AND STILL SHE PERSISTED...

Recently, my author (Lois Winston) was asked during an interview to describe how she celebrated the sale of her first book. This was back in 2005. Lois was writing romance, romantic suspense, and chick lit, but she had already pulled me out of the fictional character firmament and started to subject me to murder and mayhem. However, at the time, few people, other than her agent and her critique partner, knew of my existence.

Most people have no idea about the reality of most authors’ lives. For every Stephen King, Nora Roberts, James Patterson, or Janet Evanovich, there are thousands of authors who are the “bit players” of the publishing world. They work just as hard at their craft, but they can’t afford to quit their day jobs because the publishing gods haven’t seen fit to grace them with mind-blowing contracts. Most authors are lucky to be offered enough of an advance to sustain a daily Starbucks habit.

 

So why do they do it? Are they gluttons for punishment? Is it because they can’t not write? That’s what my author tells me. Writing is a passion, and if you have that passion, you persist, no matter the obstacles. Not writing is not an option, even if the world is out to make life as difficult as possible for you. And boy, was that the case with my author.

Although Lois had won several prestigious writing contests for unpublished authors, she'd also collected a file folder stuffed with dozens of rejection letters. What one editor loved about a manuscript, another cited as the reason for rejection. Those who loved her manuscripts rejected for reasons unrelated to the quality of her writing, like the editor taking another job, a similarly themed book not selling well, or the publisher having recently bought a comparable book.

Through it all, Lois persevered. She wrote for ten years before she sold Talk Gertie to Me, a humorous fish-out-of-water tale about a young woman who leaves Iowa for the excitement of New York City and the mother who sets out to drag her home to marry the boy next door. From what I’ve learned, ten years seems to be pretty much the standard amount of time (give or take a few years) for writers to sell their first book. The offer came from a well-respected independent New York publisher. The advance was $1500.

Her husband’s reaction? “Is that all?”

 

No flowers. No celebratory dinner. The unspoken subtext was why had she wasted a decade of her life when she could have spent the time taking on more freelance assignments and made that much money in a week or two?

 

Did it hurt? Of course. But she kept writing.

 

A few weeks before the book’s release, Lois was invited to take part in a multi-author gathering at a local chain bookstore. The event was being held on the official release date of Talk Gertie to Me. A week before the event, the coordinator emailed to say the store had received her books. She arrived to find stacks of books for the other five authors. None for her.

 

Is anyone reading this old enough to remember Joe Btfsplk? He was a character in Al Capp’s Li’l Abner cartoon strip. The poor guy with the unpronounceable last name always had a cloud above his head. Sometimes, I think my author is the female version of Joe Btfsplk.

 

What could she do? She forced a smile, made a few self-deprecating jokes about her lack of luck, and kept writing.

 

Her book sold well. The publisher exercised the option clause in her contract and offered a slightly higher advance for her next book. Then the publishing house got into financial trouble, stopped paying royalties, and eventually went out of business, stiffing their authors.

 

And still, Lois persisted.

 

Shortly after, another editor expressed interest in Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in what was to become the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery Series. However, the publishing house was in the process of being sold. All contracts were on hold until the sale was finalized. Lois and her agent waited patiently. However, once the sale went through, the new publisher’s first act was to change the company name. Then they folded the cozy mystery line.

 

Joe Btfsplk’s cloud had once again rained on my author. But Lois kept writing.

 

Eventually, another publisher offered a 3-book contract for the series. Life was good for a few years. The books did well. But Joe Btfsplk refused to stay away. Changes at the publishing house caused Lois to walk away from two additional contracts. Upon her agent’s suggestion, she chose to go indie. 

 

Last month, A Crafty Collage of Crime, the twelfth Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, was released. Lois has also written three connecting mini-mysteries featuring yours truly.

 

And she continues to persevere, continues to write. No matter how often Joe Btfsplk shows up in her life, she continues to wreak havoc in my life. Passion. It’s what drives my author and all authors. Or so I’m told. Which means, Lois will continue to thrust murder and mayhem in my direction for years to come. I suppose that means I have my own Joe Btfsplk, but at least Lois was kind enough to drop Zack Barnes into my life.

A Crafty Collage of Crime

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 12

 

Wherever crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack goes, murder and mayhem follow. Her honeymoon is no exception. She and new husband, photojournalist (and possible spy) Zachary Barnes, are enjoying a walk in the Tennessee woods when they stumble upon a body on the side of a creek. The dead man is the husband of one of the three sisters who own the winery and guest cottages where Anastasia and Zack are vacationing.

 

When the local sheriff sets his sights on the widow as the prime suspect, her sisters close ranks around her. The three siblings are true-crime junkies, and thanks to a podcaster who has produced an unauthorized series about her, Anastasia’s reputation for solving murders has preceded her to the bucolic hamlet. The sisters plead for her help in finding the real killer. As Anastasia learns more about the women and their business, a host of suspects emerge, including several relatives, a relentless land developer, and even the sisters themselves.

 

Meanwhile, Anastasia becomes obsessed with discovering the podcaster’s identity. Along with knowing about Anastasia’s life as a reluctant amateur sleuth, the podcaster has divulged details of Anastasia’s personal life. Someone has betrayed Anastasia’s trust, and she’s out to discover the identity of the culprit.

 

Craft project included.

 

Buy Links