I’m always\u00a0asked what’s it like to be a writer.\u00a0How do I handle all the publicity, all the fans, any negative reviews, positive reviews.\u00a0 The answer(s) are quite simple.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What’s\u00a0it like to be a writer?\u00a0I don’t write for a living, thank goodness. If I did, I’d starve to death in a dirty sleeping bag under a bridge somewhere.\u00a0 I write for the love of putting words to paper, of telling a story that has been fermenting in my mind for months – years and needs to be told. I lead a somewhat normal life, as normal as one can be\u00a0when one\u00a0gets on a writing bender.\u00a0On the other hand, there are days, weeks or even months when the well runs dry and I get bored.\u00a0 That’s when I turn to travel and lifestyle writing . . .<\/p>\n
\u00a0How do I handle all the publicity?\u00a0\u00a0What publicity?\u00a0 As I’m not one of CanLit’s family of the chosen twenty, getting publicity for my books is an ongoing\u00a0struggle, for my publishers and for myself.\u00a0 I write well.\u00a0 I have books in the personal libraries of the President of the U.S. of A, and\u00a0of Canada’s Governor General yet, my name is not exactly a household word.\u00a0\u00a0By the way, I wouldn’t want to be one of those twenty chosen individuals.\u00a0I’d find living in a fishbowl a difficult\u00a0job.<\/p>\n
How do I handle my fans?\u00a0\u00a0 I love them to bits.\u00a0 I love to hear from people who have actually read my books, who have questions about the characters,\u00a0who can hardly wait for the next work of fiction to be published.\u00a0 Bring ’em on!\u00a0\u00a0 But, not by the busload please.\u00a0 I’ve had that happen – fun and games.\u00a0 Thanks to great neighbours I was able to come up with cookies, iced tea and a couple of gardens to tour.<\/p>\n
What about those negative reviews?\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve not ever had a negative review.\u00a0 I did have one group of Amish, or was it Mennonite,\u00a0people took a dislike to\u00a0“Anna, A Child of the Poor House” and “Rachael’s Legacy”.\u00a0 One of their deacons said that the books\u00a0were\u00a0“sinful” and subsequently both books – all copies circulating in the community as a matter of fact were burned. Burned! Can you believe that in this day and age.\u00a0 I’ve no idea why the burning of the books.\u00a0I don’t write smut\u00a0or bodice rippers.\u00a0 I don’t have excessive violence\u00a0or any sex (I close doors) in my works. \u00a0Appaently, the womenfolk were well into the stories and\u00a0thoroughly enjoying them before one of the men – a deacon in one of the churches\u00a0browsed the books and decreed that they be turned into firewood.\u00a0\u00a0The other\u00a0side of the coin is that “Rachael’s Legacy” is listed as a source for biographical\u00a0information by a Mennonite group in Iowa.\u00a0So you never know what’s coming down the tubes, surprises are the spice of life!<\/p>\n
How about the positive reviews?\u00a0 I love them.\u00a0 I’d love to have more.\u00a0 If any of my dedicated readers, and those who’ve just found my books, would like to post a review on\u00a0Amazon or Barnes & Noble or even Chapter\/Indigo or Goodreads.com – any website that accepts reviews, please feel free to do so.\u00a0 And,\u00a0thank you from the bottom of my heart!<\/p>\n