Peg Herring's Blog, page 7

There's Too Many Kids in this Tub!

That's a poem by Shel Silverstein, but sometimes I feel that way about my books. I was packing for a book signing on Saturday, and I simply can't haul all of my books (and Maggie's) along anymore. I ended up taking a suitcase full, leaving it in the car, and checking with Horizon Books to see which books they already had. That way I only had to bring a few books from the car to the store, since Traverse City is a bit of an obstacle course all summer long. Gawking tourists (and I'm not complaining, since I've been that person many, many times), dogs, kids, cars, and protestors make the streets an adventure. Luckily, Horizon Books carries my work in good quantities, so I was able to navigate the streets with only a small tote bag containing the newest release.

But back to the too many kids thing. I once heard a very famous author comment that it was frustrating for him when people asked questions about his older books. "I forget them as soon as I write them," he said. "There's no sense asking me why Bill A. did something in Book Three. At Book Fifteen I might not even recall who Bill A. was."

I have to admit I find it hard sometimes to remember details of my own work. When someone asks, "Why did Susan say that on page 32?" I have to think, "Susan, Susan. Oh, yes. Simon's adopted daughter. Let's see, that would be Book Four... Now why did she say that?"

Most authors "live" in the book they're currently writing, and most of us don't have time to go back and reread or even think about earlier books. The details become fuzzy. The characters' names and personal details won't come to mind.



  As Shel said, "There's too many kids in this tub."

It's Been One of Those Months

We all have them, and at some point we wake up and ask, "Where did the time go?"
My wake-up was my hair. I was trying to make it behave two mornings ago, and I'll confess, I had unkind thoughts about my stylist. What did she do wrong?
Then I looked at the calendar and saw how long it's been since she cut my hair.
Oh. My bad.

The time between early May and mid-June has been a blur of not good things, but I did a radio interview yesterday with Patzi Gil of Joy on Paper, a syndicated author-talk show out of Clearwater, FL. Patzi has been great to me since she discovered, wholly on her own, the first of the Kidnap Capers, KIDNAP.org. Not only did she contact me for an interview last summer, but she also promised to do a second if I let her know when Book #2 came out.

It did, so I did. Here's the website, the interview should be searchable there soon. https://radio-joyonpaper.com/

All that to say that I realized I hadn't yet added PHARMA CON to my website. Here's the info:

The Kidnap Gang, Robin, Em, Cam, Hua, and Tom, take on a pharmaceuticals manufacturer who cheats the public and the government daily and prides himself on getting away with it. The problem is that Neil Preston surrounds himself with "helpers": a sleazy lawyer, a single-minded security manager, a slippery PR man, and his cunning sister. The gang will first have to get past them to get to Preston, which means everyone has to play his role perfectly.

Questions to be answered: Can they get past Preston's complicated security and into his Stalinesque estate? Does the appearance of Robin's old flame mean complications they can't overcome? Will the hooker they've hired as an assistant help or hurt the caper? And what clever methods will the gang come up with to convince Preston to end his cheating ways and use his company's power for good?

Universal Buy LinkAvailable in print (Amazon) and e-book (link above). Audio is under way!

In Praise of Quiet Authors

I'm going to share something authors talk about among themselves but are wary of speaking openly about. While most authors are great at public events, there are some who shout the rest of us down, claiming what they offer is "the best book you'll ever read!" Examples: A guy who stationed his wife at the door so she could lead people to his table (past four other authors). The one who hollered at each new customer, "Come on over here and let me tell you about my book!" as they came into the room. The woman who practically moved into my space so she could tell my customers about her books. These people ignore differences in readers' expectations and the variety of tastes concerning plot, character, writing styles, etc. Their book fits all, and the other authors present are chopped liver.

The saddest part is that it sometimes works. Every other author in the room is offended, but readers are nice people, and once these loudmouths have them cornered, they often don't know how to get away without buying. I even knew a writer once who advised me to hand customers the book. "Make them take it into their hands," he said. "They won't want to hand it back, so you'll make the sale."

I never want to be that kind of author. I want you to look at my book, at the cover I chose so carefully, at the back copy I sweated over, at the first pages I wrote and rewrote a hundred times. In the end I trust you, the reader. You might buy a book because of pressure from a pushy writer, but you'll only buy one if it isn't as advertised. Still, in a world where half of everybody has written a book, readers often fall for a writer with the confidence (nerve) to say, "I guarantee you'll love this."

I'd like to praise those of us who write as well as we can and then present it to the world, often shyly and with great trepidation. We don't scream that it's the best book ever because we're aware that tastes differ. After all, there are people who hated Gone with the Wind, Great Expectations, and War and Peace, so you might not be thrilled with KIDNAP.org. I won't die from that. We quiet authors hope we'll gain an audience, but we understand that we don't get the whole audience. Instead of making grandiose claims, we let our work speak for itself.

