Wednesday, June 5, 2013

IWSG: Blazing a New Trail and Meeting a New Friend!



It’s the first Wednesday of the month.

This last month has been a mixed bag for me.  Some ups.  Some downs.  It all levels out in the end.  At least, I hope it will.  My worst bit of news is something I can’t really share, not without possibly hurting those who’ve been good to me thus far, even if I now find myself in a big, dark, black hole of insecurity. 

What I can share is that I sold the audio rights to my novel, The Mistaken, to Cherry Hill Publishing.  Just look, The Mistaken has been added to their website's homepage as “In Development”. 


Pretty cool, right?  Now, I’ve never listened to an audio book before.  But then again, I’d never read an ebook before I was published either. 

Anyway, before signing, I found out a few interesting facts about CHP.  In the past, their catalog has consisted primarily of public domain titles—think Moby Dick, War of the Worlds and Pride and Prejudice.  Because of this, they have 100% coverage of the US public library market.  That’s huge!  100%! 

Now, CHP is venturing into the world of private titles, such as my own.  Besides physical forms (CD), they distribute electronically via Audible and iTunes, where most people purchase from these days.  Best of all, out of the blue, this publisher came to me, instead of me querying them.  That was very gratifying, let me tell you, and definitely helped relieve some of my insecurity.

So now, in 7 or 8 months, barring any problems, I should have an audiobook version available of The Mistaken!  That’s very exciting to me and helps make up for the rather devastating news I received a couple weeks ago.  Like I said, it all kind of levels out.

In addition to that good news, I got to meet one of my online bloggy buddies & Facebook friends.  None other than the vivacious Tammy Theriault!  We’d been emailing and FB messaging and texting a lot lately, and have grown to be good friends, though only virtually, as in the Internet, even though we only live about an hour or so apart, something I only recently discovered.


Well, on Saturday, I noticed Tammy had posted a picture of a Bellevue, WA landmark on her Facebook page, so I suspected she was very near my home.  I commented on her photo, and the next thing I knew, like an hour later, we were having lunch together at Outback! 


And you know what, we clicked.  Just like that.  Very natural.  Very easy.  Very comfortable.  I had a blast!  My only regret was that she had to run home after only 90 minutes—long drive and all.  But I’m thrilled to have met in person yet another “virtual” friend, and another writer, not to mention one so genuinely sweet and terribly funny!

That’s just the kind of fuel I need to get me through those insecure days.
Happy June, you guys!



21 comments:

Tonja Drecker said...

How great that you clicked with Tammy! That's a wonderful story :)
Congrats to the audio book. You'll have to let us know how it feels when you listen to someone read your own story. Sounds like you had a fantastic month!

JeffO said...

Meeting internet friends in 'the real world' can be such a scary thing, but there's a reason we became friendly with them in the first place. I'm glad you and Tammy connected. Grats on the audio rights, and I hope that not-so-great thing can turn into something positive.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That's very cool you met Tammy!
And that your book will soon be an audiobook.
Great news today, Nancy!

Liza said...

I hope whatever is worrying you gets resolved. Congratulations on an your audio book! What a victory that they came to you!

Natalie Aguirre said...

I hope you work out whatever has you down. So sorry. Those times are hard.

And congrats on the audio contract. I love reading audio books!

Lan said...

It's amazing that your book is coming out in audio format! Hopefully the other things throwing you out of balance this month pan out as well.

Unknown said...

Congratulations on the audio Nancy-- and very fun to see you and Tammy-- sweet picture.

mshatch said...

Congrats on selling audio rights! That's great!

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Sorry for the bad thing. :(

Happy for the audio book...how cool is that?

Love that you and Tammy could get together...I'm jealous, but happy. If anyone can get you through a rough patch, it's that little lady. She's a ball of positive energy and fun!

Heather M. Gardner said...

Awesome news on the Audio book, Nancy! And for your new friend! That is pretty darn cool.

If you need to vent to an outside party, feel free to reach out anytime.

You've been there for me when I needed help. It's the least I could do.

hgardner28@gmail.com

I'll always have an open ear.

Take care.
Heather

Rena said...

I love meeting my writing buddies in person. They're always so much fun. And congrats on the audio rights sale. I know a lot of people who only get to enjoy books because of audio books, so that's pretty awesome.

Andrew Leon said...

I've never met anyone, so I think none of you really exist. There's just some one person somewhere making you all up and posting all of this stuff.

mooderino said...

That's awesome news about the audio version. Congrats!

mood
Moody Writing

Tammy Theriault said...

Let's be honest...you more.like yelled at me that i was close. Lol!!! Best moment!!!

Luanne G. Smith said...

Well, hmmm, congrats, so sorry, and cool, you met an online buddy!

What would life be, if not for those ups and downs that makes us want to find the nearest barf bag? :P

Mel Chesley said...

That's awesome! I'm so looking forward to moving to Washington because I feel like I'll be back in civilization. lol! There is something to be said about living in the lower 48. :)

Anonymous said...

Happy June! Wishing you every success with your audio book!

Melissa said...

Sounds like you're going through some changes, but wow - how exciting about your book! Hang on for the ride...

IWSG# 123, until Alex culls the list again. :)

Lisa Regan said...

CONGRATS on the audio contract! So exciting! I'm so happy you met another bloggy writing friend nearby! That's awesome. And yes, the last few weeks have been quite emotionally draining!

klahanie said...

Hey Nancy!

Yeah, I know. Sorry about not gracing you with one of my um, highly treasured comments recently.

That's neat about the audio book. I just hope things are going to be okay for you, Nancy.

You should get an award for meeting up with Tammy. She scares me! :)

Yes, almost three in the morning. I'm going now and thank you for putting up a posting in regards to "IWSG" aka "I Was Seeking Gary."

Gary :)

Anonymous said...

Sooo cool about the audio book and meeting a blogger buddy :-) I hope whatever is bothering you gets resolved soon ~ hugs!