More Freebies

In keeping with the countdown to Future Past (which I am proofing the print right now, yay!), two more titles are up for free grabs.

"The Hand" continues to be one of my favorites. Inspired by a dream of a disembodied hand grabbing at me, the story started to come to life. Thanks to one of my writer friends, Theresa Wiza, providing her first-hand (no pun intended) experience in her battle with breast cancer, the story formed itself into a contemporary science fiction piece, where the main character, Cicely, is winning her war against breast cancer while also battling to save her struggling marriage. Insert a mad scientist and there is the basis for "The Hand". You can download "The Hand" from Smashwords for FREE using coupon code MR95D. Smashwords has formats that fit many different ereading devices, including reading it right online.

The Influence, while admittedly not my favorite, is still my baby. This story began its first twinkle as I was talking to a coworker one night many years ago. She was telling me about her granddaughter's tendency to talk to a rock out in her yard. I'd always wanted to write a classic "good vs evil" tale and an idea about this special little girl sent to our world finally had her basis. Inspired by my own raising with my four sisters, this book took a turn of it's own. It isn't just a contemporary sci-fi read, it is a tale of two sisters learning the right, wrong, and grays of this world and holding together in spite of it.  You can download The Influence from Smashwords for FREE using coupon code LA67F. Smashwords has formats that fit many different ereading devices, including reading it right online.

These coupons expire July 26, 2013 so go download your copies!

Peace, love, and happy reading,

Pamela

FREE Downloads and reduced pricing

As the countdown to the release of Future Past begins, we went through my titles and reduced the prices on both "The Hand" and The Influence. "The Hand" is now 99 cents and the ebook version of The Influence, my debut novel, has been reduced to $1.99. *Please note that it will probably take a few hours to a few days for Amazon to reflect this price change.

In addition, now begins the free promo for two other titles.

"Into Pieces" began as a writing prompt flash contest on a writer's forum. The contest challenged writers to create another version of a well known fairy tale or nursery rhyme. I chose "Humpty Dumpty" and the story evolved from there. I won the contest but asked the moderators to remove the actual story from the board when I realized I was on to something. I rewrote the tale, submitted it to an anthology and it was accepted. A year later, when the anthology never came to fruition, I withdrew the story and published it myself.

You can download "Into Pieces" from Smashwords for FREE using coupon code BA24D. Smashwords has formats that fit many different ereading devices, including reading it right online.

"The Crazy Ole' Bird Lady" is one of those short stories that began as a dream. Though it is an unusual story, I can safely say it isn't of the "Kubla Khan" variety. (Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a writer of the Romantic period, wrote this odd poem after he woke from an opium induced slumber, having dreamed the imagery of the poem.) In any case, in my completely normal dream-state, I dreamed about being holed up with a bunch of other people as we hid from monstrous bird creatures. (I swear I wasn't tripping on anything!) I knew when I woke that it would make a great story and my editor called it, "Classic horror."

You can download "The Crazy Ole' Bird Lady" from Smashwords for FREE using coupon code QD74B. Smashwords has formats that fit many different ereading devices, including reading it right online.

These coupons expire on July 15, 2013 so go download your copy today!

Only a few more weeks until the release of Future Past! Oh crap, I got a lot to do!

Peace, love, and FREEBIES!

Pamela

Newsletter Campaign #2 - "The Influence" and "Barrier" News

Here are the contents of the latest newsletter to hit subscribers of my mailing list. Subscribers to the official newsletter are automatically included in drawings for giveaways. To sign up and get news directly to your inbox, click here and fill in the form.

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Winner!

Announcing the winner of the newsletter sign-up giveaway! Dwight Coker from Fort Payne, Alabama was the lucky recipient of the signed, print copy of The Influence, the debut novel by Pamela Caves.

The Influence now on your favorite site!

The Influence is now available in print! You can order your copy from Amazon, CreateSpace, or order your signed copy on Pamela's website. Pamela's debut novel is also available in ebook format on your favorite site.  For Kindle owners, it is on Amazon, for Nook owners, it is on Barnes and Noble. Also on Smashwords in a variety of ebook formats. Search for The Influence on your favorite book purchasing sites!

Barrier is coming back!

Fiction Lake Publishing is gearing up for the release of the second story in Pamela's sci-fi adventure series, Barrier. The Purpose of Pain follows sixteen year-old Lenya McKay.  She is told that both her parents were killed when their vehicle imploded. She refuses to accept it, though, and goes off in search for them with the help of new Squad 13 weapon's officer, Corporal Zhoven Spiridon. Instead, they find something they could never have suspected; enemy infiltration. Growing up takes a sudden leap when she is Zhoven's only hope for survival against an unpredictable and brutal enemy.

You can contribute to the Barrier universe.

Sky Legend, SD 32's Chief Control Officer, is pregnant. But wait! Not only is she expecting, she has two buns in the oven! And Barrier fans get to decide the gender and names of these new additions.  There is currently a vote in progress on the official Barrier blog. Click here to see the announcement and vote in the poll on the sidebar to choose the gender of Sky's babies. Then email pamelacaves@rocketmail.com with as many name choices as you wish. The names Pamela chooses from the submitted pool will be written into a future Barrier story and the person/people who suggested the names will be announced on blogs and social media.

Be on the lookout for Barrier: The Purpose of Pain to be released later this year!

What's it like publishing a book?

Please allow me to talk a little about The Influence, a work that was recently my debut published novel. 

I first wrote The Influence about eight years ago. Over the years, it has gone through numerous revisions and edits. After it came in as a finalist in two different writing contests, and after a big publisher held it for two years for consideration, I thought it was finally time to put this work out there.

My Experience with KDP Select

I put it first on Amazon's Kindle Select (KDP Select). All in all, there have been almost a thousand Kindle downloads, most of them having taken place during my first free promotion. I guess for the most part, I just wanted to try the Select program to see what it was like. I can honestly say that I wasn't that impressed. The biggest issue was that there were some number problems after my term ended. My sales report was still showing free promo copies being given away when it wasn't on promotion. 

Sure, I got a good number of downloads and even broke the top 30 in the Science Fiction category but it didn't do much more than that. I don't know that I'll ever go that route again. Not sure I see the point if not for just a little more exposure.

The Major Catastrophe

And, since this was my first published novel-length book, by definition there should've been a major disaster with it, and boy, was there ever! I discovered after that first promotion, when I read a particularly disturbing report that I had some big grammatical errors in my book, that it was the wrong file that had been uploaded to KDP. When my last editor sent it back to me, I didn't notice that she'd changed the file name. I immediately uploaded the correct version and hoped that the backlash wouldn't be too bad. It is horrifying to think that I let that one slip by but I've learned my lesson and can guarantee that it won't happen again.

General Feedback

But overall, despite my faux pas, I've gotten some good feedback. Not great, but good. Most of the feedback indicated that the book was slow to start but once they got to Part II (The Pedeck Murders) or when they got to the scene where Bella Mae was beaten by the Sunday school teacher, they said then is where it really picked up and they had a hard time putting it down after that. So I'm pretty much pleased with that.

So what was it like?

The excitement I'd imagined of getting that proof in the mail and finally seeing my hard work in print was actually a bit of an anticlimax. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I really don't. But I'd built up the experience in my mind so much that when it got here, it was like I'd already lived it. I was thrilled, yes, and pleased with my work, but it wasn't "that moment" that clarified the world for me. I think that maybe published writers may understand where I'm coming from on that. But it makes things a little easier now. One you pass that threshold, the race is over and you can take your time and really work on the rest; you can make sure that the subsequent books just keep getting better and better without that feeling of doom upon your chest.

For the most part, I'm pleased with how this debut went. What's even better is that I'm not stopping there. My Barrier short fiction series is picking up a little with the announcement that Book 2, The Purpose of Pain, will be out toward the end of this year. And two and a half years after I first began penning the fantasy, Future Past, I'm still working on rewrites. I'm undecided whether I want to resubmit to a previously interested publisher in November or if I'm going to continue on the independent route. I'm leaning more toward resubmitting, despite the cut in pay. I think it could be an education for me, if I've managed to get this rewrite right. Possibilities are out there for the grabbing.

In the meantime, if you're interested in The Influence, click here to see where you can purchase it. You can also read some excerpts while you're making up your mind.

Peace, love, and keep writing,

Pamela

Last FREE days for "The Influence"

Quick update: This Thursday and Friday will be the LAST free promo days on Amazon for the electronic version of The Influence. This means that I don't know when it will be free again so if you're interested in downloading it at all, mark your calendars. That's this Thursday and Friday, June 28th and 29th.

The print version is very close to being released. Here is information on how you can pre-order if you're interested in obtaining a signed copy.

And Nook owners, it will be available on Barnes and Noble during the second week of July. Not much longer now!

I appreciate the support!

Peace, happiness, and reading,

Pamela

Yep, I'm screaming like a girl.

Though I am a girl, I don't often scream like one. But lately, I've done so a few times. I'm not suddenly going all girlie girl on y'all, it's just that I've had some things that I'm excited about lately.

-TOMATOES!! (or toe-mah-toes if you're fancified)

Yeah, that's right. I'm excited that I've been able to pick the first few tomatoes from my little garden.

Our yard isn't really suitable for growing much and we're busy folks so we decided to go with just a few tomato and bell pepper plants. There's something about the taste of a home-grown tomato that is soooo different and so much better than a store bought tomato. Ever since we put those little plants into the ground, I've been looking forward to biting into one as if it were an apple.

