BEATEN TRACK EVENT SPOTLIGHT!!


HELLO FRIENDS, BOY DO I HAVE A POST FOR YOU TODAY, IN HONOR OF MY AUTHOR EVENT WITH BEATEN TRACK PUBLISHING TODAY I HAVE A SPOTLIGHT FOR YOU, AND WOW IS IT A BIG ONE! I HAVE A LOOK AT THE BEATEN TRACK SUMMER ANTHOLOGY: SUMMER BIGGER THAN OTHERS, WITH BOOK COVERS AND BLURBS, AND EVEN A FEW POSTS FROM BEATEN TRACK AUTHORS! THAT IS A TON OF INFO SO LET'S GET STARTED WITH A NOTE FROM DEBBIE McGOWAN, (OR AS SHE SAYS CHIEF COOK AND BOTTLE WASHER ;P)

  Just a quick word from me (for a change) - I'd like to thank all the wonderful authors I have the privilege of working with. The phrase 'Beaten Track Family' has been used by more than one of you, and it leaves me...speechless. Well, almost speechless. When I started Beaten Track, it was, in part, inspired by a good friend of mine who had the same vision, and I am truly proud of what we have achieved together. So, thank you, all. You are wonderful!
We have a lot of new releases over the coming months, the first of which is our summer anthology - Summer Bigger Than Others - on June 21st. It's a collection of fourteen stories, and in all of them you will find our trademark mix of romance and relationships. You can expect lots of love and smooches, and a bit more than smooches at times... Thanks to Alexis, we also have a great hook line: Make this summer the best it's ever been; make it bigger than all the others. Sounds good to me! ~ Deb

Beaten Track authors present fourteen short summer reads filled with friendship, romance and, of course, enough heat to make your ice lolly dribble.

Summer Bigger Than Others takes you away to your own private island of diverse stories that will make your summer days sweet, sizzling and sexy.

From relaxing on a sandy beach or hiking in the great outdoors, to nights at the opera or days at the strawberry farm, an adrenaline-shooting roller coaster rush awaits.

Make this summer the best it's ever been; make it bigger than all the others.


Published: 21st June, 2015
Length: 160000 words (560 pages) (approx)


HERE ARE THE BOOKS IN THE ANTHOLOGY AND BLURBS: YOU ARE GONNA WANT THIS NOW FRIENDS, TRUST ME!!


Aligning North - K.C. Faelan



Blake Manning spends his summers in his favorite national park, Yosemite. He runs an outdoor adventure company with three friends. This year he and his BFF/business partner, Ali, will serve as guides for a hike over the Grand Traverse Trail. Blake will find it’s not nature or the wildlife that are most hazardous, but traversing the uncharted waters of a potential relationship with one of the hikers, Zac North, who doesn’t appear all that happy about being the object of Blake’s attention.

Stormy weather and stormier tempers keep all the hikers on their toes as Yosemite tests them, bringing some closer together…and breaking others apart.

Aloha? Oy! - Jonathan Penn


Paul and Asher have been together for fifteen years. They’re still in love, but each is beginning to have doubts about what their future holds. Paul comes up with the brilliant idea that a week in Hawaii is the sure-fire way to reignite their dwindling spark. He’s mapped out every last detail of their romantic tropical getaway. Now, if only the universe would stop screwing with his plans…



Anything or Nothing - Terry Kerr


Every life has its turning point—that moment when a big choice has to be made—and for Michael Richards that time is now. His life could change irrevocably, and he’s scared.

When he meets a stranger in a café—an older man who is familiar somehow, and seems to have appeared from nowhere—Michael is forced to make a decision.

Truth, or dead?


Dazzle Me - Ofelia Gränd


Tom has been planning for months, but in those plans he never once found himself on a spa table in Bangkok on his and Santino’s one year anniversary. He doesn’t do aeroplanes, doesn’t like the tropical climate, and he does not do spas.