I know there are personalities of each sort in every field. Some athletes brag that they're the greatest. Others just play the game. Some politicians tell you how much they've done for you. Others are too busy working for you to spend a lot of time talking about it.

It's that way with writers, and I can't say one kind is better than the other. But for me, the quiet author is easier to take. If one is screaming how great his book is, I'll walk right by, every single time.

New Life for Loser...and a Chance for You Too!

Starting March 15th and going through April 15th, Loser's first adventure, KILLING SILENCE, will be available as an e-book FREE through BookFunnel! (Click on the link below the cover for details.)

As my readers know, I got the rights back to the series from the original publisher and have been working to re-issue the books with new covers in three formats: e-book, print, and audio. I'm thrilled to say they're all available now in all those formats. 

Here are the three Loser Mysteries.

Free E-book HERE  Buy Print/Audio HERE  In Book #1, we meet Loser, who is barely able to cope. A little girl named Bryn makes her take interest in life again, and when Bryn's daddy is accused of murder, Loser feels compelled to help. Is that possible for a homeless person who speaks no more than 30 words per day? Loser only knows she has to fight back her demons and try.
Buy it HERE
 In Book #2, Loser returns to the town where she was raised, searching for peace and anonymity. What she finds there is a former foster sister, who is hiding from something she won't discuss. Things get worse when the woman disappears, leaving her teenage son with Loser.
Buy it HEREIn Book #3, Loser returns to Richmond when new information comes to light about her husband's murder. She's still the main suspect, and she soon finds more murders laid at her door. In a pulse-pounding conclusion, all of Loser's questions are answered...except the question of whether she'll live through her quest for justice and closure.

You Think YOU'Re Confused...

Some days my head spins!

For those who've asked, here's what's new/changed with my books.

Shakespeare's Blood has a new cover and a sequel, Charlie Dickens' Documents. Both stories involve Mercedes, an American who gets into all sorts of trouble in the UK. Like other suspense novels, this one is less "Whodunit?" and more "Will she make it?" There's lots to be revealed, and the clock is ticking. My English teacher background crops up in the focus on two giants of literature, and I had great fun weaving tidbits of their lives into the lively escape-or-we'll-be-dead plot.

[image error]Becky Boyd, Voice ActressThe Loser Mysteries are now mine again, after five years with a publishing house. I've put new covers on them and have some beta readers at work seeking out those last few errors that seem to creep in any time an author re-opens a file, like extra pages or spaces or lines that break for no apparent reason. In addition, I've arranged to finish the series for audio. The woman my studio in Chicago hired did two books and then quit the business (She had a baby and was working on a PhD, so I had to forgive her) which meant the series was only two-thirds available for audio book lovers. That will soon be corrected. Becky Boyd, the talented reader who read Not Dead Yet... agreed to read Killing Despair, the third and final book of the series. I've heard 5 chapters, and she's awesome!

I sent the second of the KIDNAP.org series to my editor on January 1st, so that one is in the works. Not sure of the title yet, but Robin and her "gang" take on a big pharmaceutical company with a CEO you'll love to hate. I'll soon put up some cover ideas so you can comment and/or vote.

And of course Maggie is at work on Sleuth Sisters #7. Hop over to her blog and check out the cover choices for that one! http://maggiepill.maggiepillmysteries...

So Much to Do, So Little Time

Readers are aware that I'm making the Loser Mysteries mine by getting new covers, re-editing (which I shouldn't do but can't stop myself from), and re-releasing them. That's enough to keep me busy...sort of. The problem is there's lots of wait time. Wait for proof copies. Wait for beta readers to comb through for those last few niggling mistakes. Wait for more proofs. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Because I can't stand to be idle, I took up a side project: the sequel to SHAKESPEARE'S BLOOD. I blame this on a reader who claims it's the best book she's read in years--how's that for incentive?
When I had an agent for SHAKESPEARE'S BLOOD, she told me to work on the sequel while she shopped the book to publishers. Being the good girl I am, I did that. Then after a year, I got a letter saying she couldn't sell the book (though she said she still loved it) and she was dropping me as a client. That's how it goes in the biz.

Anyway, I had the book, and Amazon had begun making it easy to do your own e-books, so I released it that way. There were glitches, because it wasn't quite as easy to do a good e-book as I'd thought, but eventually I got it right and it was out there. A while back I decided to make it a paperback. Got a new cover and did that, which is how the reader I mentioned above got hold of it.

With her comment, I recalled the sequel, pretty much finished but just lying at the back of my computer. With time to wait for Loser, I brushed up CHARLIE DICKENS' DOCUMENTS and sent for proofs of that one. Teaser: Mercedes Maxwell, the protagonist of SHAKESPEARE'S BLOOD, returns to Britain for a second adventure, this time chasing the secrets of Charles Dickens so she can find, maybe rescue, her SO, Colm Kennedy.

So yeah, now I'm waiting for TWO books to be ready...It never ends!

