Eulogy

Warning: this may be a morbid topic for some, and it’s said with a bit of tongue-in-cheek. For me, it’s a normal day. ;) And I figure, if I can’t be morbid with my NYUS friends, where can I?

Today is a release day for me. DEADLY BONDS (Mindhunters, Book 3) released in digital form today. In fact, this whole month has been a busy promo month... AVENGING ANGEL (Mindhunters, Book 2) came out in print via harlequin.com this month. And the first book ONLY FEAR is on sale for 99 cents through July 31st. However, some may find it odd for me to choose to celebrate my release day with a eulogy.

I’m about to confess to a guilty pleasure: I’m a big fan of The Young and the Restless. It’s my lunchtime splurge. I watch it while I make my lunch and allow my brain to decompress from the morning routine and recharge for the afternoon. Or, while I’m doing mundane tasks like folding laundry or doing dishes, I’ll put Y&R on in the background.

Jeanne Cooper, Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

The show has been a staple in my life since I was twelve. Which is why I was so sad when actress Jeanne Cooper (who played the indomitable Catherine Chancellor) passed away in May of this year. It was like losing a friend you saw every week. A couple of weeks later, Y&R aired a tribute to this amazing woman, who’d been a constant presence on the show for forty years. Her fellow actors and actresses reminisced and shared stories of how she mentored and supported them.

And then my brain made a morbid leap (maybe you're not surprised?)... What if my characters (who are, essentially, my coworkers) had to give a tribute on my behalf? What if I died and they had to say something at my funeral? What would they say?

They’d probably say I put them through hell, but also brought them the best days of their lives when they found a happy-ever-after. Maybe they'd even invite me to their weddings.

They’d probably moan and groan about what I put them through, but laugh and smile about the outcome.

They’d talk about how much they learned because of their time with me.

So, as I work to give another pair of characters their happily-ever-after in the fourth book in my series, I’m encouraged to think what a gift I’m giving them. They’ll stretch beyond what they think is possible, face down their demons and survive. And they’ll be stronger, better, faster, happier.

They’ll thank me one day.

DEADLY BONDS (Mindhunters, Book 3)

A dedicated profiler. Dr. Holt Patterson has thrown himself into his work since his wife's death, and his relationship with his young son, Theo, is suffering. He's caught in an impossible choice—how can he make the world a safer place for his son without sacrificing valuable family time?

An unrequited love. Sara Burns, the director at Theo's prestigious academy, once loved Holt Patterson, but he was her best friend's husband. Now a decade has passed, and Sara realizes that her feelings are just as strong—but how can she act on them without betraying her friend's memory?

A terrifying killer. A violent man develops an interest in Sara, and sends a body instead of flowers to get her attention. Holt is determined to keep her safe. But the killer is much closer than they expect…

Available here: Carina Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Audible

Anne Marie has always been fascinated by people—inside and out—which led to degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, and Counseling.  Her passion for understanding the human race is now satisfied by her roles as mother, wife, daughter, sister, and award-winning author of romantic suspense.  

She writes to reclaim her sanity.

Find ways to connect with Anne Marie at www.AnneMarieBecker.com.

I’ll Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

For years the South Carolina Lowcountry RWA chapter has hosted a Masterclass at an Isle of Palms mansion. I’ve come home from previous weeks re-energized, my head bursting with new craft knowledge and insights, renewed after spending time with friends who share a passion for writing.

This year, the focus of the week was on the business of writing. Sometimes as authors we get caught up in our love of words and fail to acknowledge that what we do is also a small business, just like a company producing widgets or a bakery making the most beautiful, custom wedding cakes.

Most of the participants in this year’s Masterclass are published, many are multi-published, some New York Times Best Selling authors. And every one generously shared her experience, from developing a business plan to sitting with me, surrounding by a Nook, Kindle and Kindle Fire, patiently determining if one of the conversion programs would get rid of the annoying tab addition to the dedication page of my novella.

The theme of the week, as you might have guessed, was summed up by CJ Lyon: you are the CEO of You, Inc. In short, CJ said you, and only you, decide what is the correct path for your writing career: Traditional, Digital, Small Press or Indie—or a combination of the above. But you also bear the responsibility for your decision.

