On Living

This week, I've been struck by the living all around me. The will to live despite difficult circumstances and the will to live better.

Of course we were all shocked when we saw the horrific scenes in Boston on Monday.  As of today, Wednesday, three people have died, including a little boy, and hundreds more have serious injuries. Many will need to learn to live without limbs. For them, life will be difficult over the next months and years.  But in time, they will rally and learn to live not only normally but joyfully, and the people around them will help with that.Their will to live is strong.

Just as the Boston Marathon tragedy was coming across the airwaves, a good friend of mine, a woman I've known my entire life -- literally, as we grew up across the street from each other, our parents best friends (still living on that same street!) -- was undergoing gastric sleeve surgery. (This is a form of bariatric weight loss surgery.) She had been contemplating this decision for years, literally, and agonizing over whether she should do it. Ultimately, she has a strong will to live, to feel herself, to be who she really is, and this surgery -- and its recovery - while not easy, will give her the opportunity to do that.  Difficult circumstances, again, but the will to live is stronger than the circumstances she finds herself in.

And I'm on my own journey to live a better life. Twelve years ago, I was diagnosed with Chrons Disease, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the digestive system, as well as other parts of the body, like the joints and the skin.

Over the last twelve years, I've been trying every oral medication there is on the market to feel better, some with more success than others, never getting me into remission for very long.  Last week my doctor threw down the gauntlet.  I needed to start IV infusions of a very strong medication that is sure to put me in remission. I could say that I "decided" to go for it -- but the truth is, there was little choice in the matter.  So yesterday I spent the day at the hospital getting my first infusion.  It's a long process -- I was there four hours -- of a slow drip of strong medication along with other drugs to counteract the negative side effects.  I wouldn't say it was any fun, but it was my way of moving forward with life so that I can be the person that I want to be, despite my circumstances.

This is what life is all about, when you get down to it. Living despite what you have to overcome.  And everyone has to overcome something. I do. My friend does. Surely the people of Boston now, do.  What do you have to overcome or what are you working to overcome so that you can live better?  Tell me. I'd love to know.

The NEXT Book

When you're a writer, you constantly balance at least two worlds -- the book you're currently promoting, and the book you're currently writing. It's enough to drive you insane.

I love talking about Child of Mine, my debut novel. It was written from the heart; the story of an infertile midwife desperate to have a child -- and to find her biological family.  While I was writing it, it hearkened me back to the time I had struggled to have my own children, to my infertility treatment.

But at the same time as I've been discussing my midwife, Katie, and talking about infertility and birth and the magic of midwives, I've been living, part time, anyway, in my new world, with a twelve year old girl named Hannah who just wants to figure who she is -- Jewish, like her adoptive parents, or some other religion? And I've been taking peeks into her family, too.  Her father, Mark, is a Rabbi on the verge of losing his job, and who already lost the most important person in his life, his wife, his children's mother, to cancer a few years back. And what about Hannah's brother, Aaron, who has made a stupid choice he's going to have to live with forever?

So you can imagine how I might be feeling a little confused these days.  What book am I on?  What character am I thinking about? Whose voice do I want to get into now? I'm happy to say that I just finished the first draft of my new book (title to come) and now it is with a good writer friend who I know will give me honest feedback.

Do you have a question about Child of Mine? Writing? Publishing? Infertility? Ask away, and with my head clear, for now at least, I can answer!

Sharing Some Author Love

One of the most challenging things a new author needs to do is find other, more established authors in her genre who might be interested in reading her book, providing a blurb, or letting their own loyal readers know a fresh voice is on the scene.

As new authors, we hate to bother our established counterparts. Established authors are as busy as the rest of us, if not busier. They have books to write and edit, their own publicity to run, as well as responsibilities to their publishing houses and agents, yet they can be so valuable in helping us jump start our own careers.

Sometimes a new author just gets lucky.  That's what happened to me since my book, Child of Mine, came out a few weeks ago. First, the talented as well as lovely Therese Fowler www.theresefowler.com, author of four books, both bought and tweeted about my book, and then she shared a link on her Facebook page to an interview I had done.  She did this in the midst of launching her newest book, Z, which has already garnered so much interest that I know she has been busy with press and media for weeks.  She took the time to mention me, and I'm so appreciative. Thank you Therese!