Yet there he is, without a stitch of clothing, and with a man he's never met before. He’ll do his best to enjoy his day and then he'll give Santino the best anniversary imaginable, even if it means he has to be covered in chopped-up veggies on him for an entire day…

…if only it were veggies.


Fang and Fortune - L.L. Bucknor


Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. Such is the life of twenty-four-year-old loner, Micah Salvo. Forced to take a vacation from his two jobs but not having enough money to escape, he visits a local summer fair. He only goes to ride the rides and watch the people. What he doesn’t expect is someone to watch back and possibly give him a chance to change life as he knows it.


Finally - Amelia Mann


Not everyone spends their summers on sandy beaches or in luxurious resorts. World-famous opera singer Philip Jameson has arrived in Munich to perform at the Opera Summer Festival after making the biggest mistake of his life. For years he has been secretly in love with his best friend, Andrew, and believes the shield he has built is bulletproof: Andrew was never to know. But at a boisterous party in London following the most successful live TV broadcast of his career, whatever walls Philip has built crumble and he can’t resist the urge to kiss Andrew in the middle of the dance floor. Painfully he realizes what he did was so very wrong.

Andrew Greene has traveled more times than he can count during the last four years. To every city in the world where Philip sings, he flies to spend all his spare time with his best friend. At the breakneck speed in which Philip’s career is developing, he is the constant. When Philip reveals he intimately cares for Andrew, it is finally time for Andrew to change his life completely—in favor of love.


Home is Where the Hard is - Caraway Carter


Chad has a lot on his mind; a failing relationship, a deadline. He’s looking forward to a month alone at his uncle’s beach house. But within the first twenty-four hours there, his life is turned upside down. He gets a day of innuendos and unexpected sexual encounters.

Is this the beginning of a wonderful new life?


Offline - L.M. Steel


For the past decade, Bernice has spent her life online, but that’s all about to change. When she is made redundant from her internet-marketing job, she heads for the Cornish Coast to try her hand at a different kind of surfing. With the wi-fi off, she discovers what the real wide world has to offer and finds a much more intimate connection with local girl, Kerra.


Ribbons and Frills - Claire Davis and Al Stewart



Ribbons and Frills costume sewing factory has always been about creating dreams, but when the owner asks his very upper-class son to take over, sparks fly, and not just from the sewing machines. The last time manager Gary Shaw saw Ashley Turner-Hoff was a year ago, when he left Gary standing on the beach with a broken heart and sand in his underwear.

Ashley Turner-Hoff has a plan to save the factory which involves one famous mannequin and a fashion show in London.

Can Gary forgive Ashley and give him a second chance? Can Ribbons and Frills really compete against top fashion designers, and do Gary’s dreams of being on stage finally come true?

Find out in this summer story of sequins, sand, and surprises!


Roller Coaster - J P Walker


Quinn is successful in business but never in romance. Always scared of rejection or abandonment, she keeps her love life simple and detached.

But during a summer work assignment, she meets the beautiful, fiery and charismatic Sarah in line for a roller coaster, and within a few days her life is turned upside down.

Quinn has to face her fears of rejection when she can’t deny the chemistry they share, but will she see it through or run before she can be hurt?


The Strawberry Farm - Victoria Milne


Charlie’s furious when a burger truck begins trading in the country lane outside his strawberry farm and encroaches upon his business. What makes it worse is that the infuriating owner refuses to move, claiming he's found the perfect spot on the English coast to spend his summer.

But when Charlie’s friends from the city show up and are convinced that Tai, the bold American chef, and Charlie should be attracted to one another, the farmer is left with no option than to grudgingly go along with his friends’ plans to set them up.

His world is rapidly turned into bedlam when disaster strikes, forcing the reticent farmer to make a decision that will affect both his and Tai’s summer, and will either bring them together or permanently drive them apart.


Ultimate Summer - Alexis Woods


When Brett gets tagged by a flying disc, launched from the hands of Ultimate Frisbee player Sean, he doesn't expect the mutual attraction to hit just as hard and fast. Sometimes all it takes is a single day to jumpstart an ultimate summer.

