Today's the Day!

Don't forget to be part of "Books are for Lovers" and buy a book today from your local bookstore. Let's keep those brick-and-mortar stores alive!

In other news, Cedar For officially passed on The Tyrant King last week. I've been so busy (with LOTS of help, trust me) getting The Wild Queen print books in order it's actually taken me some time to process this latest rejection. I immediately moved forward with plans to self-publish the book, but I didn't really work through how I felt. Consequently, my emotions have been on a roller coaster ever since. Today, though, I think I've struck a balance.

Am I sad/confused/distraught that my publisher didn't feel my work was worth a second chance? Hello? I'm human. Of course it affected me.

Am I going to let it stop me? No way!

Lately I've been a veritable fountain of worthy story ideas. So they don't want this one. Yes, it means I'll be self-publishing TTK and TLP, but that doesn't mean I'll be self-publishing forever. And, even if I am, so what? I write my very best then I send it to other writers and readers for opinions on improving it. Then I make it better. THEN I send it to a professional editor to show me what else I'm missing. Then I make it better. And that is what the reader sees--the very, very best I can show in my writing.

Self-publishing means control. I control what goes into the book. I control what the cover looks like. It also means responsibility. I control the advertising/promotion of said book. So if it doesn't sell, then I'm the weak link here. :)

The Tyrant King will be out in May/June. The Lost Princess will be out in 2013. I can't wait to be able to show you the cover for TTK. But, for now, enjoy this one!

The Wild Queen print version is looking amazing. I did find some errors in my proof copy, so I will need to order another proof to make sure it's all fixed. (at least what I found, lol) I'm hoping copies will go live in March. Yay!

From the Other Side of the Move

I'm getting all my posts in early this week, in case I end up with no internet. Kinda hard to blog post with no internet. :)

What's new in my writing world? Well, the publisher rejected Lizzie Lilac and the Left Socks, as their children's book quota has been realized this year. I'm going to shop it around for next year. Hopefully I'll find someone who will want it.

Nothing new to report on The Tyrant King. I'm not writing/editing much, but I am learning quite a bit about how to improve my writing and look forward to making it a real knockout book once the kids are back in school. Yes, my kids haven't started yet. It's a casualty of the move, but they start today. Hooray! Tomorrow, I plan to be home all morning and afternoon with nothing but my thoughts. I almost can't believe I'm looking forward to that.

Still adjusting to small town living. That will take some time. But, I think I will enjoy the quiet. Less hustle and bustle. More writing time. More time with my kids. More bloggy time. :) More writing time. Wait, did I say that already? lol

In the move, I found something truly exciting--a fresh, new story idea that I'd written down forever ago and just can't wait to develop. In my next post, I'll give you the basics so you can tell me if you've seen or heard it before. One of my biggest fears finding something like this is that it's not my idea at all, but one I summarized from another source. I'd hate to be repetitive. If feels like mine, but seems so brilliant I can't quite bring myself to claim it. Make sense?