Then, last week, I reached out to author Jane Porter. www.janeporter.com Jane has written literally dozens of books over the last decade -- just in the last year several new ones have come out! -- and is widely known in women's fiction publishing. I met Jane at a party she threw a couple of months ago celebrating her latest release.  Though she lives on the West Coast, she brought the party here to New Jersey, and after I'd admired her work -- as well as her stamina -- for so long, I knew I had to go see her.  Jane was warm and inviting and we had a great conversation. 

So I took a chance and emailed her.  Within minutes, she emailed me back, offering to guest host me on her blog.  Next thing I know, my interview is on her web site, along with my picture, my cover image...I could not be more grateful to Jane.

I can't imagine ever having the kind of successful career that these ladies are having, but if I do, I will pay it forward and pick a new author who I want to support.  There's nothing better. Thank you so much to these terrific people!

How Can I Get Me Some Word of Mouth?

I heard about your book through word of mouth. The nine words a new author -- or any author, frankly -- aspires to.  That strange phrase that makes me think of the mouths of elephants and rhinos and giraffes, why I don't know -- is the one we're all chasing after.

Word of mouth, frankly, is how books sell.  We all know it. We all know it's a magical thing, this word of mouth, and it's hard to find.  We try what we can to grab it -- we blog endlessly and we tweet about everything and nothing and we beg friends to spread the word and we try to be witty on Facebook. We offer to do readings and come to book clubs (Admittedly, the book clubs and the readings are just plain fun) and we tell the people who liked our book to please review it online and tell their friends and....

In the end, it's hard to know if any of it works.  Or maybe it does.  Why do some books get Word of Mouth when others don't? Perfectly fine books, excellent, page turner, gripping books don't. And then books that I found rather meh get talked about and talked about. Why?

Whoever can figure out the magic potion -- if you do x plus y you will get z -- will surely become a millionaire after she sells it for a small fee to every author out there. But that's not going to happen. Because it's impossible to know. And for the books that are successful, the author, or editor, or publicist, or publishing house will insist it was this or it was that, when really, it could be anything. If they tell you they know, they are lying. They don't.

Still, I would like some word of mouth, please. So I beg the people who've read my book and loved it to please write reviews and tell their friends, I blog (I like reaching out, really, I promise), I tweet, and I Facebook.  I try to say witty things (though, frankly, most other people seem to be far more clever than I am).  

Things I will not do:  I never ask for false reviews. I tell anyone who reads it to review it honestly and fairly and if they didn't like it, that's okay. I will not tell my friends to give it five stars on Amazon.  I will not bully people into buying it. I will not make people feel bad if they didn't like it.  

We're authors. We just want people to read our work, and for some to love it.  I get a thrill every time someone tells me she enjoyed it.  I made someone happy, I made someone think, I made someone feel.  That's the thing about being an author that I love. But word of mouth....sure,that would be nice, too.

Tagging two more authors!

Last week I was tagged by the lovely Candace Hammond. http://www.candacehammond.com/ Candy is the author of The Best Worst Year (2012, Kindle) which I loved. It was so kind of her to tag me!  Tagging gives blog readers a chance to get to know authors a bit better by asking them to answer ten questions.  The first five are about the author's Work-in-Progress, the second five are about the author's last book published. Here are my questions and answers:

1: What is the working title of your work in progress?

The Opposite of Normal

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

I like to write about issues that I've personally experienced or have a great interest in. I'm Jewish, and I've struggled with what it means to be Jewish my entire life, so I decided to start there.

3: What genre does your book come under?

General Fiction leaning towards Women's.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I am never good at casting, so I'll leave that to the professionals!

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Rabbi Mark Friedlander and his teenage children are still reeling, two years later, from the death of their wife and mother from cancer.

6: Is your current book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

My agent is Erica Silverman at Trident Media Group, and together we published my first book, Child of Mine, through Trident's ebook division, on March 12, just a little over a week ago! It can be found on Kindle, Nook, itunes, and anywhere else ebooks are sold.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It only takes me three to four months to write a first draft. It's the editing and revising that take a long time!

8: What other books would you compare this story in your current book to within your genre?

Child of Mine has been compared to Jodi Picoult's work, which blows my mind, because I could never imagine being as good as she is.

9: Who or what inspired you to write your current book?

