Just stuff | Charlotte Copper…

OK, I know I should be writing about the publishing experience, or about my book, or about something witty and interesting…but what I want to do today is just write a big THANK YOU!

I want to start with a thank-you to The Wild Rose Press, and specifically my editor Eilidh MacKenzie. Not just for the opportunity to be published – which is wonderful in itself – but for all the incredible help and support. The guidance you give every step along the way is amazing.

Next I want to thank all the great authors at The Wild Rose Press, referred to as my fellow Roses. The advice and support given on blogs to everyone and by everyone is extraordinary, and personal requests – such as help with my blog – has been met with amazing response.

I also want to thank The Writers’ Community of Durham Region, of which I have been a member for the last few years. This is another group of talented and supportive writers, whose encouragement and enthusiasm is why Silver Blade has made it this far.

And finally, a thank-you to my family and friends for being there for me. If you see any resemblance between yourself and my characters, I promise that none of you are in my books! I do afterall write paranormal romance, and as far as I know, none of you have any supernatural abilities or tendancies. (Although that would explain some things!!)

My family:

The first books I remember reading as a kid was a series of Felicia Cartwright books in my teens. Yes, I’m sure I read books before those, but they are the first ones I remember. My grandmother would buy these for me at Christmas and birthdays, and sometimes I would take a bus ride with her to the book store to pick out the next new one I wanted. Of course back then, you couldn’t just look them up on the web and read a blurb about what was avialable.

I read a lot of series books today, too. Authors like Gena Showalter and her Lords of the Underworld series, and Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld series. There is comfort in reading a series because you know what to expect; you know the style of the writer and you know the characters.

In the case of The Daughter who isn’t a big fan of reading, when I find an author she likes, I buy every book that author has written. Hence how I had an excuse to buy and read The Hunger Games and Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamer series. (Having a teenage daughter is a bonus…because, of course, I’m buying those books for HER not for me. Right?)

But to write a series?….no way! I don’t know how they do it. Maybe it is because I’m restless by nature. I don’t just have one craft on the go right now, no…I’ve started a quilt, I’m one-fifth of the way through a cross-stiitch, I’m crocheting a scarf, and I’m about to begin to knit my first pair of socks. And when it comes to getting stuff done on the weekend, I’m doing this-that-and-theotherthing all at the same time, and cannot understand why The Hubby can’t multi-task. (Side note: some of us mom’s at volleyball last night were discussing how it is that most men can’t figure out that multi-tasking thing! but maybe that is fuel for another blog.)

That “restless by nature” is also why I find short e-books very appealing. (I did mention I’ve written a novella, right?) Sometimes if I can’t get a book read within a couple of days, I put it down and move on, sadly forgetting about the book and the characters. Series books are like taking a long vacation, while non-series books are like a day at the spa, and novellas are like a long bubble bath or going to get your nails done. Sometimes we don’t have the time or money for the longer stuff, and there is certainly nothing wrong with a “little” pampering. Even a little goes a long way.

Speaking of a little…I really need to go and get my nails done.