It's only one opinion!

Three of the hardest things a writer has to deal with are rejected manuscripts, harsh critiques, and negative reviews. I've had plenty of the former, because it takes a while to learn your craft, and we all think our work is amazing until someone else says it really isn't. I've dealt with my share of biting commentary on my writing as well. Not everybody gets what you are trying to do or enjoys it, and people are plenty willing to point out the flaws in grand detail. Ouch! At least that usually comes before it's finalized in print. But the hardest for me is to have something already in print and well accepted by the publisher and editing staff, and then see it get trashed by a reader. Man does that sting!

And that just happened to me recently. But before I get into the bad review, I want to talk about the first two potential bubble-busters.

Rejections are something every new writer has to learn to deal with. You send your polished and primped baby out there to what you hope is a receptive publisher with an audience of readers dying to be entertained by your sharp-witted prose. Publishing is a busy world, so you know you're going to have to wait some amount of time to get a response. You're praying all along, "Please let this be the one that launches my career so I know I'm not wasting my time." With smaller publishers, feedback is often rather quick, and more personal. They will let you know why they didn't accept it, but you may not understand the answer. Even if you do, it still hurts, though there is a lesson in there. If you're lucky, you might get a second chance with a rewrite. With the big houses, it takes months, and all you might get is a brief form letter with an electronic signature and a vanilla statement about how 'this doesn't fit our needs at this time'. And you're crushed! Now and then, someone might pencil in some comments on a page or two, but it's the same thing. They didn't like it as written. It somehow wasn't good enough. And most times, you don't have a clue why not. You want to curl into a fetal ball and hibernate until the worthless feelings go away.

Well, don't. It doesn't help. Rejections are just part of the business. Don't take it personally (like I used to) and quit writing. Or stop stop sending things out. It's all part of the process. You're paying your dues to get your industry chops. You've already done something most people might contemplate and talk about, but never get around to. You've written a manuscript from start to finish and did your best to make it readable and interesting. You put it in a format you believe looks professional. Then you screwed up your courage and sent it out into the world. That takes time, effort, perseverance, and guts. Don't give up now, the journey just began. Learn from the experience, see what you can do to improve your writing or presentation, and send it somewhere else. All of us go through this. Repeatedly. Rejections don't just magically end one day after your first, or fifth, or even your fiftieth publication. You still get them. I'm sure even the big names get them—or at least they're asked for rewrites. See if you can figure out what went wrong. Was it riddled with typos and grammar errors you didn't fix? Did the storyline meander too much? Were the characters cardboard cutouts or did they overshadow the plot? If you can't figure it out, and there's no guiding commentary, have someone else who loves to read go over it. Or just send it out to another publisher. But never give up. You definitely won't be published if you stop writing and sending things out.

So, you've joined a writer's group, where you meet regularly with other writers and read excerpts of your stuff to each other. Or you've handed off a manuscript to a trusted friend or associate who will read through it and give you their thoughts. You want them to be honest and you might even say, be brutal. But then when they are merciless, you're caught off guard by all that negativity. My gosh, they picked your baby down to the bare bones and found very little to praise it for, but it certainly seems to have numerous flaws. You were blindsided and totally devastated. What do you do now?

Take a deep breath, step away until you can look at things rationally. Face-to-face criticism is the hardest to take, because it can feel like an attack on your character as well as your work. You can hear the inflection in the words as they are spoken, see the expressions, and feel the contempt. It's hard to listen to, but listen you must—and possibly take notes. Because in that cruel assessment, there might be some gems of information you can use to actually improve your writing. But if it's repeatedly nothing but negativity, then you're working with the wrong folks. They just don't like or understand the kind of writing you do, and it's more about that than it is about you and what you wrote. While I use beta readers on occasion and I do belong to a writer's group online, I have learned how to choose my clan carefully. Most of the people who get to read or hear what I'm writing are authors with published works. They write a variety of fiction as do I, but with the emphasis on action/adventure in many genres. So they understand what I write and can offer contructive criticism put politely, because we all know what it feels like to be blindsided by a harsh assessment. I try and be as supportive, helpful, and honest as I can be and point out not just the problems, but the things that I find really good as well. And there always are some real gems in there. Nobody is that bad! With a beta reader I always choose people I trust who I know have read and understood my writing, and I do listen carefully to what that person says. If something stands out as problematic to my beta reader, it certainly will to a reader who paid for the book and doesn't know me at all. That trusted person doesn't necessarily have to be a writer, but should be a reader of the type of material you produce. You have to understand and enjoy that category of writing in order to be helpful.

