when I first get an idea for a new story. Sometimes, I’ll start with a character, as in the case with my latest Kensington Brava release, HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. With that story, I got the idea for my heroine first—Dr. Emily Drake, also known as the Monster Doctor. Emily is a talented psychologist, gifted with a strong empathic power—but her power only works on paranormal creatures.

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There’s probably a lesson in this somewhere. Something really deep and meaningful. Or important and profound.

I’d tell you which and what, if I didn’t feel like it was more important for your personal growth to figure it out yourself. And that’s not because I don’t know. I do. Really.

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But I do have the basics. I have a desk and a chair. I have a file cabinet. Sometimes I even file things in my file cabinet. I’m always trying to find the “perfect” method for keeping track of all the research stuff related to a project. If it were all one size it would be easier.

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It took me a long time to figure out I’m not just an author. I am also a business woman.

Like many authors, I’ve wondered how an essentially creative act could become a business. The author and the business woman are often at odds and they are never comfortable together.

Fortunately I’m used to having more than one person in my head and have learned to deal. Well, mostly. That business woman is really kind of uptight. Not to mention bossy.

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When I first started working with small, independent presses, I thought it would become a spring board to the Big Time (New York, fame, fortune, movie deals). I wasn’t totally surprised when things didn’t quite work out that way.

Nothing about my writing career has gone according to plan.

Why should it when I commit random acts of writing? I plot from the seat of my pants, hop from genre to genre, even venturing into science fiction when I almost flunked science in high school. Luckily my high school science teacher doesn’t have the power to veto my writing.

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While the industry as a whole has been slow to react to changes in technology and in the way people approach reading, that doesn’t mean you can’t.

When I first started submitting my first novel, Pig in a Park, the only real game in town was New York (with some smaller, specialty presses as back up). Pig did the rounds (back then there were a few more publishers to go round) and came back to me with encouraging comments but no offers to publish.

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And I was leaving cyberspace footprints all over the place.

Not everything I did in those early days was wise. I’m a passionate person and I love a good debate, a vigorous clash of ideas. There is nothing like having your perceptions challenged to make sure they are rock solid…or need reworking.

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I know had unrealistic expectations of what it would be liked to break the publishing barrier. It would have been easy for those expectations to give way to discouragement when I got my first, unwelcome dose of reality.

The consensus was, you’d better love writing or find something else to do. This isn’t a business for the faint of heart.

You’ll quickly learn that the “product suppliers,” (authors) are more plentiful than the “product producers,” (publishers). Even small press publishers are buried in submissions from hopeful authors. Competition for every publishing slot is keen.

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I was recently on vacation in Florida visiting the Mouse. While there, I spotted a woman reading a JR Ward book on a bus. "That's a great book," I said with enthusiasm, having finished it not long ago, to which she replied, "I normally don't read those books, but I blah blah blah..." I tuned out after her emphasis on "those."