Holy book spines, Batman, today is my fifth publishing anniversary! On November 14, 2018, my very first romance novel was published by a small press, and I was over the moon! Me, a published author! I’d hit the big time! I was going to rake in glowing reviews and piles of money and become a celebrity and…
Yeah, nah. Didn’t happen. The cover was…let’s just say not ideal. The male main character is a college professor, the heroine is a widowed 
bookshop owner, and the cover designer picked a body builder and a lady in her undies. And the bookshop’s eponymous red door looks pasted on. The bad choices don’t stop there. Super-smart baby author me, I wrote a love triangle story, possibly the least popular trope in all of Romancelandia.
Ah well. It’s my first book baby, so Nick Papadopoulos and Clara Martelli will always hold a special place in my heart. And even though I’m eager to get my rights to the rest of the series back, I’ll always be grateful to that small press for giving me my start.
Writing has been my passion, my solace, my favorite distraction through some very hard times. I started my first as-yet unpublished novel while enduring the last years of an awful marriage. Writing got me through a divorce, through becoming an empty nester, through building a new life back in the US, though my mother’s horrible illness and death–f*@k cancer–and leaving a home I loved. For me, crafting love stories is the very best therapy. And it’s not just romantic love that eases life’s sting, it’s the friendships, the found family, the healing that takes place in a good romance. Not to mention the amazing community of authors, especially indies, who support each other through the writing life’s rollercoaster of ups and downs. As I was just getting started, YA author Ron Walters told me, “Writing friends are the best.” He was so right!
Is my first book a good romance? At heart, yes. TTRD earned some glowing reviews from more experienced authors, and that means a lot to me. Five years later, I’m a better writer, and I’m looking forward to revising, re-editing, and re-releaseing this book later next spring. And check out this gorgeous new cover by cover artist Dar Albert of Wicked Smart Design!
So, happy anniversary to me! Three romance series later, plus a few standalone novellas, I still love writing love stories and hope to continue doing so for a long, long time. For those who’ve been with me since the start of this journey, especially my oh-so-patient Hubs, thank you!
