Hello Reader!
I don't know about you but September flew by for me! How is it October already?
I've been busy with a class through Club Ed this month on plotting and structure, which is reminding me that I love taking classes and do not love doing timed homework! I'm also starting an interesting new project where I do historical language authenticity for an author's dialogue. I'm definitely looking forward to that!
The big story is that I had a wonderful time visiting my friends in England. We had adventures in the Peak District, visited several houses that have been standing since medieval times, and explored Winchester and a bit of Southampton (their new home town). I'm a sucker for medieval & Tudor buildings, so I was very much in my happy place. And I may have gotten the germ of an idea for a mystery novel of my own. . . What's the saying? You know you're a writer when you have more ideas for books than time to write them? If that's true, I'm on my way!
October for me right now looks like working on my (current) butlers book, my historical language job, and working with Dove on more obedience training. What's on your October calendar?
How is your writing looking right now?
Thanks for inviting me into your inbox this month.
Happy writing!
Anne
MEET THE AUTHOR
I want to help authors celebrate their accomplishments! Do you have a book getting published soon? Email me: I'd love to interview you about your experiences to share with fellow writers!
Suzanne Stauffer & French Toast à la Santa Fe
Q: What made you decide to write this book? What is its backstory?
A: This is the second volume in the Couriers Series. I saw an exhibit on the Couriers at the Bright Angel Lodge museum at the Grand Canyon and immediately thought what a great historical mystery series they would make. The Couriers were the women guides of the Fred Harvey Indian Detours, which ran from 1926 to the late 1930s or early 40s. The Detours were car/van tours through the Four Corners region, running from Las Vegas, New Mexico, to the Grand Canyon, and also visiting the Petrified Forest and other areas. In the first volume, Fried Chicken Castañeda, Prudence Bates leaves her job as a librarian in Cleveland, Ohio to go West to train as a Courier. She spends a week at the Castañeda Hotel in Las Vegas, getting acclimated, then in this book, French Toast à la Santa Fe, she takes the 3-day Detour from Las Vegas through Santa Fe to Albuquerque, in the company of ten others.
Q: How long did it take you to write this book and get it published?
A: It probably took about a year to write it, but in that same time period I retired, we sold our house, moved to Albuquerque, bought a house, and etc. It takes about 18 months from the time I submit it to my publisher to when it is finally released.
Q: What particular challenges do you face in your writing? What is difficult for you? Do you have any tips for writers who face similar challenges?
A: Sticking to my schedule! There are so many other demands on my time, and nearly all of them are legitimate. My husband had a knee replacement last year and he’ll be having another one this year. That means I’ll be on “nurse duty” for several weeks and ferrying him to and from physical therapy for about six weeks.
I know people who can write for half an hour or an hour, but I’m just getting up to speed at that point. I need at least two solid hours clear to do anything more than revise.
The one thing that really helps me is belonging to a critique group that meets twice a month. That gives me a deadline.
Q: Can you talk a little about your editing experience for new writers? What made you choose your editors?
A: I don’t have an editor, per se. As I said, I belong to a critique group, so they are essentially my editors and they pick up on all kinds of stuff! And my publisher hires an editor for the manuscript I submit to him. However, I was a professor for close to 20 years, and I got all kinds of feedback from peer reviewers on my academic articles. I really had to learn to separate myself from my writing and not take any comments personally. Sometimes the best thing to do is just walk away for a couple of days, calm down, and look at it again. I find that trying to explain why I don’t want to make a requested change helps me to see whether the change is necessary. If I can’t defend the original, maybe it needs to change.
Q: Are you a traditional or self-published author? Why did you decide this was the path for you?
A: I’m published by a small independent publisher, so traditional, but not by one of the Big Five. I tried self-publishing, but I felt overwhelmed by all of the technical aspects – finding a cover designer, finding an editor, formatting the manuscript, handling the distribution. I wanted to focus on writing. Of course, I still have to do most of the marketing, but that’s pretty much par for the course regardless. My publisher submits the book for review by magazines and for awards, and arranged for a podcast interview. He’s also known in this area, so that got me entre into some venues. And he has to handle all of the technical headaches.
Q: Can you describe your publishing experience for writers who hope to publish one day?
