Introducing the Indie Chicks to the world

What Is Your Life Whispering toYou?
By Cheryl Shireman
I believe life whispers to youand provides direction. I call that life force God. You can call it whateveryou want, but there is no escaping it. If we are open, and brave enough to sayyes, life will take us in directions we never expected, and you will live alife beyond your wildest dreams.Those whisperings often come inthe form of a "crazy" idea or a nudge to move into a certain direction thatseems odd or silly or daring. Then there is that moment when you think, Well, that's weird. Where in the world didthat come from?And then there's the secondmoment, when you have to make a choice. You can dismiss the crazy notion, andprobably even come up with a dozen reasons why it's a bad idea. You don't havethe time, the money, or the resources. Besides, who are you to do such a thing?What in the world were you thinking? So, you dismiss the idea. We always havethat option - to say No.But it comes back - that whisper.Sometimes again and again. But if we are practical, and safe, we can squash thenotion until it is almost forgotten. Almost.Such a notion came to me a coupleof months ago. I began to think of an anthology composed of women writers. Ananthology that would be published before the rapidly approaching holidayseason. The title came to me almost immediately - Indie Chicks. It was a crazynotion. I was working with an editor who was editing my first two novels, and wasalso in the middle of writing a third novel. Working on three books seemed tobe a pretty full plate. Adding a fourth was insane.But the crazy notion kept comingback to me. It simply refused to be dismissed. So I sent out a "feeler" emailto another writer, Michelle Muto. She loved the idea. I sent out another emailto my writing buddy, J. Carson Black. She loved the idea, too, but couldn'tmake the time commitment. She had just signed with Thomas & Mercer and was kneedeep in writing. I took it as a sign. I didn't have the time for the projecteither. Perhaps after the first of the year, when final edits were done on myown novels. I dismissed it, at least for the present time. I'd think about itagain in another couple of months, when the timing made more sense.A week later I surrendered, starteddeveloping a marketing plan for Indie Chicks, and began sending out emails tovarious indie writers - some I knew, but most were strangers. I contacted alittle over thirty women. Every one of them responded with enthusiasm. Mostsaid yes immediately, and those who could not, due to time commitments, wishedus well and asked me to let them know when the book when the book was publishedso they could be part of promoting it.One of the first writers Icontacted was Heather Marie Adkins. Earlier this year, while I was browsing theinternet, I came across an interview with Heather. The interviewer (oddlyenough, Michelle Muto) asked Heather, When did you decide to become an indieauthor? Heather's answer was:  About a month ago. My dad had been trying totalk me into self-publishing for some time, but I was hesitant. One night, Isat down and ran a Google search. I discovered Amanda Hocking, JA Konrath,Victorine Lieski; but it was Cheryl Shireman that convinced me. This is thefield to be in. I was shocked (Astonished! Flabbergasted!). I had no ideathat I had ever inspired anyone! To be honest, it was a bit humbling. And,okay,yes - it made me cry. So, of course, I had to invite Heather to be a part ofthe anthology. Heather not only said yes, but she also volunteered to formatthe project - a task I was dreading.As Heather and I exchangedemails, I told her about how I had been similarly inspired to become an indiewriter by Karen McQuestion. My husband bought me a Kindle for Christmas of2010. Honestly, the present angered me. I didn't want a Kindle. I wantednothing to do with reading a book on an electronic device! I love books; thefeel of them, the smell of them. But, very quickly, I started filling up thatKindle with novels. One day, while looking for a newbook on Amazon, I came across a title by Karen McQuestion. I learned thatMcQuestion had published her novels through Amazon straight to Kindle.Immediately, I began doing research on her and how to publish through Kindle. Ihad just completed a novel and was ready to submit it through traditionalroutes. Within 48 hours of first reading about McQuestion, I submitted my novel,Life Is But A Dream: On The Lake. Twenty four hours later, it was published asan eBook on Amazon. Within another couple of weeks it was available as apaperback and through Nook. Did I jump into this venture fearlessly? No! I wasscared to death, and I almost talked myself out of it. Almost. The novel wenton to sell over 10,000 copies within the first seven months of release.As I shared that story withHeather, another crazy notion whispered in my ear - Ask Karen McQuestion towrite the foreword for Indie Chicks. Of course, I dismissed it. We hadexchanged a couple of tweets on Twitter, but other than that, I had nevercorresponded with McQuestion. It was nonsense to think she would write theforeword. I was embarrassed to even ask her. Surely, she would think I was somesort of nut. But, the idea kept whispering to me and, with great trepidation, Iemailed her. She said yes! Kindly, enthusiastically, and whole-heartedly, shesaid yes. Karen McQuestion had inspired me to try indie publishing. I had