A Bitter Pill
My writing journey has not been as long as some. I was not the earnest college student on the MFA track. I don't have a stack of notebooks filled with a lifetime of story ideas.
I mean, I've had a few "ideas" every now than then because I am a completely voracious reader/listener and have always been. There is a family joke/urban legend about me on my hands and knees in the Tarry family sustenance garden, weeding --- and reading (or at least holding a book).
I would consider myself first and foremost a reader. When I caught the "bug" to write it was at a strange period of my life. I was busy with a successful real estate career, had 3 active and somewhat oversubscribed kids, 2 large dogs, a house, and what not. I also had a 15-year marriage (to a man I'd been "with" for 25 years) in a bit of a low ebb, heat-wise. You know what I'm talking about here. The zing was gone and we were left staring at each other over the morning coffee or turning away from each other at night with not much in between.
It happens to busy, driven people like ourselves.
Then, he got proactive and did some research, knowing my preference for the written word and a box from Amazon showed up at my house full of books I had never heard of with dubious sounding titles to my English Lit Degree programmed brain. I read them, found about half of them worthwhile and I literally concocted a couple of potential characters while I was sitting at an empty Open House one Sunday.
I sat down, and started crafting their story. "They" are now the "almost famous" couple Jack and Sara from the Stewart Realty series. The writing of their story was a tale of disappointments for me on many levels. Based on some of the books I read early on I figured it was a sort 'any old thing gets published' atmosphere. I learned otherwise, mainly because I chose the more traditional route of agent and publisher submission vs. self publishing (at least at first).
So, as many of you know, I found a small publisher willing to take a shot with these books and we have built a bit of a fan base of readers for them (now an 8-book series with a free prequel). The series has blossomed into something I am very proud of, both from an author standpoint but also as a business one as I have learned waaaaay more than I expected to about "this business of publishing" than I expected to, given the Brave New World of things these days where authors are their own marketing and promotions departments.
This said, one thing I have also learned is how to be a better writer. I have gone through my fair share of editing stages and learning curves and have arrived at a place where I think (hope) I am ready for the bloody mess of a manuscript I anticipate back from my New Editor for a New Project in a few weeks. But…with that….comes the realization that some of my early books are just….not that great.
I mean, the plots and characters and what not are okay but they need help, serious help. And because I have evolved to this place where I don't want anything "out there" with the Liz Crowe name on it that does not represent the VERY BEST of what I can offer, I am pulling 2 books from availability.
The rush to publish more and more and more is strong. It's very nearly become a "necessity" to crank out 4 or 5 or 6 books a year. In 2013, I had 6 of the damn things published myself INCLUDING a book I consider to be a real magnum opus: Good Faith, the final novel of the Stewart Realty series. However, now that I have caught my breath from that marathon of creativity, editing and promotion I realize that some of my "stuff" needs a harder look, a spit and polish and in a couple of cases a Hardcore Rewrite.
So this is me telling you, gentle fan, reader or hater (I know you are guys are out there and I send you lots of love) that as of today you can no longer purchase either VEGAS MIRACLE (a stand alone novel) or CONDITIONAL OFFER (book 5 from the Stewart Realty series).
The plan for Conditional Offer is for me to dive in and give Craig and Suzanne the story they deserve, not the slapped together rehash of the first 4 books of the series. Think "Mutual Release" level of background and character development, as well as the ability for it to stand alone, as Mutual Release, Essence of Time and Good Faith all do at the present moment. It will re-release on January 21, 2015 and not long after will be available as a "3-book series within a series" that will offer;
Essence of Time
Escalation Clause
Conditional Offer, as a "bundle" similar to the way we have bundled the first 3 books in the Stewart Realty series.
Have you seen this beautiful new cover for ESSENCE OF TIME? this is a book I revised and will be re-releasing on May 11, 2014! Sorry, I digress a moment….
Accepting that there are periods of your writing life when you just are not QUITE as good as you'd like to think you are is a huge part of an author's evolution from rookie to professional. I like to think that I have crossed that rubicon and am now eager to move forward not only with my 2 new 2014 projects but also to re-craft Conditional Offer into a novel that can stand alongside the others in this series with its head held high.
Vegas Miracle will also re-release in 2015 but we have not yet set that date.
So this is me, awaiting the red pen of death first content edit for a novel that is 100% of a departure from what I usually write (think: psycho-sexual character-driven thriller set in a revived Detroit) and bidding you a lovely Tuesday.
Happy Reading
Liz
p.s. FLOOR TIME IS FREE!!
amazon
Ibooks
Smashwords (remove the "adult filter" to get to this one)
p.p.s. GOOD FAITH is just .99 for 4 more days
amazon
B&N
p.p.s. I am loving The Goldfinch by one of my all time favorite authors Donna Tartt.
p.p.p.s. I will be posting a FREE SCENE from the new CONDITIONAL OFFER in my Facebook fan group in a few days. Click here to join! there are LOTS of extras and deleted scenes from the series there PLUS a ton of free first chapters to whet your whistle for my other books)
p.p.p.p.s. The books he got me (plus writing my own), worked. I recommend trying a few of mine if you need to rekindle some spark. I have my fair share of reader fans sending me "husband says thanks" messages!
