A Happy Ending – Hopefully!

After years of writing this blog and featuring authors who have new books being published, I have decided the time has come to end my weekly features. Unfortunately, the workload is too much, and I still have too many stories of my own that I want to write. The benefits of the blog for me have been many. Over the years I have been able to meet so many wonderful writers and learn about their lives, their writing methods and, mostly, their wonderful books that I bring to readers every week. I hope readers have enjoyed the many stories about the work of publishing as much as I have enjoyed meeting these writers, discovering how they got started, learning about their writing methods and hearing about how they combine home life with the writing life. 

As someone who has spent many years in the media—starting out at a college newspaper many, many years ago, I have always enjoyed being around other writers—fiction and non-fiction. For thirty-plus years, I spent my time working in various newsrooms around the west--from Denver to San Diego to Seattle to Las Vegas. But the major part of my career was spent in Los Angeles where I had the opportunity to work for the ABC, CBS and NBC-owned stations. During all those years I was writing and editing for television news programs, I was also writing fiction for myself. I spent many, many weekends  sitting at a typewriter and later at my computer writing my own fictional stories that I hoped to sell some day.  Needless to say,  most of those printed pages are still in boxes in the basement, and anytime I have gotten out a page or two to read, I realize why I also had a file folder full of rejection letters. But I never let rejection slow me down and I kept writing. However, I also started attending writing conferences and learning the basics of fiction writing. It’s a whole different world from non-fiction the news stories I was writing every day, where truth is all important. While the principles of good writing count in both endeavors, there is so much else involved in fiction-writing--like a very active imagination. Eventually, I was lucky enough to get that call:  We want to publish your book.

Finally, all the hard work would begin to pay off. All those weekends I felt bad for giving up shopping expeditions or outings with friends or parties would become meaningless. I was going to see my book in print! That’s a great reward for any writer. But the hard work of writing was just beginning. What I discovered from that initial acceptance was that more hard work would follow. There was preliminary editing and  sometimes a whole second edit would be necessary. That was followed by the final edit before I would be presented with the galleys. What a joy—seeing my words in what would be the actual printed book. I have been lucky to have great editors at The Wild Rose Press  and I can’t do this blog without thanking Rhonda Penders and Lisa who constantly provide great guidance to all the TWRP writers.  TWRP is a wonderful publisher and the books always come out looking so great. Every book cover that has appeared on my blog has grabbed my attention and many have made me eager to buy and read the book. TWRP has some very wonderful writers as well as a wonderful staff behind the scenes.

Aside from TWRP, I also need to say a special thanks to my frequent non-fiction co-author, Sue Viders, who has been a friend and mentor through my years in the publishing industry. Together we’ve written a number of books—primarily  non fiction books on the writing process, but last year we co-authored a fiction cozy mystery that was published--Secrets and Swindles. 

Finally, but probably most importantly, I need to say a very big THANK YOU to my sister, Lillie. She is the person who has been behind the scenes working on my blog every week--keeping track of everything and everyone and making certain all the elements for the blogs are in place. I couldn’t have done all this without her assistance. She also is the final editor for the blog—and always seems to be able to find those little, nagging mistakes I make regularly. In addition, as my computer guru,  she can also be counted on to make certain the blog spacing and set-up actually work. 

Again, thank you all for being here.  Thank you to all the writers who have appeared on my blog over the years. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and about your books.  I’ve enjoyed not only hearing your stories, but I’ve enjoyed reading a good many of the books I’ve been able to feature. I will continue to look for your books, and I hope you will look for mine. Finally, a big thank you to all the readers who make writers want to keep working!

For any readers who might be interested in my fiction, here is the blurb for my latest Dead Man book--Dead Man’s Treasure.  Currently I am working on the final chapters of this trilogy that began with Dead Man’s Rules.  All are available at Amazon and on The Wild Rose Press website, along with my other TWRP books. The final book in the Dead Man series will be Dead Man’s Secrets—The Final Revelation.  It brings new issues to resolve for the people of the little New Mexico town of Rio Rojo as well as revealing a number secrets that will not only change lives but influence the future. It will be ready for publication soon.

Here's the blurb for my latest book: Dead Man’s Treasure:

When free spirit Freeda Ferguson goes searching for her father, she finds intrigue and romance instead. Attorney Patrick Sanches wants to close a door in his family’s past and has no time for Freeda or adventure. But when a dead man’s shadow and secrets from the past bring danger to their present, they both find themselves drawn into a web of lies and a search for truth. As a small town seeks treasure, they seek  truth.   

Happy reading and writing. Next time you go looking for new books to read, you might want to  go back through some of past My Writing Corner blogs to find stories to read or to learn about new authors to enjoy!