With the encouragement of this group of friends, I made the first toe-dipping foray into Indie publishing with a novella. HONOR CODE officially releases on Friday, November 9, 2012. While I’m excited about the story’s theme—honor and personal integrity—and characters, I still initially hesitated to publish the story. While I think my editor at Carina is terrific and learned a lot through a traditional, digital press with my first book, I made the “CEO” decision to go Indie with this story. I want to thank all the friends who made that happen. You know who you are. J

In anticipation of HONOR CODE’s release, I’ll give away an ARC of the novella to a commenter. The Blurb: In a small southern town where everyone knows each other’s business, veteran detective Larry Robbins must solve the disappearance of eighty-year-old widower George Beason.

When evidence arises that Beason may have left town on his own, it would be easy for Robbins to close the case, but his gut instinct tells him more’s at stake. As he uncovers clues about Beason’s deceased wife and his estranged daughter, Robbins must untangle conflicting motives and hidden agendas to bring Beason home alive.

Amazon

So what about you? Have you accepted the position of CEO in your career? Set up a business plan? Are there friends who reached back or pushed you up to give you a little help?

 

 

 

Release Day!

by Janis Patterson

I don’t care how many books you have out, release day is still a thrill. The thought that all the writing, all the revisions and editing and pre-release PR I’ve done has finally culminated with a book still sends a tingle through my heart and a giggle into my throat.

My story is going to be read. The story that has been in my mind and my computer, the story that is mine alone, is going out into the big wide world where anybody who wants can pick it up.

This is all so different from when I sold my first half-dozen books. In those antique days (pre-computer, pre-internet) everything was done on paper by snail-mail. The books themselves were paper. I still remember the excitement of receiving my author’s copies. There would be this big box that came to the front door, and once I opened it I could actually hold my new book in my hands. There were no surprises – I had seen the galleys and the cover art weeks, even months ago, but this was the first time in book form. I always felt as proud as a new parent.

It’s all different nowadays – still very good and full of satisfaction, but different. There’s no box of books to open and coo over, no knowledge that boxes of my books are in trucks going across the country en route to a legion of bookstores… there’s just an electronic file from the publisher. The cover isn’t a stiff paper work of art suitable for framing, only a spray of brilliantly colored electrons across my computer screen.

But my story is still there. The characters I have lived with for months are now on their own, ready to meet new people. Now on release day my book spreads across the world, available in places my paper books would never have reached.

And it’s still great.

On Monday, the first of October, I woke with a thrill of excitement because it was release day for BEADED TO DEATH, my new cozy mystery from Carina Press. (http://bit.ly/SjFrXM)

Written almost a year before, worked on for weeks with my editor, sighed over as we tried to get just the right cover art, it was now going to fly on its own. Lilias Ruiz and Thomas O’Connell and Annie Monroe and Toby Applegate and Patches were no longer my special, private family – they were going out to face the world on their own.

On this release day there was no skywriting, no blare of trumpets, but I knew that my story was Out There. Other people could follow the tale of Lillias’ finding a dead body in her living room, of her entanglement with an FBI agent who may or may not be rogue, and her perplexity in dealing with a 7’3” nephew who is on the run from an unwanted basketball scholarship. After all that, being accused of being a drug smuggler is just icing on the cake!

The thing about release day is that it is just part of a logical progression – write, sell, revise, edit, edit again, and release. Another thing is that it comes late. The book is finished and done with, the cover art and edits approved, and (hopefully!) you’re working on another book. Then, like a revenant from the past, it is there once more, officially leaving your life and going on to a life of its own.

I love release days. No matter how the book is delivered – electronic or paper or whatever comes next – the day your book comes out is still exciting. It is a day like no other.

  Janis Patterson is a seventh-generation Texan and a third-generation wordsmith who writes mysteries as Janis Patterson, romances and other things as Janis Susan May, children’s books as Janis Susan Patterson and scholarly works as J.S.M. Patterson.