Gigi Pandian's Blog, page 11

5 Things You Really Need To Know Before Deciding Whether To Self-Publish: Workshops and a Cheat Sheet

Four months ago I wrote a blog post with 20 Steps in Self-Publishing, to share what I learned in the six months after a scary cancer diagnosis made me decide to throw myself into forming my own imprint to publish my mystery series myself.

Since that time, I've learned a lot more and have had many people ask me for details about the process. Most recently, two writers organizations asked me to speak about what I've learned over the course of this year. For those of you in the San Francisco Bay...

One Year Later: The Post-Cancer Recap

Last week was the one year anniversary of when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. What a year! I never expected so many of the things that happened this year:
Getting cancer in my 30s. Going through chemo, which sucked but also had the wonderful side effect of bringing out the best in my husband and friends. Deciding to stop waiting for my agent to hear from publishers and instead form my own imprint and publish my first book myself.The support of so many people regarding my controversial dec...

The First of Many Post-Cancer Vacations: New York City

Almost exactly one year ago, I was supposed to go to New York City. The week before that trip, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I cancelled the trip, unsure of when I'd be able to travel again.

I was rushed into surgery to have the tiny cancerous lump removed. Then chemotherapy wiped out my immune system, making travel a very bad idea. Post-chemo radiation wasn't so bad, but it was every single day for five weeks. I've still got some minor treatments, but with the big stuff over, my body bo...

Writing and Gardening

This month, I've taken a step back from my the frantic pace I was keeping in anticipation of my first novel coming out at the end of the summer.

At the start of the year, one of my biggest resolutions was to keep writing fun. I've done a good job at sticking to that, but stress began to creep up on me as my "to do" list grew longer and longer. There's a long list of logistical set-up and an endless amount of promotion you can do for a novel. I had to take a step back and remind myself what I w...

Birthday Weekend and a New Haircut

Writing in a hotel suite overlooking the bay in Oakland.The long weekend I gave myself to celebrate my birthday is almost over, but I packed in a heck of a lot. This is looking to be a great year.

Mini writing retreat—check.

Dinner party after writing all day—check.

Dinner at delicious San Francisco Mexican restaurant Gracias Madre—check.

Happy hour with old friends at Gather in Berkeley—check.

With pals at Gather in Berkeley.Taking the day off on Monday to have fun and be productive—half-check....

My Fan Girl Week

Two events this past week have gone a long way towards balancing out my crappy, cancer-filled last year. First, I met one of the two mystery authors whose books I've loved since I was a teenager. Then, I received a fantastic book blurb from the other one!

Last week, I wrote about meeting Barbara Mertz (who writes mysteries as Elizabeth Peters) at the Malice Domestic mystery convention. When I returned home, I had to pinch myself when I found a book blurb from Aaron Elkins waiting for me.

Aaron...

Malice Domestic 2012: Celebrating the Traditional Mystery with Elizabeth Peters This Year!

I'm home after attending the Malice Domestic mystery convention. If you're asking yourself what on earth "Malice Domestic" means, here's a quick explanation: Agatha Christie wrote traditional mysteries with puzzle plots that involve characters we get to know, quite different from conspiracy thrillers or gritty hard-boiled stories that also live in the mystery genre. Malice Domestic celebrates traditional mysteries. It's what I write and what I love to read.

Meeting Elizabeth Peters!!!One of t...

Highlights from Left Coast Crime 2012

I'm back from Left Coast Crime, a fantastic convention for mystery fans. I caught the Amtrak Capitol Corridor train up to Sacramento, rather than driving, which was a great start to the long weekend. I spent the hour-and-a-half train trip writing down ideas for a novella.

In addition to attending panel discussions on entertaining topics, one of my favorite things about mystery conventions is the combination of being able to catch up with old friends and meet so many interesting new people...

ARCs Are Here!

My Advance Reader Copies of Artifact are here—what fun! (That's all for now, but I'll do a more thorough update from Left Coast Crime this weekend.)

20 Steps in Self-Publishing

[image error] It's been six months since I decided to publish my Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Series myself, and it's also six months until the first book in the series, Artifact, comes out. Last week I got Advance Reader Copies off to the printer, so I think it's a fitting time to look back on everything that has gone into this process so far.

I already shared my reasons for self-publishing in detail here. The brief version is that my first mystery had already received multiple distinctions and ...