Child of Mine was written in response to my battle with infertility.  I struggled through infertility treatment to have both my daughters, now ages 18 and 15, and I still remember how difficult a time that was.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

My main character is not only infertile, but a midwife, to boot, so she spends her days torn between treatment for her infertility and delivering other people's babies.

Thank you, Candace Hammond, for tagging me! I'm now tagging the amazingly talented Therese Fowler, http://thereseannefowler.wordpress.com/ whose next book, Z, comes out in just a few weeks, and the fabulous Caroline Leavitt,http://www.carolineleavitt.com/home.htm whose next book, Is this Tomorrow, comes out in May!

The Day After....

Yesterday was the big day! Child of Mine made its debut into the world.

Overall, it was a very exciting and busy day. I received much Facebook and Twitter love, was taken to lunch by my parents and daughter, and made several sales.  But I still had regular every day stuff to do, too. Like editing my next book.  Like taking my daughter clothes shopping. And new stuff, like a guest spot on a radio show.  All in all, a great day.

But what happens the day after the book comes out?  I'm already checking to see if I have any reviews, though I do know it normally takes people more than one day to read a book!  I just spent part of my morning editing some more, and now, obviously, I'm writing my blog. Later I'll go for a walk on this bright, almost-spring shiny day, and then I'm going to try to find the location where I will be doing a Book Talk one evening next week. (Note: I am terrible with directions, even ones given to me by my faithful GPS, so I try to find important locations in advance, preferably in the daylight.) So I'm back to normal.

I'd wondered if I would feel different the-day-it-happened or the-day-after. But no, I really don't. Unlike actual childbirth, where the next day (and for several days and weeks after that, even, I felt like I'd been run over by a Mack truck), I feel pretty normal.  And unlike bringing a baby home, which threw my entire household into a tailspin (the first time) and a semi-tailspin (the second time) things were pretty smooth last night after all of the broo ha ha.  Except for the pizza we had for dinner instead of me making it (and I admit that we have pizza for dinner quite a bit, anyway, when I'm too tired or sick of cooking) everything proceeded as usual.  I watched Wheel of Fortune, and my husband and I watched a DVR'd Good Wife. (Love that show!)  He packed for a business trip.  My daughter and I enjoyed some ice cream before bed. See? Same stuff.

I'm no different than I was on Monday, when I wasn't a published author.  And I doubt my life will be any different going forward. Except, I hope, that people will write to me to tell me what they thought of my book, good or bad.  And I'll be on the radio some more. (Check my web site, www.judymollenwalters.com, for information about my radio tour if you are interested) In the end, though, I'll still be here, in my pajamas, writing and editing, hoping to hear from you.

My Baby is About to Go Out into the World!

In six days, Child of Mine will be out in the world. Like with my own children, I've been protective of my baby, and at the same time, have had to force myself to let it go.

I've easily revised this novel fifteen times, probably more.  Each time I sit down to read through it, I think I'm not going to find anything else to fix. And each time, I do.  As readers, you may find some things you would do differently.  You might find a typo or two -- though I hope not -- or you may be the kind of reader who just happily reads, enjoying the story, not noticing slight slip ups or areas you think could have been done better. I'm thankful and grateful for all of you, no matter what kind of readers you are!

While Child of Mine hits Kindle, Nook, and a bunch of other etailers next Tuesday, I'm also working on a new book.  Last week, I finished the first draft, and I'm excited about it. It's the story of a widowed Rabbi and his two children, dealing with the loss of their wife and mother as they try to figure out how to live without her, what they want from life, and who they really are.  It's a subject completely different from Child of Mine, yet it's just as important to me.  I write what I know, and since I'm Jewish, I wanted to explore a Jewish family.  There are also story lines in this new novel dealing with adoption and teen pregnancy. You can't get me to stray too far from subjects like pregnancy, birth, and adoption. Those are what I enjoy writing about most!

I feel like I'm about to jump off a very high platform over a very deep lake.  I have to dive straight into the center to avoid the shallow area, I have to make sure I jump out far enough to avoid the jagged rocks just below me, I have to hope that my jump will not end in serious injury. But at the same time, if I can get up the courage to jump (which, let's face it, I already have, since Child of Mine is going to be published no matter what!) I could have the most exciting, beautiful experience of my life.  I'm taking a chance here. But isn't that what it's all about?