Reviews! The gold standard of feedback. Oh how we covet readers who write reviews. Besides the obvious ego-boost (Somebody actually reads my stuff!), we're hoping to have something tangible to show others that says yes, I do know how to write! Reviews help readers find material worth paying for, and they boost your ranking on whatever site they appear on. All win/win for us authors, at least until you get the dreaded bad review. Then it sits there on the page like a glaring neon sign on a tawdry bar in a rundown neighborhood. Somebody came sauntering in on your happy hour, and with a sucker punch knocked you down a few stars. How do you handle that?

You don't. Unless the review is totally unfair, uses inflammatory language, or becomes a promotion for someone else's writing that is better than yours, you read it, and go on with your life. It really sucks when it's the only review on the page, but hey, that's the breaks. Keep in mind this is one person's opinion, and that there may have been others who read your offering and enjoyed it but just said nothing. Or maybe they read it and didn't enjoy it, and said nothing. You'll never know. The person who wrote the review at least took the time to express an opinion. It's not what you wanted to hear, but there you go...

That actually just happened to me recently. I found a somewhat in-depth and negative two star review on Amazon that mentioned me by name (see it here) and basically trashed the novella that I wrote for an Airship 27 Sinbad book. It also somewhat pooh-poohed the short story that finished the book, so I wasn't the only victim of the negative critique, tthough mine was much more strongly worded. It was from a Kindle customer from the UK. Well, you can't please everyone!

So what did I do? Not much. I read it a couple times, took a few deep breaths, lamented the fact that it was the only full-fledged review, and went on with my life. Someone else's 5 star rating (no review) did even things out and I'm grateful for that. So somebody enjoyed it and somebody thought it was pathetic. In the end it's just one person's opinion either way. Sometimes people don't like what you write. It didn't ruin my day or stop me from writing any more, because I'm past that point. In fact, I was working on the next Sinbad adventure when I read it, having logged over to Amazon looking for the release dateof the last one. I said a few naughty words and went right back to work. Because writing is what I do.

So please, don't get discouraged if you get negative feedback. Learn what you can from it, do whatever you need to in order to live with it, and go on with your writing. Unless you're getting enough rejections and hate mail to paper the walls, you're probably doing okay. And even if you are, it's part of the learning process that goes with the business. And this is a business, even if you're only writing part time and have a day job that pays the bills. No publisher stays solvent long if they take books and stories that don't sell because no one bothers to read them. They have to be choosy to survive. You'll get better as you go along, though occasionally something like this will crop up. One negative comment doesn't make your book or short story a stinker. Just like one rosy review doesn't make it a best seller. Keep those fingers tapping the keys and the ideas flowing, and it all evens out over time.

When you do get to that point where you can accept things as they come, remember these days and give another newbie a confidence boost. Pay it forward. You might just save someone's career aspirations as well as their sanity.

Writing onward always,
~NANCY

Writing On The Range...

No, this is not a post about how to write on a kitchen stove! 😆 This is about the Kindle western series by Wolfpack Publishing that I have a book in. Yep, I actually wrote a western novel!

Available Here

I was approached about this project early last year. It seems my ongoing Jezebel Johnston pirate series and the one short story I had done for a Pro Se reboot of Senorita Scorpion were what recommended me for this project. I'd been wanting to write a full-length western for a while anyway, but this came out of the blue. At least I know someone was paying attention to what I've been writing. When I saw the house name of A.W. Hart, I knew the Universe was telling me to say yes and do this. Hart was the surname that I kind of missed out on sharing with the rest of my birth family. (Long story there for another time...) Well, I always have loved western TV shows and movies, and I had started reading a bunch of classic western fiction over the last few years, so it was one of those serendipitous moments when things just fall into place.

