Fresh Start

Forget New Year’s Eve. Most of my life has been spent in classrooms on either side of the teacher’s desk and in school libraries. So it’s natural that I think of September as starting the year off. I’ve had so, so many first days of school. Alas, I haven’t bought any sharpened pencils or blindingly white sneakers or Trapper Keepers lately. But I’m choosing to look upon this month as a new beginning anyway.

I’ve been pretty slow with the writing lately. Not sure whether that’s the result of laziness or old age or sheer discouragement. Probably a combination of the three. Publishing remains a mystery (no pun intended) to me even after writing around 30 books and novellas.

My latest cozy mystery series has not yet found a home, despite very favorable responses from editors and the determined dedication of my agent. Basically, we’ve heard “I love it but I’m not going to buy it.” If the two completed books are ever going to get out into the wild, it looks as if I will have to self-publish them. Which I dread but will do. New beginnings, right?

I also opened myself up to a project as “a writer for hire.” The company supplied the storyline and characters, and I punched and pummeled it around. The ten-page sample is not going anywhere, but they liked the writing and other opportunities might follow. I am reminded of that ancient TV show, Have Gun-Will Travel. My aim might be off, but I’m still firing away.

And you might remember some months ago I enlisted your help in trying to decide what should come next. I finally decided. There is a Maine historical mystery in my future, something I’ve been fiddling with for absolute ages. Time to forge ahead instead of dubbing around, as my husband would say. It is informed by a four-year residence on a Maine island and working at the historical society there, and will be different from anything I’ve ever written. New beginnings, I say!

And now, a farewell to garden pleasures ending. Next spring, fingers crossed, we get to do it all over again. Fresh starts for all of us, another chance to grow.

Any tips for self-publishing? What’s in your garden?

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