I chose a positive heading to offset all the negativity going on in my life and in the world. The query process has turned up dust. All agents so far have said “no” but it’s still with a few small publishers. In the meantime, I’m getting the book ready to hit the publish button for KDP. I had to get rid of software that I used to create my previous books when my computer updated and made the software unusable. So I used Word 365 and it’s been a success. The formatting looks identical. I’m quite pleased and I was able to use Kindle Create for the ebook. Easy peasy. In fact, I’m so pumped that I might only wait another week or so to get rejections and then hit publish.
I’d been invited to speak as a local author at a local women’s auxiliary for a national religious organization. I was surprised but intrigued to be invited and relished in the invite. Recently, I thought about the wisdom in accepting this invitation and while I was trying to contact the organization perused the site. Yup, I was right. I was totally wrong for this endeavor. Firstly, my most recent book is about a Faustian deal an author makes with the Devil. Not good I thought for this audience. Then, I thought about my strong objection to trump supporters and his evangelical following. My home town is basically a blaring sea of red. Again not good. I explained this to the woman who invited me and she kindly thought my storyline and beliefs would not sit well with this audience. We both breathed a sigh of relief.
Here is the part about celebrating who you are. I realize, I will never be known to the wider world as writer of merit. My books will hardly be read. But I do not pander. I write about what moves me to action. What needs fixing in this world. There is no erotica, murders, the escapism of pure romance like the love comics I used to read as a teenager that’s now replaced by Harlequin, no brooding Lord of the Manor. My latest work that has been uniformly rejected follows a small group of people who are brought together to form a refuge when the climate crisis causes chaos. This story slowly weaves in the changing climate conditions while this mall group begins to bond as a family when they move to Vermont to run a bed and breakfast. There is romance, there is a death, there are dangerous happenings. But mostly it’s about the nature of humanity not wanting to make changes even when shown the need to do something. Sort of like the situation we are in now.
So I celebrate, me. Celebrate that I am lucky enough to not have to depend on book royalties to live comfortably as if I were a famous author, but with no deadlines to meet. I write what I want. When I want. My books might get read after I’m long gone because they will remain on Amazon until Amazon goes bust. So who knows what will happen. Out there forever to read or not. But my message has ben sent. My thoughts, my beliefs, my worldview. Mine. And that is a cause for celebration.