Find it Here

The premise with the Black Rose series is quite different than what you'd expect from your average western novel. First of all, it is initially based in turn of the 20th century southwest Texas, near the Mexican border. There is a surviving Spanish mission in this lawless area where a healing mineral spring makes the land well worth appropriating. The priestly hierarchy of the mission is decidedly corrupt and inept. So the nuns have taken it on themselves to combat the continual infiltration of crime elements and they willingly fight for the oppressed and downtrodden of the area. In their struggles, these women of faith use some of the most interesting weapons and skills you could ever imagine—all of which are based on actual armaments and techniques found around the world. Trouble is always brewing in the area or in more far-flung places where justice is not always served and vengeance is cold-blooded and ruthless. Heading up this group of freedom fighters is Catalina Cristiana Rivera, a young woman with martial arts and weapons training who has lost everything dear to her except for a charred black rosary and her will to survive long enough to right some wrongs. Along with the Reverend Mother and the other sisters who fight for what they believe in, they make up the Order Of The Black Rose, a secret society within the convent confines that are willing to do whatever is necessary to clamp down on the criminal behavior and corruption that has plagued the entire area. It's how this all gets done that makes the stories so unique.

All the stories revolve around Catalina, who is known as 'Sister Lina' when she's not in the guise of the Black Rose. But it is often a team effort and there are recurring characters throughout as well as brand new ones. My book in this collection is titled FIRE OF THE BLACK ROSE. The entire series is filled with action/adventure of the typical fast paced pulp style, and there's plenty of western backdrop and parlance to savor along with some pretty extraordinary circumstances. Thrilling entertainment for a pittance is something we can all use right now, when the news is full of woeful tidings and many of us are still hunkering down at home. That's why we write stuff like this you know; to give readers a chance to slip away from their everyday world and go somewhere else for a while.

A lot of time and effort has gone into bringing this project to potential readers, both on a personal and a company basis. If you're interested, I'd appreciate it very much if you'd pick up a copy. If you enjoy it, please do drop us a quick review note. Doesn't need to say much, just what you found interesting about it. That tells the publisher that people are reading what we write and that it was worth investing more time into working in this genre. And it gives us writers a boost in both morale and industry chops. Writing, like riding herd is a lonesome business where you're mostly on your own, so until something hits print you've no idea how it will be received. The only way we can know if we're wasting our time or not is by what you folks tell us. Without that feedback, we're all in the dark in the midst of a stampede of other things that vie for readers' attention. So please, so let us know that you got a copy and how you found it. It might just lead to more of the same. I know I've got the bug for it now, I'd certainly love to write another western.

Yeehaw!

~NANCY

How do you remain motivated to write when things aren't going well?

There's a reason for today's post, besides the fact that I hear that question pretty often. The answer is both simple and complex.

First of all, I've been sick for the last two months and counting. No, it's not the Covid virus, I had a bout with some sort of food poisoning on or before Thanksgiving morning. While that is long gone, it left me with ongoing intestinal issues that have begun to rule my life. This consists of chronic sudden diarrhea with nasty cramping, some nausea and stomach pain, and an inability to eat anything heavy, dairy, fibrous, acidic, greasy/oily, along with many vegetables and fruits—especially raw. I'm stuck with bland foods in small quantities. I've been tested for just about every known toxin under the sun, and all came back negative. I can't leave the house and go somewhere that I won't have access to a bathroom immediately on short notice. No way to predict when this thing will flare up and I'm still occasionally finding foods that are at least temporarily off limits. Even my decaf coffee with a non-dairy creamer and my beloved dark chocolate upset me. Yeah, this sucks!

