Coming this fall: My first book in paperback!

Time to uncork some champagne!
Photo credit: Niels Noordhoek

A few months ago I posted about submitting my first full novel manuscript to my publisher. It's been a looooong wait, but I finally heard back earlier this week--Island House will be released by Dreamspinner Press this fall!

I'm over the moon with excitement. About eight months ago my first title came out, a short called Traditions from the Heart, joined later by the novelette Diving In. My first novella, The Buyout, will be out July 3. Working on each of those ebooks and seeing them through from idea to ISBN has been amazing, but I have to admit that I haven't felt like an author until now. Maybe it's because I grew up in The Time Before E-Readers, but there's something about holding a paperback in your hands that makes it feel real. I'm not going to liken authorship to motherhood, since I have two kids and I know firsthand that labor is a lot more painful than the writing process. Still, even without the tragically over-used birth metaphor, bringing a new book into the world is something magical. I'm eagerly anticipating the day when I can hold Island House in my hands!

Island House Blurb:

Niall is a British ex-pat who left the UK for the sunny skies and beautiful scenery of Tortola after his partner Nolan was killed four years ago. Living in the Caribbean had always been their dream, but the reality of it leaves Niall desperately unhappy. When a new client shows up at his real estate firm looking for a home, Niall sees an opportunity to make enough money to change his life—but he gets a lot more than he'd bargained for with Ethan. They make it through a hurricane together, but then life keeps throwing curve balls their way that are harder to weather.

Editing and the EDJ

Things are plugging along for me, despite the Evil Day Job's best attempts at getting me off track. I'm a freelance journalist, so most of the time after a long day of interviews and writing the last thing I want to do is write more, but I'm trying hard to get past that. Having the daily word count goal I set at the Dreamspinner Author Workshop in April has been a big help.

I just finished the first round of edits on my latest novella The Buyout, which will be published by Dreamspinner Press later this year. My first instinct when I see one of my manuscripts all marked up is to cringe at all the mistakes I made and all the plot holes I left (or the number of times I changed a character's eye color or the city they lived in or, on one memorable occasion, getting the character's name wrong...not misspelled, just flat out wrong).

As a journalist, I'm used to having my pieces torn apart. What I'm not used to is having those ripped up pieces sent back to me, asking me to sign off on the changes and revise in areas--we journos usually work on a tight deadline that doesn't allow for that kind of dialogue between writer and editor. To be honest, I kind of prefer it that way.

This is the third story I've taken through production at Dreamspinner, and I have to say that my experiences with the editors has been top-notch. Their comments are insightful and they never fail to make my stories tighter, clearer, and better when we come out the other side of the editing tunnel. That said, the editing process is still a nerve-racking one, and my conversations with authors who are much more seasoned than  me leave me to believe that the initial roller coaster ride of self-pity and horror that accompanies getting that first edit back is never going to change. 

It's not that I'm not open to the criticism, because I am. The editors ultimately have the same goal I do--to make that story the best it can be. And like I said, once I've reworked paragraphs in accordance with their notes or changed the wording or sentence structure the way they've suggested, I always walk away from it feeling like that story is better for it.

But any feedback that isn't open gushing about your story--your baby, the piece you've reared from infancy and spent many a late night with--is hard to hear. I think that experience makes us better writers, though. And the work editors do with us definitely makes the books better in the end, and that's what should matter.

How do you deal with the editing process? Do you have any tips to share with a newbie?

Diving In release date: June 1, 2013

Diving In
Release date: June 1, 2013
Dreamspinner Press Make a Play anthology



Being the pool boy makes it easy for Max Jansen to ogle his long-time crush, water polo player Everett Caldwell. Never mind the fact that Max owns the company and is extremely overqualified for the task of monitoring chlorine and cleaning skimmers. He's just happy to watch his unattainable dream play—until one day Everett invites him over and suddenly Max is his platonic plus-one for everything from movie nights to racy industry parties. Then Max learns the one-time Olympian isn't as straight as everyone assumes, and he isn't sure how long he can hold out before his crush grows much deeper.

Read an excerpt from Diving In here.

Cover reveal for The Buyout

I'm thrilled to finally be able to share the cover for my upcoming book with you! Lou Harper at Dreamspinner Press did an amazing job putting it together--I really couldn't be happier!

The Buyout
Release date TBA
Dreamspinner Press

All Parker Anderson has ever wanted is to take over as CEO of Anderson Industries when his father retires. But when his father is ready to leave the company, he doesn’t plan to pass the reins to Parker. Instead, he plans to sell the company, jeopardizing not only Parker’s job but hundreds of others.

Parker finds an unlikely ally in Mason Pike, the company’s resident IT guru. What starts as a flirtation takes them from coworkers to coconspirators in a plan to forcibly buy Anderson Industries out from under Parker’s father. While they focus on the buyout, their budding romance has to be put on hold, but that doesn't stop them from flirting and teasing each other to distraction—and once their master plan comes to fruition, nothing and no one can keep them apart.

Read an excerpt from The Buyout here.