Insecure Writer’s Support Group Monthly Blog for August 2022

Hello everyone. It’s so nice to be back again after a brief vacation. and what makes it even more wonderful was discovering that one of my books, Fire Angel, is one of the member spotlight books for August! I don’t know who my guardian angel is here but thank you so much! This was what I found on the website along with this month’s writing prompt.

Sincere congratulations to Austin Kleon for his book, Steals Like An Artist, which has also been selected,

Fire Angel was the first book I ever authored and published. Sadly, the publisher, Crimson Romance, is no longer in business, but the book is still available. It has a new cover and was edited when I got my rights back, but it’s the same basic novel–with a few curved tossed in. This is a direct link to the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DLK8J6Q

So why did I start my post with this? Because it leads directly into the August 3 question:

When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original, or do you try to give readers what they want?

Back in 2013 when I first drafted the novel Fire Angel, there had been a string of unsolved arsons in our area. Many of them were never solved. Since it was my very first book, I wanted something that packed a punch, but the publishers who had agreed to publish the book wanted less punch, more romance, and only two points of view. So, in the editing stage, I had to eliminate the third point of view. Unfortunately, for many readers of the original book, it was too easy to guess the identity of the Fire Angel, and that affected their ratings of the book. Long story short, when Crimson was bought out, I eventually got my rights back, and using the original manuscript and comments from the posted reviews–I did listen–I revised and edited the book which I then released in 2018 as part of the Vengeance Is Mine Series, books linked by the need for revenge. To my knowledge, the revised and edited version is the only one currently available. It has lots of grit and punch, some romance, three points of view, and a new, much stronger, ending.

It’s hard to believe that I’ll soon be an author with ten years of writing under my belt, having begun writing in September 2012. I have published forty novels, many of them parts of one of my seven series, and am working on my forty-first now, part of my Cocktails for You series, created during the pandemic when everyone needed a laugh. Those books are the only ones I write in the first person. As a rule, they are shorter than my other books, all under 80,000 words, some of them only novellas. They are quick reads without any complex plot webs, designed strictly to entertain, no thinking required.

Each time I start a book, I think about what I want the book to do. Do I want it to be a mystery? Is it meant to make people laugh or cry? Do I want to teach them something about the past the way my Canadian historical romances do? Or do I simply want them to feel good and relax? While I try to consider and be mindful of what readers want, often my tape measure comes down to one thing. What story does my muse want me to write? Because that’s the one that will get written.

I pride myself on the originality of my stories. There are no cookie cutter romances, no cut and paste mysteries. Each book has a uniqueness that I value and hope my readers do, too. As an author, I do pay attention to honest reviews, but in the end, I must be true to myself.

Read about this topic from others by checking the list here. https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html