Some of you may remember me writing about my novel From the Far ends of the Earth years ago, how ecstatic I was when a top agent at Writers House offered to represent it. Later I wrote about the long submission process with so many close calls, and then how one publisher said they loved the novel but wanted me to rewrite the ending before publishing it. Yet, even after doing that, I still didn’t get a contract.

You may remember how I put that novel aside and began writing a new novel, this time something more commercial, an action and adventure romance called This Sea Within set during a revolution in Central America. Years later, after working with two sets of beta readers, writing dozens of drafts, engaging a professional developmental editor, and later a comprehensive line editor, I sent it to my agent to see what she thought. She said it was lovely, but didn’t think she was the right person to represent it.

So I began the laborious process of querying other agents . . . and then stopped.

I realized I didn’t want to go through that long, tedious, and often disappointing process again. I didn’t want to depend upon others to publish my novels. And why should I? There’s no need for that now. The stigma against self-publishing has been eroded to a whisper since so many Indie authors have become best-sellers, and so many traditionally published authors have chosen to go indie where they have more control and can get their books into the hands of readers much faster.

It was such a relief to realize I don’t have to wait on anyone or anything to get the job done. I can do it myself. And so I am, starting with my first novel From the Far Ends of the Earth. So far I’m loving the process, hiring help where needed, but keeping control to ensure that it becomes everything I hoped it would be. I’m expecting the birth of this love child sometime late spring.

Your encouragement over the years has meant so much to me.

I’ll share more as I move forward. Stay tuned. And thank you!