This is on top of my usual issues with mobility due to advanced arthritis that have left me hobbling with a cane for the last several years. The pain and stiffness of that in the affected areas is a constant issue that I deal with daily also. I have medication for it, but it only knocks it down to a level I can live with. It's widespread for me, all the major and many smaller joints as well as my entire spine. I do whatever I have to in order to control it. Add on the other more current issue and that's a recipe for curling up in bed and feeling sorry for myself. Can you blame me?

Well, I can't afford to do that. First of all, I do have family who want to see me, and while I may not always be great company, I do my best to remain part of their lives. And I am a writer, I have books and other projects I'm working on, and want to make headway in. It's not just my commitment to publishers and fans speaking here, though that is important to me. I need this writing time to take the focus off what's going haywire in my life and the world around us so that I don't dwell too heavily on all that. That's a slippery slope that leads to depression and while I have my moments, I've learned to combat it with doing something positive and creative—like writing. Plus, in order to remain relevant in my career niche and grow my fan base, I need to put material out regularly. To do that you have to actually write and not just think about it.

I'll admit it's been hard lately. Some days I just feel so crummy I don't get a whole lot done. Yet I still sit myself down at the desk and do whatever I can. Every word on the page moves the story forward and leads to other new ideas. I've always been a writer who has more than one project going at a time so I can toggle back and forth between them if I feel I'm getting stale. That saves me from what everyone calls 'writer's block'—where you stare at a page and have nowhere to go with the next line or paragraph. For me, I average 3 days on most projects before switching to another, but I will switch out sooner or later depending on my mood. The idea is to write something, not give up on writing altogether. Like falling off a bicycle or a horse, I've got to get back up and write again to avoid that woo-woo fear that builds up, telling me that I can't do this, it's too hard and I'm not good at it. Yeah, even after 20 books in print, plus over a half dozen more awaiting a slot and quite a few short stories, I still have those days where I doubt myself. I'm human, not a machine.

One of the things that seems to help me commit to writing when things are rotten around me is making myself accountable. I post an almost daily stat of my writing progress on social media, mainly Facebook and Twitter, where I have followings. I also belong to a small but very supportive online group that meets regularly to read what we're working on to one another. The support and feedback are wonderful. I've had this blog for a while but over the last year or so I have made much more effort to keep it updated. I have a little more time on my hands now, so I can spare a weekend afternoon for blogging. Sometimes just talking about writing, makes the struggle to actually get something done much easier. When I'm really frustrated, I might chat with a writer friend, send an email, or blog. Usually within the course of airing that grievance, I somehow manage to work it out. This is why I tell potential writers, find your tribe, and listen as well as share. We all face the same issues with writing, though our lives outside of banging keyboards to make stories might be very different indeed. It's the rest of life that often seems to get in the way. Putting my current health issues into perspective by listening to what others are going through in order to gain writing time makes me realize that in some ways I'm more fortunate than my peers. Many of us are denied time to focus on a creative endeavor that could become a career because we have 9-5 jobs, extremely debilitating circumstances, families to care for, and bills to pay. Yes, those things must take priority. That's incentive for me to keep going as well.

In the end I guess it's just plain stubborness for me. I spent a lot of my life caring or working for others. Writing is something I chose just for me, and it does work well with my rather laid-back and introverted lifestyle and current disability status. I enjoy it immensely, because it gives me the chance to be creative and actually get paid something for it. So I can't afford to collapse myself into my own woes and not write, because readers will move on. Whether it's 50 words or 5,000, what I get done on a regular basis does add up over time. It's that persistence that pays off. I don't find time to write, I make it wherever I can. I use that time wisely, and get as much done as I'm able to. Along the way, I leave the world and all the problems in it behind while I'm immersed in one of my own design. There is a great feeling of satisfaction that comes at the end of each writing session, when you know you've gotten something accomplished that most people would never be able to convince themselves to tackle. When a project is finished and turned in, you've hit another milestone. I keep my focus on that, because it will bring me back to the desk day after day.

So there's no magic to motivation really. It's a mindset. You do it because you want the end result. It's harder when you have things that interfere with your ability to concentrate, but it can be done. I'm proof of that.

Write on,
~Nancy

Jezebel Johnston: MASTIFF has set sail!

I just got the news today folks,  that the 7th JEZEBEL JOHNSTON novel, subtitled MASTIFF, is now available on Amazon. For the time being it is only in paperback format, but should be up as a Kindle download quite soon. So stay tuned because this is yet another adventure of our intrepid pirate lass that you won't want to miss!

This is the awesome cover by artist Adam Shaw. There are also 9 black and white illustrations by Airship 27's own in-house artist/setup man, and all around nice guy, Mr. Rob Davis. Here's one of them again, so you can see how drool-worthy they are.

Here is what my publisher, Airship 27 said in their press release: 

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS

Presents

JEZEBEL JOHNSTON Vol 7

MASTIFF

Airship 27 is thrilled to announce the release of volume 7 in its best-selling pirate queen saga, Jezebel Johnston by Nancy Hansen, “Mastiff.”

Stranded far from her Caribbean homeland, pirate Jezebel Johnston struggles to survive over the alien waters of the Barbary Coast. Through a strange twist of fate, she, and two other freed slaves, Zuri and Amaka, come under the protection of the famous Maratha Indian Warlord Shivaji Bhonsle. The soon to be Maharajah has a strong disdain for foreign interference in his country along with a unique respect for the faith of others and the intelligence of women.

Thus Jezebel and her sisters-in-arms feel a strong obligation to aid the famous warrior by volunteering to participate on one of his seagoing raids against the Mughal overlords. To do so, they will have to become spies, gather information on which ships are carrying what cargo and how best to take them.

It is a dangerous game, one Jezebel and her companions are aptly qualified for, their bravery mingled with their natural charms set into motion a daring seagoing assault that will have serious repercussions throughout the Indian world.

“I’ve pretty much run out of words to describe how amazing this series is,” says Airship 27 Production Managing Editor Ron Fortier. “Nancy writes a sweeping, historically accurate adventure saga sure to entertain any lover of pirate lore. The action never stops and her characters are truly colorful rogues battling their ways across the seven seas.”

Pulp Factory Award Winning artist Rob Davis provides the 9 black and white interior illustrations and the amazing Adam Shaw the beautifully painted cover.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION

So this is the deal mateys, you buy some of these books, and I'll keep writing them as long as I know I have an audience. When you consider what 2020 was like, isn't a good read that allows you to get away to a different place and time for a while worth a little expense? Writing this one kept my head together when it seemed the world around me was coming apart at the seams, and something scary was in the news daily. So you get your copy as soon as possible, because I am already over 4500 into the next JJ novel right now, and going strong. This is what I do for a living these days, and it's the most rewarding job I've ever had. Sure would like to continue doing what I love right into my old age. So please, if you buy it and you enjoyed it, spread the word. The more readers I can reach, the better for all of us in this small niche of the publishing field. This is 100% homegrown business, and a labor of love for most of us, but we need your support. Thank you, each and every one of you, for your patronage and your willingness to support the kind of fiction and artwork that is hard to find now at such affordable prices.

~Nancy

A Pirating We Will Go!

 

Well matey. I've got some news on the piratin' front to pass along. To be specific-like, I be talkin' the JEZEBEL JOHNSTON series of pirate yarns that I've been writin' for yer readin' pleasure. So sit yerself down fer a bit and rest them weary bones, git yerself some grog and have a listen to a few tales about what-all be coming yer way...

Okay, now that I have that out of my system, here's what's going on with this popular series. First of all, JEZEBEL JOHNSTON #6, subtitled SISTERS OF VENGEANCE, just came out in audiobook format from RADIO ARCHIVES. Now this audiobook has 7 hours of listening pleasure involved, so even at the full price that is quite a bargain. But right now, you can get that half price. Imagine being able to sit back with earbuds in or headphones on and eyes closed, letting this book take you out to another place and time. You'll go off to where daring deeds and tropical climes have you alternately on land or sea, fighting to survive in a hostile environment. You'll be in places where enemies abound and danger is always around the next bend or coming at you with the tide. After the continuing insanity of the past year—which seems to have carried over into this one—couldn't you just use such a break? Think about it, because $6.99 for a 7 hour vacation from reality sounds like a bargain to me!

