LABOR PAINS

We normally don’t post blatant self-promotion here at Inkspot, but it’s not every day that one of us has a book about to be released. So today I’m breaking with tradition and will give the blogging boat a sound rocking. Hopefully, my fellow MInkers, as we fondly refer to ourselves, won’t cyber-smack me around for doing so. You never know, though, given their propensity for writing about murder and mayhem.

Tomorrow, Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, my latest book and first mystery, will be released. Actually, the book has been available on Amazon for nearly a month and is probably already on bookstore shelves, but tomorrow is the official release date. Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun is an amateur sleuth mystery and the first book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, published by Midnight Ink.

I’ve often heard authors refer to their books as their “babies” and the road to publication as “labor pains.” There’s a big difference between birthing a baby and birthing a book, though. With each progressive baby, the birthing process generally becomes a lot easier. I remember being in labor with my first son and resolving that I’d NEVER go through that pain again. Nearly three years later, I was giving birth to his brother when I remembered that I’d vowed not to go through labor ever again. I’m convinced nature makes us forget the pain of childbirth in order to keep our species from going extinct. In truth, though, that second delivery was a lot easier and less painful than the first.

Then there’s birthing a book. Ask any multi-published author, and he or she will tell you it never gets any easier. Or less painful. We sweat and worry over each sentence, each page, each scene, each chapter. When we type “THE END,” we continue to worry.

Will my editor love the book or hate it?
What will the reviewers say?
Will readers buy the book?
Will I earn out my advance?
Will sales be good enough to secure my next contract?

The worries never end. But maybe it’s the act of worrying that spurs us to continue to hone and improve our writing, knowing that with each book more is expected of us, making readers clamor for the next book even before they’ve finished the current one. One of the greatest compliments an author can receive is when a reader says, “I can’t believe I have to wait a whole year for your next book!”

I’ve been lucky so far in that Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun has received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. PW said, “Crafty cozies don't get any better than this hilarious confection,” and Booklist stated, “Winston has hit a home run with this hilarious, laugh-until-your-sides-hurt tale. Oddball characters, uproariously funny situations, and a heroine with a strong sense of irony will delight fans of Janet Evanovich….” Kirkus Reviews called it, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.”

However, it became evident that the cosmos wanted to keep me from getting too swelled a head when Library Journal pronounced, “This funny and clever debut almost makes the reader forget that there is not much of a mystery here.” Ouch! That’s another thing that never gets any easier no matter how many books an author has published. When someone finds fault with your baby, whether it’s your first, fifth, or fiftieth, it hurts.

In celebration of the release of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, Lois is doing a blog tour throughout January. You can find the schedule at her website and at Anastasia’s blog. Everyone who posts a comment to any of the blogs during the tour will be entered into a drawing to receive one of 5 signed copies of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun.