Nan Here, Checking In...

I’m up this week and frankly, I’ve got nothin’. I mean, I can tell you stuff, but it’s newsy stuff about me and my family and my writing and I’m fairly sure y’all have more interesting things to do with your . . . oh, you don’t at the moment? You want to hear how things are going in my life? Well, aren’t you kind. Okay . . .

I’ll start with writing because this is after all The Word Wranglers and we talk about writing here—mostly. I finished the first book in my series for Tule Publishing and it has been through my editor, who was highly complimentary. She loved the story, the setting, the hero, the whole thing. She had some great suggestions and edits, so I’m in revision for the next three weeks. Tweaking my heroine a bit and layering in some more scenes between her and the hero. All in all, it is daunting, yet a valuable learning experience, to work with a traditional publisher. I’m hoping I’ll have a release date soon and a cover! Tule’s covers are amazing and gorgeous, so I’m anxious to see what they come up with for my winery series.

On the home front, we just got back from California where we went to watch Son get his PhD and celebrate his becoming a doctor. It’s been nearly seven years of hard work on his part and we proud as can be of him. His thesis was fascinating reading, although the math left me in the dust somewhat, however I’m always amazed at this kid’s mind. He is so extraordinary and I don’t say that just because I’m his mom. I have it on good authority—Stanford University! Great graduation ceremony with the keynote given by Sterling J. Brown, who as it happens, plays Randall Pearson on the one TV show I actually watch--This Is Us. He was terrific!

I’ve had some fun stuff happening since I posted last. I was interviewed by a reporter from Next Avenue, for an article titled “How Romance Novels Are Luring Older Readers” and that was great fun! Go ahead and read it, I’ll wait.

You’re done! Great! Wasn’t that cool? The reactions to it were even more fun, particularly after it got picked up by PBS.org and they shared the link with their audience. I sold some books, read some snarky comments from the literati, enjoyed lots of kudos from friends and family and readers, and all in all, just got a real kick out of my  few moments of fame. Kinda neato. Also, I wrote another article about seasoned romance for the Women Writers, Women’s Book blog and it will go live the first week of July, so there’s another chance for some promo.

Today, I’m finishing an editing gig for a client and doing the Art Facts Sheet (AFS) for Tule, telling them all about Conor’s book so they can figure out what the cover should look like. I get to wander the Web and find three covers that I love, so that should be fun. I also have to write a back cover blurb, which I’m not good at even a little bit. Ironic isn’t it that most of my writer friends really dread synopses and blurbs? I mean, we just write an entire 60K-word novel. Why do we dread a simple paragraph telling what said book is about? Yeesh.

So, there we have it--thanks for stopping by. What’s new with you?

Nan