She Did It For Herself: CREATESPACE AND I, McDROLL

Life’s full of mistakes, or if I’m being positive I could say ‘learning opportunities’. I’ve made a bucket-load but hopefully that’s pretty normal. I thought publishing my novella, ‘The Wrong Delivery’ in four tasty bite sized chunks would be quite original…eh no. I think more than anything it was annoying to those readers kind enough to give it a twirl. Some kind people read the first part, ‘Corrin’s Eyes’, but that readership most definitely dwindled by the fourth and final part, ‘Running Out of Time’.

Somebody thought I was serializing my story to get more money for it – not true! A ‘get rich quick’ scheme – don’t make me laugh! I just thought it would be fun and have some kind of impact. It didn’t, so there you go.

I’ve recently started a new project with the catchy title (at the moment) of ‘Home for a Dead Dog’. You can read the first chapter over at http://all-due-respect.blogspot.in/2012/08/issue-33-august-2012.html. Several people seemed to like the characters and the dialogue so I thought I’d give it a bash and turn it into a full-length novel. That’s the plan anyway.

I do know that I lack a bit of self-belief in my ability as a writer; for someone the wrong side of fifty, I feel like a cheeky young upstart, and as a women writing noir that can be particularly dark, humorous and full of expletives, I do feel the ground shaking beneath my feet. The encouragement of a few tremendous folk like Nigel Bird, Andrez Bergen and Chris Rhatigan keep me going.

My new project is a lot grittier than ‘The Wrong Delivery’, which turned out to be a bit of a cozy little runaround Argyll, looking for a missing package. My mother could maybe even read it. She still wouldn’t like it, but I might just not quite offend her sensibilities. She refuses to read anything with ‘swear words’ and is not a crime fan. At my advanced age, do I still seek her approval? How weird.

I messed up with the publication of ‘The Wrong Delivery’, so I wanted to somehow, late in the day, pull it together into one novella. But what about those kind people who shelled out for each of the four parts? Would they ask for their money back if it suddenly appeared altogether for 77p? The answer? Make a paperback edition. Seemed like another good idea. Oh dear. Is this a pattern?

Last weekend, after editing the first part of the story yet again, I used Createspace.com to pull it altogether, made yet another new cover and after a couple of hours, hey presto, the paperback version was born. Looks pretty cool and bookish. Very easy to follow instructions, you don’t pay anything up front and your masterpiece is there on the shelves of the big bookshop in the sky for people to purchase within a few hours.

I haven’t yet got my hands on the final product, thought it would come in the mail today, but hey, this is Argyll and the post is a lot slower. Patience is required. I’m hoping for some sense of satisfaction when I hold my baby in my hands for the first time. I’m hoping that I’ll finally believe that, after a fashion, I can write. I hope that this will give me the inspiration to keep writing about my ‘Dead Dog’ and at the very least, my brother seems to be impressed.

It would be great to have a publishing deal, an agent, an editor, a proofreader, a cover designer, the things that dreams are made of, but in the meantime, I can do it all for myself – so there! That pretty much sums up my life anyway; ‘She did it for herself.’

I might order twenty copies and torture all my ‘Kindleless’ friends, I might sit at night and stroke the cover thinking how clever I am or I might just put that baby to bed and start climbing the next even bigger hill. Anyway, it’s all fun, I get a kick out of writing and it takes me far away from the humdrum problems of everyday life. Boy is that needed!

If you want a shiny paperback to hold in your own sticky little hands (go on you know you do) head over and buy one, it looks pretty.

Toodle pip!

The Wrong Delivery is available for £3.79 in the UK and for $6 in the US.  There's still time to get a copy in to Santa's sack or for the last minute gift for the one in your life who could always do with another good book.  Recommended.