It took me a long time to figure out that some kinds of responsiveness to my work came from a doubt of my sincerity. And I was really shocked. Some people thought my work was just something I'd presented for communication with me and not authentic fiction. After all, lots of people take up "writing" for a while in their lives, as a time-filler, or a therapy, or a distraction from something else like the approach of midlife. I wasn't different from that.

​And, moreover, they thought they knew what my little "writing" behavior was about. I was amazed to discover that people actually viewed it as not the real deal. At times, I even detected some impatience, won't you talk about something real already? We all know this is unimportant. What are you really up to?

​All of this is the most arrant nonsense I've ever heard. Writing is not a cover for me. It IS who I am. It is the most important thing about me and if you're looking for something else that's the real deal about me, you'll never find it. It's not a way to communicate with me, a means to a goal of yours. Just because you didn’t warm to a couple of moments or ideas in a book or two doesn’t mean I am not a writer. The correct question is “What are you getting at?” Not “Why are you so insincere?” And if you think some things I write are boring, that doesn’t matter at all. One weaker book does not discredit an author. Just look at all the books out there, classics included, and you’ll know that’s true.

Interest in my storytelling is your reason for being here if you have approached me online. A belief we can have a different conversation is more imaginative than anything I've ever written and I write fiction.

If you want to know "what I'm really up to," think about that.

And there will be more updates.

Just when I think my work on old books is done and I can (finally!!) get to some new material, I get another setback. Of course, “setback” is an angsty way to put it and quite incorrect. In fact, each time I’ve had to redo a book or a portion of my website, it’s been a really good step and I’ve been grateful for the result. But when you’re trying to move forward to producing new books, delays to get things right again can happen. It’s just part of the process.

Anyway (lol), just a word of update on the books as they’re being processed now:

• I installed little captions to highlight each book as you enter the website and it was fun coming up with these slogans—a sort of crystalline approach to the story’s content—for each book.
• The Test of Devotion is getting a rewrite. I considered discarding this book, but I'll instead try to bring down the ages of the characters. This worked really well for Victoria and Harrisons, so I have hopes for Devotion.
  
• Victoria: A Tale of Spain has merged with the former Alyce into a nice little story suitable for roughly 5th graders. I have a new cover in the works, although I do like the current one as well. But I think the fairy-tale aspect (Victoria was originally based on Snow White, Alyce on Cinderella) didn’t make it into the final book and the old cover would better suit a fairy-tale story.
• Still working on Bellevere House. I’d like to bring it into a bit more compatibility with the general tone of the website—this book is a bit of a sore thumb and I’d like to turn it into a green thumb in a dexterous way if I can.

And there will be more updates.

When I listened to a lot of advice from other writers, I rapidly learned that most were myopic and vague. They only saw what worked for them specifically, and immediately recommended it to others.

"FB ads have brought me loads of readers,” “Twitter works so much better than Goodreads,” “these promotion sites give back the most downloads,” “you need to offer free things on your site,” “Book Bub is an amazing alternative dimension of great sales.” “WRITE BOOKS IN MY GENRE.” “Book Bub always rejects me, I think I’ll look elsewhere,” “I’m all about LibraryThing’s giveaways,” “newsletters, newsletters, newsletters. Great authors have strategies to utilize this POWERFUL tool, the newsletter, and you should too,” “I hate Amazon.” “I love Amazon.” “I published with a site other than Amazon.” “I’ve had great success with podcasts.” “AUDIOBOOKS.” “Keep up a courtesy blog every couple of months so people know you’re alive.” “Blog daily.” “INSTAGRAM.” 

And in the midst of all buzz, I’ve found only one thing that worked for me—follow your heart.

In this deeply commercialized writing world, I found a lack of clarity about who the readers actually are. The goal is to be the same as some other author you view as successful. When the truth is that authors are individuals. They are thinking about what their readers are thinking about.

Finding your path is about finding your readers, who may or may not be on Instagram. Or Twitter. Or be interested in podcasts. Or audiobooks. Or book conventions. Maybe they never read blogs. Or maybe they love using a site in an unexpected way, like getting a feel for an author’s personality on Goodreads instead of using it for books. Whatever your readers are thinking about, that is what you should think about. There’s no use going to lots of FB groups if your readers hate them and would never hang out there. It’s pointless going wide on ebook sales if your readers only download from Kindle. Do your readers want paperbacks and hardbacks? If they don’t, don’t bother buying author copies that will lie around in your house. EVEN IF OTHER PEOPLE DO IT.

Follow your heart. What would you do? It’s what your readers do.

And there will be more updates.