From A Milestone, a New Beginning

Greeting Liz fans, acolytes, followers, supporters, friends and...well, anyone else. I'm not exclusionary.

As it happens on occasion I had a serious epiphany while on a walk with my semi-famous Poodle muses today. I'm listening to a GREAT book by Hilary Mantel, "Bring Up The Bodies" a sequel to her original novel about Thomas Cromwell, "Wolfe Hall." I'm a huge Anglophile, and the Tudor period especially totally enthralls me. I have done a lot of crawling around in various London castles (and most especially The Tower of London where I actually got to see the Exchange of the Keys at days end, and to share a pint with the Yeoman Warders. Long story, tell you another time) seeking the compelling ghosts to this ever-popular you CANNOT make this sh*t up tale of King Henry and his wives.

so....I'm walking along, listening to Thomas Cromwell shoot himself in the foot over Anne Boleyn and it occurred to me, I have my own writerly anniversary literally right upon me, as we sit here and speak, or blog, or whatever.

Yep, it was this weekend, exactly FIVE YEARS AGO that I concocted my very first scene of the at times best selling, but usually "top selling," Stewart Realty series. I had a fairly simple vision. That of a dark office hallway in a deserted real estate office in Ann Arbor where two driven, complicated adults meet, and cannot resist the pull of destiny.

I love this scene. It has it all--the ultimate push and pull of the Jack and Sara relationship that has entrhalled and frustrated so many--it was, as they say, My First. And five years ago this weekend, (the 4th of July 2008) I wrote it.  From it, an eight-book series was born. I am revising the final installment, which I am crafting as a more mainstream novel about adulthood, mature marriage, and the parenting of children with addictive personalities. Good Faith will drop on November 13 and I will be signing it and the rest of the series at the Ann Arbor Borders store on November 16. I would love to see you there.

I have had a sort of bizarre set of experiences this weekend, my anniversary of bringing the Jack and Sara story to life.  The sum total of them have taught me a few things:
1. I enjoy writing for the sake of it. The resulting semi-success I have enjoyed can be directly attributed to the advice and assistance of a few folks. But the bottom line is that now that I have had some experience with "fans" and "support from strangers" I will never give that up.
2.  Some people exist for the sake of teaching me how not to react to negativity.
3. My words are my own. I love to share with others--readers, fans, bloggers and reviewers. But the words? They are mine.
4.  I may never achieve my ultimate goal of having the words"NYT Best Seller" on my covers and the Stewart series on cable, but I will always (always) write. And I will never pass up the opportunity to improve via hard edit or strict beta read. I will, however, no longer allow anyone to come between me and my muse. He is a tough bastard, you really don't want to get in his way.

So, that said, I would like to announce not only the Milestone Anniversary of the Jack and Sara Family Saga, but also a new beginning. The Black Jack Gentlemen, an off shoot series from this popular and at times polarizing Stewart Realty series will drop in mid August, beginning with the releases of the first 2 books, then the third in September. The stories will all be, potentially, stand alone novels. But the more you read, the more you will want to know about the other players, the coaches and the staff of this fictional expansion soccer league and team, based in (where else?) Detroit. 

I am thrilled and proud to announce the Official Cover, Blurb and Excerpts for the first 3 novels of this series today, July 8, 2013 on two superb book blogs:
KINDLEHOOKED
ANGIE'S DREAMY READS

A city and a sport with something to prove—Meet the men who take that challenge.The Black Jack Gentlemen—Detroit’s expansion soccer team.They play hard. And live harder.


Enjoy the beautiful game and its equally beautiful stories and players with me, won't you?
Liz