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My journey to self-publishing my book.

The Second Book

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Coming on November 15, 2023: my second novel

As of this writing, I’ve read Amy Tan’s essay, “Angst and the Second Book,” at least twenty times. I’ve referred people to it. I’ve quoted it. I’ve underscored passages (and I’m not casual when it comes to writing in books).

Right now, this essay resonates in my soul.

Because on November 15, 2023–less than two months from today–I shall release my Second Book.

Technically, it’s my third book. My second book was a novella entitled, My Brother, Romeo (Tuxedo Cat Press, 2021), which was issued only as an ebook. That release was a deliberate choice. I’d published my debut novel, State v. Claus (Tuxedo Cat Press, 2020), a year earlier. I wanted to build up my backlist, and I knew the sequel to State v. Claus wouldn’t be ready for a 2021 release since, among other things, I hadn’t yet written it. So I published My Brother, Romeo to fill the gap.

My upcoming book, Becoming Mrs. Claus, is my second novel. Like State v. Claus, it will be published in paperback as well as ebook. In my heart, it’s my Second Book.

And even though my marvelous beta readers and my amazing editor have been enormously encouraging, and although some lovely authors have already said wonderful things about Becoming Mrs. Claus, the fact that it’s my Second Book terrifies me.

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Catching My Breath

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Charlotte and Danny

Sure, there’s a boatload of work to do. Billable work, administrative work (such as sending bills, which is the happiest part of billable work), book work (editing), other book work (back cover copy), still more book work (including sending advance reader copies (ARCs) to authors who have generously agreed to blurb), housework, yard work (I literally have not weeded any of the gardens all summer), and errands.

This past weekend, I did practically none of it.

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Herding Cats

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Relaxing on the hotel’s king-sized bed. October, 2017

As one who has lived with cats for nearly thirty years, I know all too well what it means to say that something is “like herding cats.” (For those unfamiliar with the expression, it means that you’re trying to gather and organize disparate items/events/personalities and it seems that each has a mind of its own and wishes to go off in a different direction.) Even when you love the cats dearly, as I do, herding them can sometimes drive you a little bit nuts.

An apt corollary would be “like indie publishing.”

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Draft 3.5

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Olivia, editor-in-chief of Tuxedo Cat Press, feels it is her duty to oversee my work

Turns out that when it comes to keeping my hands off the manuscript, I kinda suck at it.

It probably didn’t help that last week, three major projects that were on my schedule all went away. (None were my fault—cases settled or were withdrawn by a party.) Then, when I opened my emails Monday morning, I discovered that the only remaining project on my desk was on hold, which meant I had literally no billable work.

Which, in turn, meant I had two choices. 1. Panic. 2. Take advantage of this unexpected free time to work on something else.

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The First Ten Years

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Santa and me at Winterfair, 2022

July, 2013. Work was beyond summer-slow. In fact, there was nothing on my desk. Which wouldn’t have been so bad except that the client who still owed me a lot of money for an appeal had decided he didn’t have to pay anymore. So no work and no cash flow. It was grim, to say the least.

I sat at the table on my back porch, contemplating my next move. Should I wait for the legal research/writing work to pick up? Or should I start looking for a job working for someone else? Was my time up as an independent contractor?

The notion of going to work in someone else’s office, on someone else’s schedule, made me shudder. But what was the alternative?

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Interlude

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Photo credit: dramitkarkare on Pixabay

Now comes one of the hardest parts: the part where I take my hands off the manuscript and let trusted readers weigh in. When I send it out to them in the next day or so, I’ll undoubtedly include all sorts of caveats about how rough it still is and how I’ve already identified a few things I need to address.

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New Challenge, Day Fourteen

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I did it.

(Cue fireworks.)

Photo credit: Michael Fousert on Unsplash

“You finished your challenge? Isn’t that nice?”

No, dear. Not just the challenge.

I finished Draft #3.

(Cue more fireworks.)

Photo credit: Roven Images on Unsplash

Is the book done and ready for publication? No. As I edited, I identified three things I need to address involving minor characters. For the first, his story line needs resolution. The second needs to be included more (since she’s in the first book, I can’t just ignore her). The third (another recurring character from the first book) also needs to be woven in earlier, because he’s a big part of the climax and he can’t just appear for the first time forty pages from the end of the book.

I’m sure that when I sit down to read the manuscript, I’ll find a lot more to edit and clean up and flesh out. But for the first time, I feel as if I have a real draft of the story, something that really can turn into a book I’d be proud to show to people.

To be honest, I’m kind of dazed.

But I did it. I really, truly did it!

Photo credit: Keith Luke on Unsplash

New Challenge, Day Thirteen

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The world’s most depressing teabag

I don’t know who gave me this tea bag, but the tag is officially one of the most depressing things I’ve ever read.

I assume it’s supposed to be funny, but I feel quite confident that no novelist would see it that way. I definitely don’t.

(For those who aren’t familiar with cats: on average, an indoor cat lives fifteen years. My longest-lived cat died a few months shy of her twenty-second birthday, but she was remarkable in any number of ways, and longevity was just one of them.)

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New Challenge, Day Twelve

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My desk

In 2011, an unexpected snowstorm in October knocked out power to much of Connecticut, including my home. Because the temperatures were barely below freezing, the snow was heavy and wet, taking down wires and branches across the state. Fortunately, it didn’t take long before the roads were clear so that those of us without power could drive to places that had luxuries like electricity and the ability to flush.

During the week when my house was without power, I routinely packed up my laptop and files each day and worked in the library at the law school. At the end of the workday, though, I returned to a cold, dark house. My fireplace threw very little heat, which meant that I spent my evenings wrapped in sweaters and blankets as I read Jane Austen by candlelight, which seemed fitting.

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New Challenge, Day Eleven

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Photo credit: tigerlily713 on Pixabay

Another session of editing—tweaking language, moving sections, trying to keep track of timelines. I made a chronology of the first section several weeks ago, but I suspect the time may have come to do it again. Otherwise, I lose track of the order of events and how much time passes between them.

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