And yes, the paperback and Kindle versions are still available on Amazon. So you do have options. By the way, any of these books are available in PDF format for a reasonable $3 directly from the publisher Airship 27. Scroll down on the left and you will find a menu that takes you to the books you want to see. And look around while you're there, because there are a lot of really good books by other authors as well. 

Well, now  I've got news of the next book in line. I recently got the galley proof back for JEZEBEL JOHNSTON #7: MASTIFF. A galley is the book in a format set up to be printed. It's the author's last chance to do a final pass before it goes to print. I knocked that out in a couple of days by doing a line-by-line read through and leaving notes for the setup guy. My understanding is we're waiting for the cover art on this one, but the Rob Davis interior illustrations are all done and in place, and folks... they are gorgeous! I always love to see what Rob has for me. Rob has done a couple dynamite covers for me too—SISTERS OF VENGEANCE was one of his covers. I was told that the very talented Adam Shaw is doing the cover for this particular book, and I was thrilled to hear that. Always exciting to see your characters come to life via artwork. I'll let you know when the book comes out, I usually annouce them here as well as on my Facebook page and you can find me on Twitter.

So what's next for our pirate lass? Well I'm glad you asked! On the 5th of this month I began writing the 8th JEZEBEL JOHNSTON novel. This one doesn't have a subtitle yet, but it picks up where #7 MASTIFF left off in the first chapter. Now I have a habit of adding a short prologue to each book first, to kind of connect it in some way to the last one without doing a continual flashback scenes. Hopefully that helps readers who come in somewhere in the middle of the series to pick up what's going on and where we are. We were just about to engage with another ship in the final scene of the last chapter of #7, so that's where Chapter 1 starts in book #8. I'm already over 2200 words into it, and if I finish this blog post early enough today, I might add a few more.

This second group of four books in the series from #5 through #8 have taken place on the way to or in the East Indies, that area between the east coast of Africa to the far Orient. This was the early heydays of the East Indian trade, and while there were some pirates in the area, they were not as well established in this Age of Buccaneers (1650-1680) as they became during the Pirate Round (1690s) and into the Golden Age of the early 1700s. These books are historcal fiction and as close as I can make it to realistic, so there aren't any zombies, mermaids, or skeleton pirates meandering through them. We're in the time of the buccaneers in this series, but moving toward the end of it, before the more famous pirates sprung on the scene. People like Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham, Black Sam Bellamy, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and Charles Vane show up later, though Henry Morgan has been mentioned in passing, as he was on the early side. A lot of this part of the the JEZEBEL JOHNSTON series is based in the Indian Ocean or in India itself. I do plan on having Jez head back to the Carribean at the end of this one, because I have something important for her to do there. That set of adventures might fill another 4 books, which would give me 12. I don't think I'll be done writing about her after that though. Jez is still quite young yet and needs to make her way up the pirating ladder of success, and I'm just having waaaaay too much fun getting her in and out of trouble. Plus I've learned a lot along the way about things like ships and seafaring, colonization of the New World, politics and social conditions in Europe and the Asian Orient, and famous folks who lived in those times that you really never hear about. For instance, the the much revered Maratha Indian Warlord who became their Maharajah (king), Shivaji Bhonsle popped up in my study of this era in India, and he just happened to have an established navy as well as some amazing forts both on land and sea. Talk about serendipity! Shivaji was known for his guerilla raids on the Mughal overlords, his disdain for the foreign interference in their country, along with his respect for the faith of others and the intelligence of women—which are unsual characteristics for his time. Shivaji first appears in JJ#6  SISTERS OF VENGEANCE, continues to have a presence in JJ #7 MASTIFF,  and we will be finishing with him in JJ #8. You never know what little gems of history you might stumble across when you research for books like these. It brings the world of the past back to life in my mind, and introduces me to people, places, and ideas that I'd never heard of before.