Waking Up in Vegas - Hunter Frost


Officer Reed Weston has come to expect the unexpected during the graveyard shift in the City of Sin. But this time, it’s Reed’s partner who throws him for a loop, using him as bait to get a drunk Midwesterner safely back to his hotel. Reed goes along with his partner’s plan only because he’s too tired to argue, not because the attractive lawbreaker is easy on his weary eyes.

After waking up hung-over and ashamed of his behavior (the little that he remembers), Grant Carroll wants to make amends. Partying until he literally drops just to forget his no-good ex is not who he is at all. Treating the gruff officer that escorted him home to an apology lunch, Grant soon realizes Reed has everything his ex doesn’t—compassion, intelligence, and gigantic biceps.

Gambling has never been either of their strong suits, but taking a risk on each other may come with the best payoff yet.

Will…You Have Me(?) - Shayla Mist


Will is hot. Will is damn hot. But he’s also Tommy’s future brother. And that’s…not very hot. At least that’s what Tommy is trying to convince himself. Though Will might have a different idea.


HERE IS A FEW BLOG POSTS FROM BEATEN TRACK AUTHORS, LET'S START WITH A Q&A POST FROM VICTORIA MILNE:

Author Spotlight – Victoria Milne
Victoria is the author of ‘The Strawberry Farm’, a short story in the ‘Summer Bigger Than Others’ anthology due to be released at the end of June 2015.

The Strawberry Farm is the first of your stories to be published. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I wish I could say I’ve always dreamed of being a writer, but it actually happened by accident. About three years ago a friend and I were bored at work one day and she googled our names, another writer came up on her search and she made a joke about it being me. A couple of days later I began to type my first novel, having never considered writing before. That one comment has totally changed my life.

What has been the hardest part of your journey so far?

It’s going to sound naive, but the realization that writing well is incredibly difficult. There are so many wonderful authors out there who make it seem effortless, giving the illusion that anyone can do it. But the truth is that it’s a long, hard journey.
I wrote my first novel within a couple of months and, feeling very pleased with myself, showed it to a trusted friend. She commented that it would never be a masterpiece. She meant it kindly and it spurred me on to learn as much as I possibly could about the art of writing. I’m so grateful to her for her honesty. Needless to say, my first novel has been shelved and when I look at it now it makes me smile when I see how far I’ve come.

How did you discover the m/m genre?

I was becoming increasingly frustrated at not finding any books that dealt with m/m relationships, which is what I was writing about. It feels kind of crazy now, but I didn’t know where to look! A google search a year and a half ago brought up Josh Lanyon’s webpage. I downloaded and read ‘Lone Star’ that same day and have been hooked on the genre ever since.

How did you come up with the idea for your story?

It was the most focused I’ve been when planning a story and I think it was because it was the first time I’d been given a proper deadline for my writing. Firstly, I thought about the things that reminded me of summer and came up with strawberries, burger trucks and the sea. Once I had those elements, the rest easily fell into place.
A couple of weeks later when the bulk of my story was written. I drove past a farm near the sea that I’d seen hundreds of times before. I pointed out to my husband that it could almost be the farm I’d written and he told me that years ago it had actually been a strawberry farm!

What did you enjoy most about writing the story?

Thinking and dreaming about summer when it was cold and drizzly outside.
I loved both the characters Charlie and Tai as well. They kept giving me trouble! It’s a great feeling when the character takes on a life of their own and it seems as though their story is coming from them rather than from you as the writer.

Who is your favourite character from your story?

It’s so difficult to choose… um, probably Tai if I had to pick. He’s so full of life and uncompromising; yet he cares so deeply, which isn’t always obvious because he’s so headstrong. I love that he has so many layers.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I started off as a pantser, then I became a planner, and now I think I’ve found a happy medium. I like to give a story freedom up until about 20k using only a rough plan. Once it goes over that I’m in trouble if I don’t have a detailed plan in place, it leads to headaches when editing!

