Category Archives: Indie Publishing

Happily Accountable

These days I’m feeling happily accountable for my writing. I’m openly discussing my projects with friends and family and this post is another way of committing to the process. My youngest recently visited for a couple of months and then my sweet godgrandson came for a long weekend. Though I took some writing time, I enjoyed playing for a good bit of the summer. Now that August is drawing to a close I’m focusing on updates for Espresso in the Morning and the children’s book series I’m working on with my sister.

Dorie Graham Updates

Dorie Graham books spread with North American and international copies

Harlequin approved the reversion of rights to A Family Reunited, my remaining Superromance and five of my Blazes, The Last Virgin, Tempting Adam, The Morning After, So Many Men… and Faking It. I’m really looking forward to rereading and reworking all of these.

I’m well into the updates for the re-release of Espresso in the Morning. I ask anyone interested in reading it to please be patient, though. This story had so much more in it that was either cut or never made it onto the pages. In exploring all I wanted to do with it, I’ve decided the new Espresso will be the first book of three in The Coffee Stop series. In Americano Afternoons I’ll explore the continuing conflict Lucas has with Toby’s sister, Louisa Platt, while she grudgingly explores her own romance. By the time I write the third book, Ramsey Carter, will have his business degree and be the driving force for making The Coffee Stop a nighttime destination in Late Night Lattes, where Ramsey will get his own experience with love. I’ll want to complete all three books and release them in consecutive months, so stay tuned!

Bailey and Bud’s Magical Adventures Series

I can’t wait to have pictures to share for this project. I’ve developed a children’s picture book series I’m creating with my sister, Carol Anderson, illustrator extraordinaire. Currently I have outlined When You Meet a Fairy…, When You Meet a Dragon…, When You Meet a Wizard…, When You Meet an Elf… and When You Meet a Ghost… I have drafted the story for When You Meet a Fairy… and started the storyboard for that one. Basically, Bud, the dog of Bailey, a seven-year-old half Japanese, half Irish girl (like some sisters I know) gets into trouble with magical beings and Bailey and her friends, modeled after my grandnephew, grandniece, godgrandson and sister’s grandson, all help right the trouble. I don’t have a timeframe for releases yet, but am having so much fun with it and will keep you posted.

Passing Rain Free Book Promotion

Passing Rain a memoir front cover — Cover design by Elizabeth Graham

In my continuing effort to learn about all the promotion opportunities on Amazon and to also make this book available to anyone it might help, I’ve enrolled Passing Rain in a Kindle Free Book Promotion through Friday. Please pass this along to anyone who might be interested. Thanks!

I’m falling asleep thinking about these projects, waking up thinking about these projects, then making my way through all the other fun stuff I get to do in my day until I can sit down and get those thoughts out and recorded. If this isn’t happily accountable, I don’t know what is. Hope everyone is safe, well and enjoying life!

Finding My Creative Self

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Another spring has rolled into Georgia and I find myself happily ensconced in my cabin on our neighborhood’s little lake. With much joy, I have left the corporate world to pursue my writing full time. One of my top priorities these days is finding my creative self. How am I accomplishing this? I’m doing all the things I always longed to do, but never prioritized while holding down a full time job.

I’m reading.

After waking each morning, I have my coffee and tea – yes, I have both – and water – and I read on my Kindle on my iPad mini. I have another book I read on my phone’s Kindle for when I’m on the go and waiting somewhere. Before bed, I read a physical book. So I start and end the day reading. I sometimes even sneak in an afternoon read in the hammock!

Books I’m currently reading: Wendy Wax‘s The Break-Up Book Club, Stephanie Bond‘s Temp Girl, part 2, and Rita Herron‘s Dying to Tell (A Slaughter Creek Novel).

I’m journaling.

I’m journaling daily. One day, while journaling, I got the idea for a journal I wanted to use, so I created it, learned a lot in the process, and had fun. I have been using it ever since.

It’s A Positivity Journal for Uplifting Everyday Living. The prompts make me think about my day in a way I may not have otherwise thought. It’s available on Amazon, if you’d like to give it a try.

A Positivity Journal for Uplifting Everyday Living book picture - the journal that's helping me with finding my creative self

azaleas by ship house dock, where I meditate while finding my creative self

I’m meditating and doing yoga.

I’m also sleeping without an alarm, eating a healthy diet, and most days, I either kayak, or take out the pedal boat in the afternoons.

Dorene's hands filled with pencils, pens, paint brushes and markers - the tools I use in finding my creative self — Photo by Liz Graham

I’m working on writing.

I’d like to say I’m actually writing, but at this time I’m getting my feet under me. I’m updating my website, learning everything I can about SEO, key words, Amazon Ads, blogging and so much more.

I’ve reached out to Harlequin and am waiting to hear if I’m getting the rights back to five of my Blaze books and A Family Reunited, my remaining Superromance, all of which qualify for reversion. I have already received the rights back to Espresso in the Morning. My plan is to update, add back in any appropriate deleted scenes and re-release these.

