I have not had much time to devote to my blog, but figure I should update it now that my new book is out! I'm happy to announce the epublication of Identity Crisis, as romantic suspense. This is the book I was working on when my editor quit and didn't tell me. But then the publisher, Musa Publishing, promptly assigned me a new editor who turned out to be just the best person and so very good at her job, I have to see it all as a blessing.
Senior Editor Helen Hardt taught this old dog many new tricks during the editing of Identity Crisis. When writing a book, it's so easy to do the expedient thing and write things like "panic swept over her." But Helen would not stand for that. She wanted to know HOW the panic made her FEEL. Every single time. She made me stretch my brain to come up with ever more creative ways to describe the physical effets of panic, and a hundred other emotions. I am eternally grateful for her help making Identity Crisis into a great read.
Senior Editor Helen Hardt taught this old dog many new tricks during the editing of Identity Crisis. When writing a book, it's so easy to do the expedient thing and write things like "panic swept over her." But Helen would not stand for that. She wanted to know HOW the panic made her FEEL. Every single time. She made me stretch my brain to come up with ever more creative ways to describe the physical effets of panic, and a hundred other emotions. I am eternally grateful for her help making Identity Crisis into a great read.
I had some additional good fortunr with this book through my membership in one of my online writing groups. They are all wonderful. But I rediscovered the value of networking and mutual support when I posted the upcoming publication of Identity Crisis on RomVets in Yahoo Groups. RomVets is a group of people who are or were affiliated with the military and who now write romance. Most of the members are women who served. Many write romances involving military characters. It is a lovely group or dedicated souls, determined to help and support one another. I am honored to be a long-time member, having served in the Army in the 1980s, and discovering the fledgling group shortly after Yahoo Groups became popular among writers. When I announced Identity Crisis to my RomVets friends, one woman asked me if I'd like to be featured on her blog. Kayelle Allen pointed out that her blog, Romance Lives Forever, gets a lot of hits per day. I was grateful for any exposure and promptly followed instructions to be featured on her blog. Identity Crisis was published in July 2013 and the Romance Lives Forever blog about the book came out in early August. The results were overwhelming. As Kayelle tells it, she started her blog, began to feature other writers, was asked to join Tumblr, and now her blog articles are widely read. Once she published my feature, the existence of Identity Crisis was repeated over and over on Twitter via retweets to thousands and thousands of readers. I gained a significant number of new followers and a tremendous amount of exposure for Identity Crisis that I never would have had otherwise. My gratitude for my fellow RomVets member knows no bounds. The feature can be read here: http://romancelivesforever.blogspot.com/search?q=Elizabeth+Ashtree
I'm currently working on the beginning of a series of romanctic suspense novels. Because the key to success for an author is to never stop writing. And also to have friends who can help you polish the end product and then get the word out that the end product is worth reading. My thanks to Helen and Kayelle.