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Fairly recently, actually. I’d known I was on the brink of it for quite a few months, which was frustrating. Writing this story gave me a lot of confidence and working through the process so quickly allowed me to see how far I’d come.
The first time I felt like a genuine writer was at my writing circle back at the beginning of May. I didn’t have anything I wanted to read to the group and had to create something new at the last minute. My writing flowed as it never had before and for the first time I felt as though I’d found my voice. It was the best I’d written in such a short space of time and with only a quick edit. A fortnight later, when I read out another work I’d prepared specifically for the group, someone else noticed that I had found my voice. It was an amazing feeling to have it confirmed.

What inspires you?

I look for inspiration everywhere. I’ll see something and find myself daydreaming, the next minute plot bunnies are everywhere! I carry notebooks with me all the time in case that happens. I also keep a scrapbook with pictures and captions that inspire me in some way. Some I use immediately and others I store up in case I’m ever struggling for ideas. I also enjoy chatting to people about their experiences to gain an insight into something I’m unfamiliar with.

What other projects are you working on?

I’m in the final editing process of a novel I wrote during NaNoWriMo, which will be ready to publish soon. It’s the first in a series about a musician. I have the second book sitting in a drawer waiting for the final scenes to be written as soon as the first volume is completed. It’s taken a long time and a huge amount of editing to reach a point where I am happy with them, but now I’m really excited to see them in print.

THANKS VICTORIA, THAT WAS AWESOME! NEXT WE HAVE L.M. STEEL, WHO WROTE THE STORY 'OFFLINE' FOR THE ANTHOLOGY, LET'S TAKE A LOOK:

L.M. Steel

I’ve been writing ever since I can remember and for many years tried the traditional root of getting published: trawling through the artists and writer year book and sending out sample chapters and synopsis to agents and publishers that seemed to fit the genre was working on.
After many years and many heartaches I locked the stories away and returned to education. Only after I finished my degree was it that I took those old stories out of the dusty old boxes and decided to work on them once more.
The way publishing works has change immensely in the last ten to fifteen years and self published work is finding it’s up in charts of the New York Times Best Sellers and the likes. With this in mind I decided to take the plunge and publish a crime story and a contemporary story.
Quite frankly it all went wrong!
Then, I was luckily enough to make contact with Laura Susan Johnson author of Crush on Goodreads and participated in The Next Big Thing Blog hop with her. She directed me to BeatenTrack Publishing saying how helpful they’d been and how instrumental they’d been in getting Crush published in the UK.
An enquiry email, a check of my work and a phone call later and Debbie and I were working together. Oh and Thank God we were, because without her editing, publishing knowledge and reassurance I think I’d be sobbing in to the pages of my half finished story wondering why I was getting such bad reviews and where to go from here.

I know she’s always so busy, but she always makes time to answer questions and get in touch. It’s not just getting published or the fantastic editing either, it’s the community I’ve been opened up to. A small group of authors that are now all working together on anthologies. I thoroughly enjoyed being involved in the Boughs of Evergreen, even though I found myself being the oddball and writing about a whole different holiday celebration. So when Debbie said they’d like to launch a Summer I jumped at the chance, and have once more found myself being the oddball, as one of only two participating authors writing FF fiction. Thankfully Debbie has said she’d like more FF fiction which is great for me as this is what I enjoy to both read and write.

My story for Summer Bigger Than Others is Offline. It’s based in Porthcurno on the beautiful Cornish Coast. It’s a place my wife and I stayed a few years ago in our tent and it is such a stunning part of the country to holiday in. The cover of the book is actually a holiday snap of ours; it really is that beautiful.
Bernice’s tale is kind of inspired by own sentiments these past 6 months of finding the internet a tasking place. Networking, social media, marketing; everything is online and on a computer screen and sometimes you can spend so much time at the keyboard or staring into your smart phone that you miss what’s going on around you. Once you disconnect from the world wide web, you never know, you might make whole new connections out in the big wide world.

