Thank you

Thank you

I have been writing for a long time but never tried to publish. I got an anonymous suggestion at my other Myspace account that I should try. I figured what the heck. So I submitted a story. Of course it was rejected. Then it was rejected again and again. Well maybe my stories aren’t good enough to publish, I thought. Then a publisher accepted one of my stories. Joy of joys. My joy was short lived though. The publisher went out of business before my ms was even done being edited.

Devastation was a mild word to describe my feeling at that point. Self doubt? Oh yes. Big time self doubt. Did I really want to start the process of rejections again? Were my stories garbage and only of interest to me. In the mean time I had created an author Myspace and an author web site at the suggestion of the now defunct publisher. Nothing on them but they were there. (chuckle)

I started sending out friend requests to other authors from my Myspace account and by chance encountered Stephanie who advertised she was an editor. We started corresponding and I sent her a sample of one of my stories to look at. I was prepared to be told that it was crap because that was my frame of mind at the time. To my surprise she thought is was ok. She said good but I think she was just being kind. (chuckle) It needed a lot of edits. No surprise there (chuckle)

Over the months we became friends in addition to her editing. She virtually slapped me around and kicked me in the butt until I was able to say that maybe my stories weren’t so bad after all. I started the submission process again. I submitted one to a new publisher that was formed by one of the authors I had met at the now defunct one. To my surprise they published it. I don’t know how well it is doing since I had and have little idea of the promo process. I am learning though thanks to my new friends.

I submitted another story to EP and it was accepted. Wow. Woot woot. I haven’t been published there yet but I have gained something. Something that is of very great value to me. I gained a bunch of very good friends. I won’t list the names because for sure I would leave someone out unintentionally. I will only say that the list is long and it is getting longer each day. I have another contract with yet another publisher and have good friends there also. All of my new friends are helpful, understanding and a joy to correspond with.

If there is anyway I can help you then you have but to ask. I could go on writing this but then it would not get posted in a timely manor. Maybe some of you will think this post is rather silly or even mushy. I can only call your attention to the name of this blog (the way I see it) I felt compelled to post it.
I will end this blog entry by saying simply. Thank you. :)
Gary

Just a little Funny

A little something I came across.

Who wears the Pants
A young couple was on their honeymoon and staying in the honeymoon suite.
As they were undressing for bed the husband, a big burley man tossed his trousers to his new bride.

He said, "Here put these on."

She put them on and the waist was more than twice the size of her small body.
"I can't wear your trousers." She said.

"That's right," said the husband, "And don't you ever forget it. I'm the man who wears the pants in this family."

With that, she flipped him her panties, "Here try these on."

He tried them on and found he could only get them as far as his knees.
"Hell," He said, "I can't get into your panties."

She replied, "That's right. And that is the way it's going to stay until your attitude changes. "

The ladies that read this will probably get a chuckle. The alpha male types ...well maybe not so much. :)

Why don.t many men read our books?

Why don’t many men read our books?

Okay I know that is not all men. I read and I’m a man. But a large number of men don’t. Why? I write Contemporary romance, SciFi and paranormal and yes most of them have an erotic flare. But men like erotica just as much as women. In fact statistically men think of sex more often than women. So why don’t they read it? Stay with me those of you that write other than erotica because believe it or not men do think of other things too.

Time and again I have been aptly informed by my editors that the primary target readership is female and I should write my stories accordingly. Okay okay I will.
I guess most men are too busy watching sports on TV or reading magazines about sports. I think a lot of them are looking at magazines like SI swimsuit edition. Lol

A lot of the books I read have handsome hunks in them. Yeah, well, go figure. Look who the target readers are. Duh! There are also some fantastic female characters in the same books. I don’t know, maybe men don’t think it is manly to read a book. That’s silly. There are vast worlds to explore by reading. It is extremely enjoyable and a lot less expensive than many other forms of entertainment. Like going to the local exotic dance clubs for example. Now that is expensive.

I have been reminded by many of my female friends that women primarily process things emotionally while men primarily use sight and touch to process. So maybe we should add photos to our books. If they are in print maybe pop-up photos and scratch and sniff. Lol

So ladies, I’m sure women are the primary ones that will read this, the next time you are curled up on the couch or in bed, nudge that man next to you and ask him what would motivate him to read books. If we answered that question and dealt with it, we might just increase our readership and sales by nearly fifty percent. So how about it ladies? What are your thoughts?

Gary

Boston book trailer

What starts out as a wonderful romantic cruise to Hawaii for two beautiful women and two handsome men takes a terrible turn. Pirates attack in what seems to be overwhelming force. Helplessly the four watch as the crew of their ship is killed. The pirates have overlooked one thing… The two women are witches and they will not surrender meekly to terror and imprisonment. A terrible struggle ensues. To learn the outcome read Boston coming soon to Captiva Publishing

New Book

Book cover for my upcoming book from Captiva Press.

Take two beautiful witches, two handsome hunks, add some ruthless pirates and you get romance, magick and mayhem. Boston coming soon

Overwhelmed

Recently I joined Facebook. Yes I know some of you my friends from other sites, are probably saying “about time”. You must understand that I am basically a shy person. No smart comments from those of you who know me. I’m not shy around my close friends. That is both informing and warning those of you who are not close friends yet. Lol

The response has been, using a poor choice of words to express myself, overwhelming! I have befriended and been befriended by more people than I could ever imagine in my wildest dreams. I’m still getting many requests each day. Yes, I know, those of you that have been in the business for some time and are multi-published are probably saying no big deal. It is however a big deal to me.

I want to thank Gypsy Shadow Publishing for releasing my first book. The people there are so nice and make you feel at home. Many of us there, met at another publisher and the outcome was less than desirable. The publisher went out of business. I was very disillusioned at that time but Charlotte dispelled my feelings of inadequacy and published me. Thanks.

I would like to say hi to my new friends at Eirelander Publishing. You are all wild and crazy and I feel honored to be a part of that family. I can hardly wait to publish there. Lee you have gathered a great bunch of people.

I have a third publisher named Captiva. It has not opened for business yet but will soon. The people there are very nice too. One of them is a special friend of mine (you know who you are) and the owner is quickly becoming one too along with her hubby.

So it all boils down too me being deeply touched and sentimental. Maybe guys are not supposed to show their feelings but this guy is. Thanks to all of you for the wonderful welcome and the growing friendships. Now where is my Kleenex. Lol If I fail to make it to each of your sites or your interviews and blogs please understand that it is not because I don’t want to be there but because I am overwhelmed. Before, when I was simply writing for my own pleasure and not publishing it was unusual for me to get more than a few emails per week and that was at only one address. Lol

Z the island girl says do not loose sight of your goals. Mine right now is to get back to my WIP which have been sorely overlooked this last week. Lol
Take care each and every one of you.