inspiredHeather Adkins. And now the three of us were participating in Indie Chicks,that crazy whisper I had been unable to dismiss.The book began to develop, and asit did, a theme began to form. This was to be a book full of personal storiesfrom women. As women, one of our most powerful gifts is our ability toencourage one another. This book became our effort to encourage women acrossthe world. Twenty-five women sharing stories that will make you laugh, inspireyou, and maybe even make you cry. We began to dream that these stories wouldinspire other women to live the life they were meant to live. From the beginning, I knew Iwanted the proceeds of this charity to go to some sort of charity that wouldbenefit other women. While we were in the process of compiling the anthology,the mother of one of the women was diagnosed with breast cancer. Almostimmediately upon learning that, Michelle Muto sent me an email. Hey, in light of *****'s mother having anaggressive form of breast cancer, can I nominate The Susan G. Komen foundationfor breast cancer? I mean, one of our own is affected here, and other thanheart disease (which took my own mother's life), I can't think of anything moreworthy than to honor our sister in words and what she's going through. Adaughter's love knows no bounds for her mother. Trust me. I know it's a charitythat already gets attention on its own. But, that's not the point, is it? Thepoint is there are 25 'sisters' sticking together and supporting each other forthis anthology. I say we put the money where the heart is. We had ourinspiration. All proceeds would go to the Susan G. Komen foundation for breastcancer research.The stories started coming in.Some were light hearted and fun to read. But others were gut-wrenching and inspiring- stories of how women dealt with physical abuse, overwhelming grief, and ahost of bad choices. It was clear; these women were not just sharing a story,but a piece of their heart. I felt as if I were no longer "organizing" thisanthology, but just getting out of the way so that it could morph and evolveinto its truest form.Fast forward to just a few daysbefore publication. Heather was almost done with the enormous task offormatting a book with twenty-five authors. We were very close to publishingand were on the homestretch. That's when I received an email. An unlikely emailfrom someone I didn't really know. Beth Elisa Harris and I were involved inanother indie project and Beth sent an email to all of the authors in thatproject, including me. She attached a journal to that email. For whateverreason, Beth had been inspired to share a journal she wrote a few years ago.She cautioned us to keep her confidence and not share the journal with anyoneelse. I tend toward privacy and don'ttend to trust easily. This is a HUGE step for me. I've only read it once sinceI wrote it. Intrigued, I opened the journal and began reading. It dealtwith her diagnosis, a few years back, with breast cancer! Before I was even onethird of the way through the journal, I felt I should ask Beth to include thisjournal in the Indie Chicks anthology. It was a crazy notion, especially whenconsidering her words about privacy and trust. We didn't even know each other,how could I ask her to go public with something so personal? I tried to dismissthe notion (are you noticing a pattern here?), but could not. I wrote theemail, took a deep breath, and hit send. She answered immediately. Yes. Mostdefinitely, yes.Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25Personal Stories, with foreword by Karen McQuestion and afterword by Beth EliseHarris, is now available through Barnes and Noble and Amazon. The book includespersonal stories from each of the women, as well as excerpts from our novels.And it began as a whisper. A whisper I did my best to ignore.What whisper are you ignoring?What crazy notion haunts you? What dream merely awaits your response? I urgeyou, say Yes. Live the life you were meant to live. Say yes today.
Storiesincluded in Indie Chicks:Forewordby Karen McQuestionKnight inShining Armor by Shea MacLeodLatchkeyKid by Heather Marie AdkinsWrite orDie by Danielle BlanchardThePhoenix and The Darkness by Lizzy FordNever TooLate by Linda WelchSteppingInto the Light by Donna FasanoOneFictionista's Literary Bliss by Katherine OwenI BurnedMy Bra For This? by Cheryl ShiremanMrs. SoGot It Wrong Agent by Prue BatttenHoles bySuzanne TyrpakTurningMedieval by Sarah WoodburyA KinkyAdventure in Anglophilia by Anne R. AllenWritingFrom a Flour Sack by Dani AmoreJust Meand James Dean by Cheryl BradshawHow a BigYellow Truck Changed My Life by Christine DeMaio-RiceFrom 200Rejections to Amazon Top 200! by Sibel HodgeHave YouEver Lost a Hat? by Barbara SilkstoneFrenchFancies! by Mel ComleyLife'sLittle Gifts by Melissa FosterNeverGive Up On Your Dream by Christine KerseySelf-taughtLate Bloomer by Carol Davis LuceMoving toThe Middle East by Julia CranePaper,Pen, and Chocolate by Talia JagerThe MagicWithin and The Little Book That Could by Michelle MutoWrite Outof Grief by Melissa SmithAfterwordby Beth Elisa Harris
IndieChicks is available for your Kindle on Amazon and your Nook on Barnes andNoble. You may also read it on your computer or most mobile devices bydownloading a free reader from those sites.
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I am so going to read this book, it looks like a brilliant mix of incredibly talented women. Kim Cormack