I AM LOVING THESE POSTS, 'KEEP EM COMING' YOU ASK? YOU BET, HERE IS ONE FROM OPHELIA GRAND, HER BOOK 'DAZZLE ME' IS ALSO IN THE ANTHOLOGY! HERE IS WHAT OPHELIA HAS TO SAY :)

I’m visiting here today because I jumped at the opportunity of writing a guest post. I mean who doesn’t want to visit Bike Book Reviews, right? But after having contacted Bec about wanting to write something I drew a blank. What do I write about?

First I thought I’d tell you a little about my writing process, how I start my day with breakfast and then writing. How I have everything on to-do lists. How I colour code my life. How I’m addicted to deadlines. How I’m a total introvert who never wants to leave the house. How it would go days between showers if I hadn’t had the kids and actually have to go out and meet people from time to time. But what’s the fun in that?

 I think we’ve already established that most writers are a bit looney. In what other occupation would it be perfectly accepted to say you hear voices in your head? And it turns out I’m just one of those crazy people, always have been I’m afraid. It’s happened more than once that I’ve caught myself mumbling things to those imaginary voices while I’m among people. When that happens I smile and walk away.
So I’m not going to tell you about my writing schedule, my monthly word count goals, or anything of the sort. Instead I thought I should tell you about my upcoming story Dazzle Me. Dazzle Me is a real short one, just 9.6k, and it will be published as a standalone as well as a part of the Summer Bigger Than Others Anthology coming out on June 21st.

I was having a blast writing that story, but I really hope no one was keeping track of the search history on my computer at the time. Dazzle Me is about Tom, and Tom loves his boyfriend. All he wants is keep him for the rest of his life, so when said boyfriend gives him a day at the spa he shuts up about his concerns and have the treatments suggested for him.

While I wrote the story I was thinking about how much anyone would endure for their partner. How much would I endure for my husband? If he wanted me to have fish eating dead skin off my feet, would I do that? Considering I freak out if something touches me while I swim in the sea the answer would probably be no. I don’t have to worry, though, my husband would never suggest such a thing. Poor Tom on the other hand thinks that Santino, the boyfriend, wants fish nibbling on his flesh.

And how about body jewellery? If you partner suggested something like that, would you do it? Tom isn’t the sparkling kind, but what if Santino really wants him to sparkle—glitter, colours, the works? As I said, I hope no one peeked at my search history, because even though I find people a bit insane for everything they’re willing to do in the name of beauty I still couldn’t stop myself for looking at videos of one treatment crazier than the other. And poor Tom, he just had to try some of them.
I hope you enjoy reading the story just as much as I did writing it! Thank you for reading.

Ofelia

HERE IS THE LINK FOR THE RELEASE DAY SPOTLIGHT I DID FOR OFELIA'S BOOK 'SILENT WOODS' CHECK IT OUT!


NEXT WE HAVE HANS M. HIRSCHI, TALKING ABOUT WHAT IT IS LIKE BEING A BEATEN TRACK AUTHOR! CHECK THIS OUT:



Someone asked me if I could write a short post about what it was like being a Beaten Track Author. I’m not sure if I’m qualified to answer that question, seeing that I’ve only been an author with them since last fall. Before, I’ve published both traditionally and through my own indie publishing house.

There were very specific reasons I chose Beaten Track, and they can be summarized in three letters really: d, e and b. I’ve known Deb for what seems like an eternity but which really only amounts to about twenty months. Deb was my editor long before she became my publisher, and she had become a friend before we decided to work together this closely, which could be tricky. But I don’t have to worry.

Deb and I share the same vision for writing, or as it’s put on the Beaten Track Website: the company is owned and managed by Debbie McGowan, an independent author by choice, who has experienced both success and rejection at the hands of publishers. In all cases, her hard work didn’t pay off financially and she believes strongly that none of us should surrender our creative freedom in order to attain a publishing deal.

