A New Experience
I know that my friend and fellow writer Kate Rothwell (www.katerothwell.com) tries hard to keep her blog very focused on writing, but that can be a challenge when she's feeling really passionate about some current event. Anyone who knows me knows that I am almost physically incapable of keeping my personal opinions out of anything. You see, I'm not just a romance writer. I am first and foremost a mom. I'm also an English teacher, life-long Unitarian Universalist, and moderate democrat. These things tend to bump into one another and step all over each others' toes, so I'm afraid that I won't be compartmentalizing much. For those of you who would prefer to simply read my books without being pestered by my opinions, feel free to skip my blog and just enjoy!
Speaking of books, I have two historical romances available in stores now, INTO HIS ARMS and FOR HER LOVE. A third book in the series, NOBODY'S SAINT, is due out in March. All three are swashbucklers set in the seventeenth century Caribbean. There is plenty of information about all of them on my website: www.paula-reed.com.
That should do as an introduction. Since a blog is an on-line journal, I suppose it should tell a bit about what's going on in my life. It's been a real pleasure to have three books make it to publication, but now I am back to sending out proposals and facing the possiblity of rejection. It feels a bit like square one, so I remind myself that it's not. I have an agent, and she is wonderful and working hard for me. She's keeping me out of the slush pile and in front of editors. I have come a long way from sending out queries into the wilderness. I'm also sending out proposals. No need to have the whole book finished. That, too, is progress.
Nonetheless, I do have one of the proposed books nearly finished. It was a story I was dying to write, so I've been working on it for the past several months as I waited for sales numbers on my first book. What can I say? Writing is a joy for me, whether the book sells or not.
Of course, on top of that, it is nearing the end of the semester, so I have students busily working on essays that will come flooding in next Monday and demand my undivided attention if they are to be graded by Thursday when the kids take their finals. Add to that a church committee meeting coming up and the kids' busy schedule and...well, you get the picture. This is the glamourous life of a published writer. One day I will make the New York Times Bestseller List and I will have someone else do the laundry and clean the house. Gotta think big!