Woot and Woohoo! And Why It Matters

A lot of an author's job is done in relative solitude. We write alone, we edit under direction but essentially alone, we pimp and we promo while sitting at home at our desks/kitchen tables/sofas... alone. Our human interaction is generally of the digital sort. That's the sort of connection we have to others in the business when we start freaking out that our work sucks. And I don't know an author who doesn't go through the "my book sucks ass" phase at some point. So we run to the other people who have been there.

But in the back of our minds, there is always this little voice that reminds us how easy it is to lie on the internet. That doesn't even touch on the fact that authors are career liars.

So, while the conversations have the climb down off the ledge effect, we still make a mental note of exactly where that ledge is because we know we'll be back. Then the book comes out and reviews start coming in (possibly before release even). This stage of the game is like peri-menopause on crack. They loved it! They totally got what I was going for turns into Oh my God! They hated my main character and said she was too stupid to live with the next review. And it's up and down like that at every turn. This one swooned over my hero!!! ...Oh no, this one said the romance was completely unbelievable. 

And I say all that while loving reviewers for giving my books their time anyway. (We will not get into the reviews are not for authors thing here. I know it, you should know it, and I don't even rant in private about reviews. I just panic a little.)

But even if the vast majority of reviews are of the "liked/loved it" variety, authors know that the point has come when stuff is completely outside their control. I can't make anyone buy my book anymore than I can make a reviewer like it. I want you to buy, sure, but I can't make you. So, we stand there (virtually) with a tray of goodies, waiting to see if anyone wants them. We don't shake, we don't stutter. At least that we let anyone see. Inside, we're a quivering mass of nerves.

That's how the publishing game goes. You have to be a little bit of a masochist to love that feeling.

But every once in a while something happens that stops your heart for a second and makes you jump up and down screaming "They like me! They really like me!"

While I was in Disney, I found out I was up for Book of the Year at The TBR Pile. The first round of voting was reader-driven. My readers had to go there and vote to get me in the finals. I told people about it, but it was... nerve-wracking. There were some great books in that group, and I didn't know if I could squeeze into one of those top three slots. My fans came through though, and I was a finalist! Woot!

Honestly, I thought it was over then. The finals were judged at The TBR Pile and based on some formula that I don't know the ins and outs of that dealt with the initial review, sales numbers and I have no clue what else. So, I wrote off the competition then, and thanked everyone for their support.

Now I have to switch over to a different part of the story (which I was told I could share). While the person in charge of notifying the winner was waiting for the results, she decided to clean her house (I so know that excited cleaning thing). In the midst of cleaning, she ran across a DVD of an old Sandra Bullock movie. The name of the movie? Gun Shy. She got the results right after that and contacted me to not only tell me my own GunShy had WON Book of the Year but to share the story too.

Yep, you read that right. Cupid's Conquests #1 won Book of the Year. (It even says so right over there in the sidebar.) This award means the world to me as I've been struggling with some decisions regarding my writing career, and it helped remind me that I might not know all the people who love my books, but that's kind of the point. If reading my words touches one stranger, brightens their day for even a little while, that is why I'm in publishing and not just writing for my close friends.


Thank you, TBR Pile, for the honor and for the reminder. :)  

Unexpected Alliances

We see it in literature all the time: the arch enemy comes in to aid the hero in his hour of need. Or at the very least stays his hand to keep from killing the hero. Vader saving Luke from the Emporer. Barbosa joining up with Sparrow. It isn't quite as common as "boy meets girl", but it's definitely not a rare thing. Like most genre fiction tropes, I tend to look at it from the "does this shit ever really happen?" perspective.

.

Turns out...yes, yes it does.

.

There is this person I know. We're not friends, never really were. At best we're acquaintances who have each other's phone numbers. For a while, our interaction was borderline hostile. Worst enemy? Probably not, but far from someone I ever expected to "save the day" if I fell into damsel-in-distress mode.

That was until last week. My mother-in-law was on her way to my house. I had thirty minutes until she was at my door, and someone had just thrown me into a screaming, crying rage. I wanted to break things and hurt people (yes, I have a violent temper--get over it). Considering my husband's mother was about to arrive...this was not a good place to be. I knew I needed to talk to someone, but every single friend I could think of would want to know what was wrong. In detail. And it would have just made me spiral deeper in the wrong direction.

So...in a fit of panic, I called the one person who I figured wouldn't give a shit what was going on. (See above) Why? Because sometimes I don't want my hand held. I don't want to hear that it'll be fine (which is bullshit as often as not). And I certainly don't want to re-hash everything. I just want a distraction. And what better distraction than randomly calling someone who you don't really get along with? Assuming they don't hang up (a risk to be sure), the worst that will happen is you'll end up in a fight...which is still a distraction.

Imagine my surprise when I said, "I just need you to talk to me; I don't care about what," the person on the other end did just that. By the time my mother-in-law showed up, I was not only laughing instead of crying, but I didn't want to get off the phone. We ended up talking for almost an hour before I felt like I had to go and be a civil hostess.

Sometimes, help does come from corners where you'd least expect it.

Oddly enough, as I started typing this post, that same person texted me today. Are we friends now? Maybe. I'm really not sure. For all I know, there are ulterior motives on the other end of things. Reality is I'm okay with that--I kind of expect it. But if there aren't? That'd be great too. I'd love to be able to say the enemy to friend thing does happen upon occasion.

Thanks for the positive energy. Hope I can pay it back sometime :)