I’m sure I could’ve found a big publisher for my work, but at what price? A straight hero? More sex to spice up the story? Tone down my convictions? It might (who knows for sure?) have made for a more successful book, but it wouldn’t have been my book any more. Instead, I happily pay the price for my artistic freedom and the joy of being able to stand by my work all the way. And in Deb I’ve found a companion who shares my convictions.

But it’s more than just sharing convictions. A phone call with Deb requires you to take half a day off (we rarely indulge ourselves.) We have lots to talk about, like old siblings. She is witty and her tongue is sharp, and just like any author, she has very thin skin, is easily offended, hurt. Therefore, she knows how the rest of us tick, she knows that we don’t always mean what we say, nor how we say it, because we all have our hearts in the right spot. And when she criticizes our work, she does so gently, knowing she’d only feed large Pharma otherwise.

I trust Deb implicitly. There are but a handful of people I can say that about. As a non-native English writer, I need to know that my work is in good hands, that oddities are ironed out, impurities detected, and fixed.

This is the long version of why I work with Beaten Track Publishing. But in all honesty, I love her,  and I feel loved, and that’s why we work together. That’s the reason I’m with Beaten Track.


I LOVE THIS POST! I HAVE DONE SOME REVIEWS FOR HANS HERE ARE THE LINKS, AND I AM POSTING A NEW ONE TODAY SO WATCH FOR JONATHAN'S HOPE SOON!




NOW HERE IS THE AWESOME COVER OF VAMPIRE RISING, BY LARRY BENJAMIN; COMING JULY 19TH (LOOK FOR MY REVIEW RELEASE DAY), ALONG WITH THE LINK FOR ALL THE BOOK INFO AND PRE-ORDER LINKS! (TRUST ME YOU WANT TO PRE-ORDER THIS ONE IT IS FANTASTIC!) ALSO BELOW IS MY LINK TO MY REVIEW OF LARRY'S BOOK UNBROKEN (FANTASTIC BOOK ALSO), 





I DID A SPOTLIGHT ON THE BEATEN TRACK LGBT AUTHORS NOT TO LONG AGO, AND HERE IS THE LINK TO CHECK OUT THE AUTHORS AND THEIR BOOKS, AND LINKS TO MY REVIEWS I DID OF SOME OF THEIR BOOKS: 


 ONE OF THE AUTHORS IN THE BEATEN TRACK SPOTLIGHT IS RICK BETTENCOURT, I HAVE REVIEWED HIS AWESOME "TIM ON BROADWAY SEASON 1" I WILL PASTE IT HERE, ALSO HERE IS THE LINK TO GET ON RICK'S LIST, THOSE WHO SIGN UP BETWEEN NOW AND MID JULY WILL BE IN THE RUNNING FOR A $25.00 AMAZON GIFT CARD! SO CLICK BELOW AND SIGN UP!