I have updated my memoir, Passing Rain, to correct Lindsey’s pronouns to they, them, theirs, as well as any other gender specific references. I’ve enrolled it in KDP Select, so it’s now free in Kindleunlimited. The ebook and paperback are also still available on Amazon, if you haven’t yet read it, or are interested in the updated version.

Finally, I have been dusting off my Earth Rising series that has been on a back burner for a very long time. I’m hoping to jump into this one over the next week or so.

And for the fun of it I’ll be sending my sister two children’s books I wrote ages ago to see if she wants to do the illustrations. I know spreading myself out over so many projects may not be the best strategy, but when I’m excited about something, I feel it’s important to pursue it. Don’t worry, my main focus will be romantic fiction.

Living this way allows me to stay healthy, happy and aligned, so that I’m able to tune into that voice inside that guides me towards inspiration. As I’m working on all of these projects, I have no doubt I am finding my creative self. I thank you all in advance for cheering me on in my pursuits.

How are you finding your creative self?

Passing Rain Release Day

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Today is the official release day for “Passing Rain” (available in ebook and paperback) and I’ve had the great pleasure of spending it with my wonderful Liz Graham and my fabulous Lindsey Graham. My heart is full.

In addition to release day, this is the day my beautiful, complicated, and brave Jessie (aka Rain) would have celebrated her 33rd birthday.

This is for you, Jess. Love you always.

Keeping on Task

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I’m making a list and checking it twice. It’s actually not that kind of list, though I’m doing my best to embrace the cooler temps and the Christmas decorations already adorning the stores. As always, I’m amazed at how quickly time passes. I’m still in my summer state of mind while others are excitedly pulling out their sweaters. I tend to move at my own pace and not worry too much if that pace doesn’t match anyone else’s.

Okay, maybe I’m a little envious of my author friends who write at a pace where they produce multiple books in a year and my running buddies who run at a pace that qualifies them for wave A of the PTRR. Both are paces I’d love to achieve but I accept that my life may not yet allow me to attain these levels. To keep me on track with my own pacing, at least when it comes to writing (running involves a different process, though possibly with an equivalent amount of sweat and tears) I use to do lists.

Which brings me to my update for this week. I have made that list, my Indie Pubbing To Do List, and I’m checking things off. The featured picture for this post is my actual list. I wrote it on my fun little note pad (with its nice summer theme), because I’m determined to make this a fun process. This pad opens like a book and the list continues onto the next couple of pages. I stopped, because my to dos may change before I can get that far.

I think the most important thing, that has happened this week is that I’m actually visualizing “Passing Rain” as a finished product. Previously, it has been more of a vague hope to send it out into the world. Now that I’ve mapped a draft of the path it will take in getting there, it is already becoming more real to me. So, even if I haven’t checked as many items off this list as I might have hoped, actually seeing this as a reality feels like pretty good progress to me.

How is everyone else keeping on task, especially as we’re heading into the holidays?

Read about the dream that inspired me to write Passing Rain: From the Camel’s Mouth

Going Indie

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I feel comfortable enough with this decision to announce I’m going Indie! What does this mean, my non-writing friends may ask. It means I’m taking control of my writing destiny by self publishing Passing Rain, and if this goes well (and probably even if it doesn’t) I will likely also self pub the paranormal series I have brewing on a back burner, once I write it, of course. 🙂

I shared this with a running friend last night and his reaction was, “Isn’t that like a last resort?” I dare to say for the savvy author these days it’s a great way to go. Not that traditional publishing isn’t still a perfectly sound option in some cases. For me, though, the indie road makes sense.

Yes, it’s lots of work and no, there are no guarantees, but for many authors the e-book revolution has made this not only an acceptable, but often better way to go. Self publishing has taken on new meaning in this digital age.

So rather than get overwhelmed by the huge learning curve I’ll have, as well as the mounting entries on my to-do list, I’m taking a deep breath and starting with The Naked Truth About Self-Publishing by The Indie Voice: 10 NYT Bestselling Authors. Thanks to Stephanie Bond for the recommendation. So far, this book has given me more new resources than I’ve had a chance to follow up on, and it’s had me chuckling through my lunch break in my cube. I’m sure my coworkers at my day job are wondering what I’m finding so amusing. Can I just say Dorien Kelly’s chapter, Revirgination (When Traditional Authors Go Indie) cracked me up? If learning this new landscape is going to be this much fun, I’m in for a grand time.

I also have to say thanks to Wendy Wax for sending me Jane Friedman‘s Electric Speed newsletter. I immediately subscribed. It’s full of industry information geared toward author entrepreneurs. I kind of like that term.

If you’re an indie author (or are researching them)and have other resources to share I’d love to hear them!

If you’re not an author, but have questions or thoughts about this whole self pubbing thing I’d love to hear those, as well. As a reader, do you know or care who publishes the books you’re reading?

It’s a brave new world and I look forward to navigating it, one step at a time!