I mean, I've had a few "ideas" every now than then because I am a completely voracious reader/listener and have always been. There is a family joke/urban legend about me on my hands and knees in the Tarry family sustenance garden, weeding --- and reading (or at least holding a book).
I would consider myself first and foremost a reader. When I caught the "bug" to write it was at a strange period of my life. I was busy with a successful real estate career, had 3 active and somewhat oversubscribed kids, 2 large dogs, a house, and what not. I also had a 15-year marriage (to a man I'd been "with" for 25 years) in a bit of a low ebb, heat-wise. You know what I'm talking about here. The zing was gone and we were left staring at each other over the morning coffee or turning away from each other at night with not much in between.
It happens to busy, driven people like ourselves.
Then, he got proactive and did some research, knowing my preference for the written word and a box from Amazon showed up at my house full of books I had never heard of with dubious sounding titles to my English Lit Degree programmed brain. I read them, found about half of them worthwhile and I literally concocted a couple of potential characters while I was sitting at an empty Open House one Sunday.
I sat down, and started crafting their story. "They" are now the "almost famous" couple Jack and Sara from the Stewart Realty series. The writing of their story was a tale of disappointments for me on many levels. Based on some of the books I read early on I figured it was a sort 'any old thing gets published' atmosphere. I learned otherwise, mainly because I chose the more traditional route of agent and publisher submission vs. self publishing (at least at first).
So, as many of you know, I found a small publisher willing to take a shot with these books and we have built a bit of a fan base of readers for them (now an 8-book series with a free prequel). The series has blossomed into something I am very proud of, both from an author standpoint but also as a business one as I have learned waaaaay more than I expected to about "this business of publishing" than I expected to, given the Brave New World of things these days where authors are their own marketing and promotions departments.
This said, one thing I have also learned is how to be a better writer. I have gone through my fair share of editing stages and learning curves and have arrived at a place where I think (hope) I am ready for the bloody mess of a manuscript I anticipate back from my New Editor for a New Project in a few weeks. But…with that….comes the realization that some of my early books are just….not that great.
I mean, the plots and characters and what not are okay but they need help, serious help. And because I have evolved to this place where I don't want anything "out there" with the Liz Crowe name on it that does not represent the VERY BEST of what I can offer, I am pulling 2 books from availability.
The rush to publish more and more and more is strong. It's very nearly become a "necessity" to crank out 4 or 5 or 6 books a year. In 2013, I had 6 of the damn things published myself INCLUDING a book I consider to be a real magnum opus: Good Faith, the final novel of the Stewart Realty series. However, now that I have caught my breath from that marathon of creativity, editing and promotion I realize that some of my "stuff" needs a harder look, a spit and polish and in a couple of cases a Hardcore Rewrite.
So this is me telling you, gentle fan, reader or hater (I know you are guys are out there and I send you lots of love) that as of today you can no longer purchase either VEGAS MIRACLE (a stand alone novel) or CONDITIONAL OFFER (book 5 from the Stewart Realty series).
The plan for Conditional Offer is for me to dive in and give Craig and Suzanne the story they deserve, not the slapped together rehash of the first 4 books of the series. Think "Mutual Release" level of background and character development, as well as the ability for it to stand alone, as Mutual Release, Essence of Time and Good Faith all do at the present moment. It will re-release on January 21, 2015 and not long after will be available as a "3-book series within a series" that will offer;
Essence of Time
Escalation Clause
Conditional Offer, as a "bundle" similar to the way we have bundled the first 3 books in the Stewart Realty series.
Have you seen this beautiful new cover for ESSENCE OF TIME? this is a book I revised and will be re-releasing on May 11, 2014! Sorry, I digress a moment….
Accepting that there are periods of your writing life when you just are not QUITE as good as you'd like to think you are is a huge part of an author's evolution from rookie to professional. I like to think that I have crossed that rubicon and am now eager to move forward not only with my 2 new 2014 projects but also to re-craft Conditional Offer into a novel that can stand alongside the others in this series with its head held high.
Vegas Miracle will also re-release in 2015 but we have not yet set that date.
So this is me, awaiting the red pen of death first content edit for a novel that is 100% of a departure from what I usually write (think: psycho-sexual character-driven thriller set in a revived Detroit) and bidding you a lovely Tuesday.
Happy Reading
Liz
p.s. FLOOR TIME IS FREE!!
amazon
Ibooks
Smashwords (remove the "adult filter" to get to this one)
p.p.s. GOOD FAITH is just .99 for 4 more days
amazon
B&N
p.p.s. I am loving The Goldfinch by one of my all time favorite authors Donna Tartt.
p.p.p.s. I will be posting a FREE SCENE from the new CONDITIONAL OFFER in my Facebook fan group in a few days. Click here to join! there are LOTS of extras and deleted scenes from the series there PLUS a ton of free first chapters to whet your whistle for my other books)
p.p.p.p.s. The books he got me (plus writing my own), worked. I recommend trying a few of mine if you need to rekindle some spark. I have my fair share of reader fans sending me "husband says thanks" messages!
No comments have been added yet.
