The Stealth Launch…

I released my third book yesterday. WHISPER is a novella that picks up where my debut novel, ECHO, ended. It’s a quick read at 25,000 words and fills in the blanks between the other two full-length novels in my Elan series.

Like a stealth bomber, I slid that baby right into KDP and hit the publish button without a single shout-out on social media…until now. I waited to share the news because I’ve been so busy with a demanding new job that allows me to pay my bills, outlining a new series, and redoing and uploading covers to the Createspace paperback site. And I was a little embarrassed that it took this long to release a book that has essentially been ready for over a month.

I’ve read many FB posts and blog posts by authors who make a big deal over work ethic. The main theme that repeats is: Writers don’t find time to write, they make time. If it’s really that important, then writers will forego other activities to write. If authors want to make writing their fulltime career then they will give up other things to reach that goal—TV (easily done), social time (done), family time (on occasion), sleep (not going there). Well, I want to eventually write full time and I have a somewhat detailed two-year plan to make it there by the summer of 2016. But—and this is a big, fat, opinionated BUT—I refuse to give up sleep and family time. Both are just too important to me.

My very good friend and writing critique partner, author C.L. Roman, constantly reminds me of maintaining balance whenever I start to go off the rails and focus too much on any one activity. She helps me put things into perspective. I can write and spend time with my husband and daughters and have a social life and get sleep. I just have to write fewer books at this time. They get published later than I expect and sometimes I feel like I’m letting readers down. Then I think that I’m only half-way through my two-year plan. This time last year I had only one book published, now I have three and anticipate one more by year’s end.

So, though WHISPER was released, without any fanfare and very late, I’m pleased that I’m making progress and getting faster at penning the pieces and publishing them. I’m on track to be close to full-timing it sometime next year. So long as I don’t get out of balance.

Oh, and by the way…I have three books out! See: