The Best Way to Celebrate Becoming a Novelist

I had an anniversary coming up. Specifically, my novelist anniversary. And it wasn’t just “another year of being a novelist” It was my 10^th year of becoming a novelist!

 

Yes, in 2023, it was my tenth anniversary of becoming a novelist. My first novel, Shadow of Samhain, had been published in November of 2013. This is the novel that made me a novelist.

 

This was a huge thing for me, because it was a dream of mine to become a novelist. It took some trial and error to OFFICIALLY make that dream come true! So I was determined to do SOMETHING to celebrate becoming a novelist.

 

The thing I wanted to do? Why, have another novel published during that month, of course!

 

Sadly, that didn’t happen. And I stupidly thought that since the thing I WANTED to happen for my anniversary was not going to happen, I might as well not celebrate it at all. (Yes, I know. Stupid. I could have done something else.)

 

So I just kept working away at the computer, writing things.

 

And, eventually, I realized something: I DO have a way of celebrating becoming a novelist.

 

And the best part is, I could do this little celebration every year.

 

How?

 

Well, my novel was published in November. And what happens in November?

 

Writers everywhere, say it with me: NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH!

 

Otherwise known as NaNoWriMo, a yearly event I have participated in.

 

So I don’t really need to have my next novel published in the month my first novel was published in order to celebrate becoming a novelist.

 

Instead, I should do the thing that made it possible for me to become a novelist in the first place: Write another novel.

 

By participating in NaNoWriMo and writing my next novel, I will not only celebrate becoming a novelist but honor the accomplishment of being one. This is best done by writing my next novel.

 

Sure, I can write a novel any time of the year, but participating in NaNoWriMo is now even more special for me and more of a big deal. It’s an important anniversary recognizing an important achievement in my life. And by writing more novels, I am showing gratitude and appreciation for my gift of writing.

 

After I made this decision of celebrating becoming a novelist by writing another novel during NaNoWriMo, I received some wonderful news: A novel I submitted was accepted for publication. It will be my fourth novel, but certainly not my last.

 

Interestingly, this novel was written during NaNoWriMo in 2022!

 

What’s even more interesting is what happened next: I was asked when I wanted the novel to be published. I really couldn’t decide! So I asked my oldest to pick a month that is in the future. The month he picked? November.

 

So it looks like there will be a new novel during my anniversary month after all. A year late, but still something to celebrate with all the same. So I’ll celebrate 11 years of being a novelist by having a new novel come out. I can still celebrate the anniversary with it.

 

That, plus writing another novel during NaNoWriMo.

 

COVER REVEAL: All the Beautiful Things

 

QL likes to collect heads. Not just any heads, mind. The heads of the things he loves. And he likes to keep them all on his special wall of beautiful things, so that even in death, they can still be his forever.

QL Buscemi grew up with a hard life. Abandoned at birth, he was raised by his aunt and uncle in an abusive home. That was until his fixation for collecting the heads of dead animals became a problem. Soon he started talking to a voice in his head and acting strangely around other people. Fed up with his issues, his aunt and uncle place him into a home for "special children," despite its reputation for neglecting patients. There, QL encounters even more abuse, neglect and intolerance for his mental health issues, which only get worse since he refuses to take his medication. He finally leaves "the center" after twenty brutal years.

Finally free to live on his own at last, a 31-year-old QL becomes infatuated with his pretty neighbor who lives across the street, 20-year-old Danielle Pinota, who is herself finally free of a home where she was a "second mom" to her kid brother. As QL's attachment to Danielle grows, he wants to get to know her better. And keep her close to him forever.

But he has to be careful. He always hurts the things he loves.

At least if he hurts Danielle from loving her too much, just like he had with his pets, she could still be his forever ... on his wall of beautiful things.

All the Beautiful Things is a psychological horror novella scheduled for publication by PsychoToxin Press on March 26, 2024.

How My Job as a Book Marketer Turned into Another Way to Help and Support Authors

Photo credit HtcHnm via Pixabay

 

One of the things I love about being a book reviewer is that it is a great way to support other authors. The same goes for my monthly newsletter; I get to not only learn about other authors and their books through interviews, but I also have a chance to share all about their work and books. 

 

I am not one of those authors who view other authors as competition. Heck, no! We are all in this thing together and I believe it is important to support other authors.

 

We need to lift each other up, not tear each other down!

 

That said, I will always jump at the opportunity to do something that will support another author.

 

So imagine my delight when I was offered the position of Marketing Manager by PsychoToxin Press last year, in December. This position enables me to not only help support other authors but also to get the word out about some amazing books! (It helps that I’m a booklover and love to read a lot!)

 

While I have worked in book marketing, I have been using any and all available resource to promote authors and share about forthcoming books. Recently, I started to think about how I could also use this blog for that purpose.

 

In the past, I did post about other authors on this blog when they had books coming out. I featured guest posts, did a series for both Read An E-Book Week and Youth Art Month, and included my blog in blog tours.

 

Then for the longest time, this blog went quiet. There weren’t that many posts and authors didn’t use it for promotional purposes anymore.

 

That is about to change.

 

It was not too long ago that I started regularly posting on this blog again. I mostly used it to promote my own books and talk about the writing life.

 

Now, however, I will be including other authors on here and promoting their books. I will also be posting about forthcoming books as well as any guest posts the authors wish to share. I plan to interview authors on this blog as well.

 

I will continue to post about my own stuff as well – in fact, I’m posting a cover reveal for my forthcoming novella, All the Beautiful Things, tomorrow – and there will also be posts related to writing.

 

But for the most part, I will be posting about other authors on here and providing them with just one more place on the Internet where they can share about their books, or anything else they want to share. Who knows? My blog just may be a part of an author's blog tour again!

 

It’s just one more way to help and support other authors, and I’m happy to be able to offer this to them through my blog.