Being All-Indie

I reported recently on the conversion of the Simon & Elizabeth Mysteries, my historical series, to my own again. When you sign with a publisher, they get the rights to a book or series for X number of years. They're professionally edited, and the publisher builds an audience that can speak for their quality. Downside: the cost is high due to people other than the author needing to make a profit. When I got Simon's stories back, I got new covers and re-published the series at a much lower cost.

Now Loser will get the same treatment.

The Loser Mysteries center on a homeless woman who finds herself involved in solving a murder. From the beginning I knew it would be a 3-book series, since the stories begin with her at her worst and follow her recovery from trauma. The books are beloved by a certain set, and many suggested I might extend it, but once Loser is back to (almost) normal, I felt that further stories would only have presented more murders to solve. There were too few further character revelations to be made.

But the rights are now mine again, so Loser will get re-published at a better cost. I'm required to have new covers, and I'm looking for input. The idea is feet, and we chose pics that represent her three phases: homeless, returning to her roots, and facing her demons.

Here's Book #1 two slightly different ways. Any preference? I was hoping the first (skewed) pic gave a sense of movement, but Hubby says he can't see much difference.

Simon & Elizabeth Boxed Up

Last post was about getting the rights to the Simon & Elizabeth series back and re-releasing them with new covers. I went one step farther in the last week and put all four books into one e-book.
Better price.
All four adventures in one place.
Still the same lovable Simon and unstoppable Elizabeth.
To quote Publishers' Weekly, "...this historical series shines."

Links: Amazon  or Everybody Else

Simon & Elizabeth Redux

My first successful series was the Simon & Elizabeth Mysteries with Five Star Publishing. Going on the "write what you know" advice new writers get, I focused on Elizabeth I of England, one of my favorite historical characters. She had so much going against her as she grew up--I mean, how many girls can say their father had their mother beheaded?

In the last decade or so, some authors have (very successfully) attacked Anne Boleyn's character, making her seem like Satan's First Date. I'm afraid that's more drama than historical accuracy, but we all interpret history to suit our own thinking...and some knowingly twist it to make a salacious story. I won't argue the right and wrong of that, since Shakespeare did a lot of the same things to make his stories work. It's just sad to me that those who read only fiction might believe it.

Anyway, my series focuses on Anne's daughter Elizabeth, and she's a very sympathetic character. In Her Majesty's Mischief, the last of the series, Her Highness is queen, and she's fallen into the age-old tendency for those with power to use it without considering others' wishes. Elizabeth sends Simon, practically kicking and screaming, to Scotland, where he gets in a heap of trouble. Worse, he leaves behind a mystery that needs solving at home. His son Henry steps in to take up the challenge.

My original plan was to have a fifth S&E mystery in which Henry became the investigator because both Simon and Elizabeth were old. Two things got in the way of that: Five Star stopped publishing mysteries, and several of my other series ideas took off. One can only write so many books/year, and I'm amazed at how much time it takes.

In the meantime I've got the rights to this series back, so I'm re-releasing them under my own banner, which calls for new covers (Five Star owns the originals). The advantage for readers is the books are much more reasonably priced. In fact I will probably make the first one, Her Highness' First Murder, free in e-book format. (It's a clever ploy to get you to buy the other three!) Once I get this one ready to go for e-book (I'm shooting for next week sometime), I hope to make a boxed set of all four. A print version of this one will follow, early in October, if all goes well.
NOTE: When you click on the links below, the covers that show up might still be the original ones. Amazon has a policy of showing the cover that's sold the most copies, so it's going to take a while for my versions to surpass their sales. Price should be $2.99 if they're mine. Same books.
If you're not an Amazon user, here are the links for everyone else, B&N, Kobo, Apple, etc.:
Her Highness...:  https://www.books2read.com/u/38gN8a
Poison...: https://www.books2read.com/u/mYg5zP
The Lady...: https://www.books2read.com/u/3yD2dv

Book#1Amazon 
Book #2Amazon
Book #3Amazon

Everything Old Is New Again

Amazon is great for authors. Their print book division, CreateSpace, has been very helpful for me in publishing books on my own, either from Day One or when the rights revert to me from a publishing contract. Recently the news came out that CreateSpace will be going away, and KDP, Amazon's ebook division, will take on both print and ebooks in the future.
I decided to convert my books to KDP now rather than later. It's pretty easy if the book is already in CS, though one needs to pay attention to the details. In the process, I did some updating, including altered covers and even new covers for some of my books.
Above is Shakespeare's Blood, the old version on the left and the new one on the right. I'm going to do a print version, which I hadn't done before, and that one will have the cover on the right as well.
I like having Mercedes featured and like it lighter, both in mood and actual light. I still might make some changes in placement, depending on how the proof copy I sent for looks when it arrives.

So...old book, new cover. It's pretty exciting for an author, maybe not so much for the rest of the world.
BTW: This doesn't change anything about buying books from Amazon. They're all still there, so don't worry...and don't stop reading!