 GET ON RICK'S LIST

 TIM ON BROADWAY REVIEW

 NOW FOR AN AMAZING BLOG POST BY AMELIA MANN, AS WELL AS A LINK TO A VIDEO ABOUT THE SWEDISH MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL (WHICH WAS AWESOME, THANK YOU AMELIA!!) HERE IS AMELIA'S POST:
Hello, everyone! I’m Amelia Mann.
A novel-idea often begins with that single sparkle of inspiration; that little, little thing that finally grows into a story. For ‘Unexpected’ it was me watching a colleague fiddle with a reluctant projector in a rather boring meeting, and my mind screamed to me: “What if that projector suddenly started showing….?” Now, after I’ve finished my story and it’s published by Dreamspinner Press, I’m extremely grateful that my colleague is a bad computer person. Without him, the gentle Jonathan Edwards and the gorgeous CEO of Tricorp, Blake Carter, might not have been born.
But – what really happens after the first idea? Doesn’t writing a novel means you’re facing endless hours all alone with your computer?
I was working on a new round of edits with Debbie McGowan, my editor and the owner of Beaten Track Publishing, when she humorously called me Mrs. Tolstoy in one of her editorial comments, right at the end of a chapter: “Not so long, Mrs. Tolstoy. War and Peace has already been written.” This short funny comment – which I understood immediately – made me suddenly realize that writing a novel is actually the pure essence of collaboration.
A new world opened to me when I starting writing for real. I’d thought writing meant taking my spiral writing-pad and pen, then go out and sit under an apple tree in splendid isolation. There I would CREATE (hopefully it was good weather that day) until I reached the eagerly awaited words ‘The End’. The next step was very simple – I would just hand in my opus to a publisher and say: “Here you go. Print this”.
Nope. Absolutely not. Today I wonder how I could have been so naïve. And I’m not talking about the hope to get my novels published - I’m talking about the process of writing.
Yes - I’m alone under my imagined apple tree when I start working on a new novel, but pretty soon my Betas have to join me under the branches. They are the ones that carry me when I’m tired, applaud me when I’m doing right, and stop me when I’m treating my characters badly. My Betas support me until we reach the destination, which is the first – or always in my case, the third – finished draft.
Never heard of a Beta reader? Compare a Beta with a test audience for a new movie. He or she is in for the thrill of the ride from first draft to finished product and have invaluable experience from reading and sometimes writing MM romance. They read the manuscript before it becomes a final first draft and leave comments on what works in the story, and what doesn’t. This first stage is a very sheltered workshop: it’s free of competition and there’s no judgment. With my Betas I can be exactly who I am, which includes showing them without shame how incredibly stupid I can be sometimes.
As I am writing MM romance it also means I’m privileged to work with Betas who don’t shy away from proofreading the erotic scenes. I have gotten grammatical corrections in sentences that would make most people blush. THAT is pure trust. “Amelia, darling, I think the word c**k works much better here than d**k. Don’t you agree?” How many can boast with getting a comment like that? I love my life.
After finishing what I believe is a readable draft, I need to pack my bags and leave my little apple tree behind, thanking it for the peaceful shade it provided me with fore some months. It’s time to go and sit under Debbie McGowan’s mighty oak tree and have her get the story into second gear.
A professional editor has magic hands, and I have never met anyone as supportive, kind and inspirational as Debbie. She knows exactly what needs doing to my text, and in which direction she wants to push me. One day in the beginning of our collaboration, I stared at one of her comments in my text. I was very unexperienced and didn’t know yet what an editor was supposed to do, and I was a little alarmed that my story may be galloping out of my reach. I had to ask Debbie: “Is this really me writing now?” She answered, “Yes, this is purely you. I’ve just given you hints on how to proceed and the rest is up to you. This beautiful story would never exist without you, and only you.” How is that for an ego-boost? I couldn’t stop grinning like a fool for the rest of that day, and I still hear her words in my head every day when I write.
Working on ‘Unexpected’ with Dreamspinner Press only confirmed to me that collaboration is essential to an author. I worked with wonderful editors, cover artists, social media departments, blurb departments… It is a very big publisher. It was a lot of new people, and even though I was just a little cog in a big wheel, everyone had time and patience to help me to grow as a writer.
While working on my novels I’ve forged deep friendships with wonderful people all around the world. I realize that these are friends I would never have met otherwise, and oh boy would my life be dull without them.
Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration. I love it.
Amelia Mann
Ps. I love being nick-named Mrs. Tolstoy, by the way. It’s so… me. And if you didn’t get the joke at the beginning – Google “longest novel ever written”. Ds





THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME FOR MY BEATEN TRACK EVENT SPOTLIGHT, BELOW IS THE BANNER AND IF YOU CLICK ON IT, IT WILL TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO THE EVENT PAGE FOR ALL KINDS OF GOODIES THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED THERE, AS WELL AS THE EVENT AT 3:00 PM EASTERN! THANKS FOR STOPPING BY FRIENDS, AND SEE YOU THERE!



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