One of the things I have tried hard to walk a line with this series is between making it authentic sounding, but also accessible. I have kept the language for the most part English, though I will throw in a foreign phrase in dialogue or naming of things like ships here and there. I try hard to get that as close to properly translated as I can make it. I use some vernacular or dialect, but only in small batches. I'm sure all the spoken languages were far more different that how we speak today, but find the 'thees and thous' sort of speech tiresome, and so I figure readers will too. What's more important is getting the characters right. You'll see a smattering of pirate jargon and plenty of seafaring terms, but I try not to overdo that either. Like spices in a dish you are cooking, you want them to enhance the flavor without overpowering it. The bigger issue for me is a balance between the heavy action, intrigue, and adventure that a book about pirating needs contrasted with character growth and details about the locales we're in so that readers can envision what's going on as well as where it's happening and to whom. Plus I must keep in mind that to be affordable to readers and to allow the publisher a chance to make a profit (they can't afford to print these for free you know), the book has to meet a very defined wordcount range. After you've written enough of these sort of high action/adventure novels, you get a feeling for the pacing. Every word counts. Every sentence, paragraph, and chapter has to lead you forward and leave you wanting more. Hopefully I've managed that because I'm told this series is popular. I'm really glad too, because this is a labor of love for me as well as my chance to leave something tangible behind in the world when I'm no longer on this side of the veil of life. I'm going to be 64 in April so this is a late life career for me, and it's something that I can likely do no matter how old and creaky I get.

So if you enjoy these stories, please let me and/or my publisher know. Reviews are wonderful, and I have no problem with honest critiques. They just give me something to think over so that I can do better next time. I'm available through the comments section of this blog, I have an Amazon Author Page, and the aforementioned presence on Facebook and Twitter. Follow or Friend me, I make regular posts on both social sites about what I am writing and how it's going. If there's some other social site you'd like to see me post on, let me know. I don't want to spend all day online, because I need time to write as well as have a homelife and be with family, but I'll do whatever I can to connect with readers. You folks are the reason I'm doing this after all. It sure isn't to get rich! Maybe I should take up pirating for that...?

That's it for this week folks. Carry on and keep reading, and I will keep writing them!

~Nancy

End Of 2020 Roundup

 

Most of us will be glad to see this year over. It certainly was a difficult one! As a writer and someone who is used to being housebound most of the time, I had it easier than most. I already work from home so I've long since gotten over that 'cooped up' feeling. I was able to stay in contact with family outside of my household and friends via the cell phone or online on my PC. I have a tablet with a camera so chatting with folks virtually face-to-face was possible. Still there were some scares, shortages of supplies, and a lot of anxiousness over loved ones who had to be out there where the germs were floating around. Plus we had all sorts of unrest and the storms and wildfires... This was a year I'd like to move on from myself.

Yet plenty of writing got done here. I finished the 7th Jezebel Johnston pirate novel, wrote a western novel that I was invited to do, got my proposal accepted and completed another story for the third and final Monster Earth anthology Mechanoid Press is issuing, and also banged out a second Chandra Smoake short that I still need to finalize, thought it's essentially done. Off and on I worked at a Vagabond Bards novel I started last year, but never quite finished because it kept getting set aside. I also continued picking away at another Sinbad tale for Airship 27's series that might just turn out to be a novel, because the concept is big enough. That's what I've been plugging away at quite often lately. I don't get as much writing down around the winter holidays because there's so much else going on, but I've sat down and banged keys whenever I could. I've dabbled here and there in other projects without much to report, and I've done some editing for friends who asked nicely and return the favor. I wrote my last town newsletter column back in November, because the person running it decided to shut it down. I'd been with them since June 2013 and wrote one for each month of the year since. December will be the final one. It was fun while it lasted, kind of a busman's holiday.

In March, Airship 27 released the 6th Jezebel Johnston book, SISTERS OF VENGEANCE.

 I had one book this year come out from Pro Se back in April, BY THE WAYSIDE TALES.

 In June, my first Chandra Smoake short story, SMOAKE AND MIRRORS, appeared in Occult Detective Magazine—which was my first UK sale.