A: This is my experience with the first book. My publisher does not require an agent. There are actually quite a few small independents who do not. I sent him a submission letter, as described on his website. He responded within a couple of weeks, asking for the complete manuscript, and a few weeks later, accepted it. I signed the contract – I suppose I should have had a lawyer look at it, but … well, it turned out that he is the stepson of a woman in my writing group. I can’t remember if he gave me the release date then or later, but in any case, I didn’t hear anything again for months, then I got the cover for approval. We went back and forth a couple of times before it was finalized. Then, I got the edited manuscript with the requested changes. I either made the changes or explained why I wasn’t going to make them – and I was careful to pick my battles. About two months before release, I started setting up book signings. About a month before the release, I got my 25 free author copies.
For this second one, I am one of his authors, so I submitted the manuscript, got the contract, and got a release date. We just finalized the cover! I’ll be getting the edits soon. I’ve already set up the book launch at one of the venues where I was most successful the last time and have requested dates for a virtual book tour and a couple of author takeovers of Facebook pages.
Q: What is one piece of advice that someone gave you that you'd like to pass on to other authors?
A: Don’t think about marketing as selling books in the short-term. Think about marketing as creating a market for your books in the long-term. It’s about exposure, not sales.
But wait-there's more! Suzanne talk about marketing over on my blog.
You can find out more about Suzanne and her books on her website
Community vs Competition: What A Night In An Airport Made Me Realize
So, confession: there was one part of my trip to England that was not lovely. Getting home. Not just because it's a long flight. I've done it before and was ready for that. But because the day I was supposed to fly home, Heathrow Airport had a meltdown. I sat on a plane with I don't know how many other people for nearly 4 hours while our pilots assured us things were being done. Everyone was calm. Cookies were handed out. Finally, the pilots came on and gave us the bad news: our flight was canceled. Not just our flight in fact, but all flights out of Heathrow that day. Something happened with the traffic control system and we would try again tomorrow. Everyone had to get their checked bags and figure out what to do.
It took me about an hour to get my suitcase and I was checking hotels while I waited. I didn't grab a room right away because I'm not good at multitasking things like that: I need to give my full attention to booking a room and I didn't want to miss my bag. But while I watched, the hotel prices started to go up. And up. And up. By the time I got my bag, the cheapest rooms were around £1,000 for the night (they started around £120). Word from people around me was that all the cabs and ride shares were doing the same thing—if you could even get one. Decision made: I spent the night in the airport.
The hottest commodity among people at the airport was a charger and place to charge their phone that night. My converter/charger has a ridiculous number of plugs in it. I had always thought it a bit overkill honestly. But it made me everyone's best friend that night. I invited anyone who needed it to use a space and they were beyond grateful. I can't tell you how many people offered to pay me for time using my charger.
I could have made some decent money that night. I didn't. I was shocked at the offers and didn't take anyone's money. Thanks, but we're all in this together, let's help each other out. Want to do something nice for me? Watch my bag while I go to the bathroom. People were helping each other out, being nice despite the stress and exhaustion.
And it made me think of writing. It's still seen as a lone enterprise, with people in competition for scarce resources. Slowly, I think that's changing—and I think we need to encourage that trend. Let's not think of it as scarce resources, few contracts, and fewer readers. Let's think of the groups out there that support and help: from large ones like the Mystery Writers of America to smaller ones like Women in Publishing. Local bookstores or libraries or colleges often have classes or writing groups if you prefer in person to online groups.
From finding resources to offering critical reading or emotional support, communities are great ways to make the writing and publishing process easier and more fun for us all. It's maybe a bit of a cliché, but we aren't competing with each other. We're working to write our best books, get them to the right people, enhance the genre as a whole and find our reading communities. So, instead of working in competition the way the London hotels did (which made no one happy, I promise you!), why not work together to make everyone stronger?
My Reading Shelf
Jen DeLuca's Well Versed is a farewell to summer, and her delightful Renaissance romcom series. A second-chance romance, Caitlin has lost her love of all things RenFaire, Shakespeare, and love when a summer romance ended in a broken heart. Now Alex is back in Willow Creek and, finding out he's taken the magic from her RenFaire, he's determined to bring it back. A slow burn romance with lots of RenFaire wooing as only Jen DeLuca can do. Huzzah!
Martha Waters creates an alternate 1920s London where magic is Forbidden. So, just like during Prohibition, you head to the speakeasies. When potions start causing problems club owner Vesper and goverment official Ashbridge team up to find answers before someone gets hurt. Can they solve the problem without getting Spellstruck? It's a complete opposites-attract, slow burn romance with delightful designer gowns; a confident heroine; and a fun world that I'd love to dive back into.