I did do a galley draft review for one of the Companion Dragon Tales books LAZLO AT HOME back in October, but it hasn't come out from Pro Se yet and I'm doubtful I'll see it before sometime next year—hopefully! We haven't had a release in that series since 2016, and there are three books in the queue right now. Overall I have not had a lot of releases this year, but it's been a slow year for everyone. Yet on my end, the writing goes on, regardless.

I did get some good news from Airship 27 recently. The 7th Jezebel Johnston book, subtitled MASTIFF, is in production now. I have seen and am posting here one of the gorgeous interiors done by the uber-talented and regular nice guy Mr. Rob Davis.

I hear that Adam Shaw will be doing the cover art. The book itself should be out by the end of January/beginning of February according to head honcho and Air Chief Ron Fortier. So there's something to look forward to while I'm working on JJ#8!

Well that's what's been happening with my writing this year anyway. I'll tell you honestly, I have not made enough money writing to even think of supporting myself, though I work at it every chance I get. But other than raising my family, and all the gardening along with the music and art & craft stuff I've done over the years, this late life career choice has given me the most satisfaction out of anything I've ever tried to build a profession from. 

I really enjoy writing. I love the entire process of going from vague concept to finished manuscript—even when it gets frustrating. Being somewhat of an introvert who doesn't mind spending countless hours lost in her own thoughts, sitting at this desk every day with fingers on the keyboard and words flowing from mind to screen has brought me a lot of satisfaction and a great sense of accomplishment. I can't picture doing anything else to leave my mark on this world. I have a very understanding family who support my craft and cheer me on, and am at an age and stage in my life where quiet, creative work is preferable to being out there pressing the flesh and hawking my wares. I get up every morning looking forward to sitting back down here to pound on those keys once more. I'm not antisocial, because I'll talk about writing with my fellow authors or really anyone who has the time and patience to listen. This is my passion. This is what I was born to do. That's why I keep at it, because while it would be nice to say I'm making a lot of money, there are faster ways of doing that. This is about honing a craft. This is about creating something that will hopefully outlast me. It's about leaving a legacy of books and stories that will continue to entertain folks long after I'm one with the dust.

Even in a trying year like 2020 has been, I always had something positive to look forward to and feel confident about. I can't stress enough the importance of that. At a time in my life where my ability to get around well has become problematic and my eyesight is so-so, I needed something to focus on that can be done sitting down without having to travel outside my house to get to work, but also gave me the satisfaction of being creative. I write them, I send them off, and when they are accepted and published, I feel like a winner. It's a good time in my life for this too. I'm no longer responsible for other people on any regular basis, for we're an all-older adult household. My sons are men now with lives of their own. My mother passed last year and while I miss her, I am no longer part time caring for her so I have more time for me. My grandkids are growing up and all 3 are busy with school and their own activities. So while I stay in touch with them all and see them often, I'm home a lot with multiple hours to myself. And I'm okay with that. I like being who I am at this age. Being a writer who is now a published author with 19 books and 15 short stories in print (with more in the wings), has added a personal dimension to my life outside of wife, mother, grandmother and so on. This I do strictly for me. And it makes me smile.

I do it for the readers as well. I know you're out there, I can hear you breathing! Reviews don't come that often, but when they do I'm always glad to hear someone actually read what I wrote and took the time to say something about it. Feedback is so important! I have a small but loyal cadre of fans who do contact me to let me know if they enjoyed something and what they're looking forward to. Now and then I stumble across someone who just read something I wrote for the first time and made the effort to reach out to me and let me know. Thank you, I treasure each and every one of you. You give me the incentive to keep going. Hopefully I've given you something to escape with so that years like this one don't seem so scary and drear.

So 2021 will be more of the same for me. More writing, more books and stories to complete and find homes for. More projects, maybe a couple with deadlines. We'll see. But until they find my cold, still body hunched over the keyboard, I'll be banging those keys most days, and chatting about what I accomplished at other times. It's all about writing, because that's what I love to do.

Be well,
~NANCY