Mmmmmmm, tomatoes.

-No content writing for a few weeks!

Content writing is in a serious slump right now. Career content writers are certainly feeling the pinch, including me. But it's an opportunity many will use to branch into different directions which is something I'm definitely taking advantage of. Although web writing is something I've been doing for a few years, I can't say that I entirely enjoy it, especially with the struggle I and several other writers have had lately. So I'm excited and blessed that I have a bit of editing work coming my way from some talented authors to pick up that pay slump.

-The print proof of The Influence came in!

When the package came in and I expressed my delight as I started to rip into it, the hubs decided he'd tease me with a little game of "keep the package away from Pamela" to which I threatened him with a little "keep away" of my own. The package quickly returned to my hands.

So I got my first look at my debut novel in print and it was every bit as joyful as I imagined. Seeing my name on the cover, seeing my picture in the back, flipping the pages to see my words inside... it's a feeling of accomplishment that's hard to compare. And I know this is the first of many.

So all the pain and sickness that I've dealt with over the last few weeks is starting to really meld into something positive. I'm glad. I'm not sure how much more I could've tolerated.

Peace, love, and well-being,

Pamela

Have you been waiting for "The Influence" in print?

Quick announcement (again): The Influence will be out in print earlier than we had anticipated, hopefully within the next month.

So, you can either:

1. Sit back and wait to buy it from Amazon or my web store. I believe the list price will be $10.99.

OR

2. You can pre-order a SIGNED copy from me for $12.99. Simply go to my website by clicking here and click the button to purchase. Please make sure your address is correct. Your signed copy will be shipped to you as soon as they are released.

The Influence is still available for Kindle on Amazon and there will be a free promotion running this Saturday (June 2).

Peace, love, and yippee!

Pamela

Free Promo Coming Up!

Quick announcement: The Influence will be participating in a Facebook event "Free eBooks" on June 2, 2012.  This would be a great time to grab your Kindle copy of my book for free if you haven't already downloaded it.  And the best part? Other books are also listed so you can grab those as well.  Have a fantastic weekend, y'all!

Peace, love, and freebies,

Pamela

I danced in front of Amazon.

My birthday yesterday was spent (mostly) in two ways.

1) I'm finding myself starting to get that cloggy, icky feeling one gets when they start coming down with the crud.  Yesterday was spent sucking oranges and cough drops and begging the powers that be to spare me from this nastiness.  I don't need to battle an illness while studying for finals and getting ready to move.  Someone hand me a box of tissues, please.  The kind with lotion in it, preferably.

2) I spent yesterday running to my computer every hour or so to check the rankings of The Influence during my free promotion.  When I started the promotion, I hadn't even thought about rankings until I saw that #61 in science fiction around 10 something yesterday morning.  Something inside me flipped and I danced.  My rankings shot up quickly for much of the day.  They've tapered off now and for the last several hours I've been hovering around #30 in science fiction, around #40 in contemporary, and overall, close to #700.  Hundreds downloaded my ebook yesterday.

Screenshot of my book on the Science Fiction Bestsellers list. And yes, that's my book above a Star Wars novel!

Now, I'm not sure what all these ranking things mean but on a site with millions of titles, I feel like this is an accomplishment.  To break through the top 50 in two non-obscure categories and to break through the top 1000 overall... it's been fun to watch.

Another screen shot that shows my overall rank. If you can't see it, just click the pic to see the original size.

I'm still running the promotion throughout today so if you haven't grabbed your copy, go grab it now!  If you're reading this after-the-fact, don't worry.  I'll run another promotion sometime either in May or June where I will give The Influence away for free for three days and will include some weekend time in that. Or you can just pay the $2.99 to buy it. It wouldn't hurt my feelings none. :)

In the meantime, I hope your week is going great!

Peace, love, and snot,

Pamela

Happy Birthday to me! Here is "The Influence" for free!

Every year on my birthday, I always attempt some sort of writing exercise that allows me to look back and explore what I've accomplished or what I've learned over the last year.

But I'm not feeling too reflective today.  Overall, it hasn't been as bad as the year before, but it has still been a rough one.  Things are getting better, though, and as long as I don't wallow in pity and as long as I continue to work hard, I can accomplish anything.

The biggest "Hurray!" this year has been the electronic release of my debut novel, The Influence.  So in the spirit of celebrating another year of my existence on this planet, I'm giving The Influence away for FREE on Amazon Kindle.  Click here for the link to my book on Amazon.  All day on April 18 and 19, you'll be able to download it for free!

As for me, I'm going to celebrate by spending time with my kiddos.  Positive thinking tells me this coming year will be a great one.

Peace, love, and 34 candles,

Pamela

In the end, all is well with the Universe.

There's something strikingly magical and peaceful about putting that final touch on your book. Sure, completing the rough draft is a feat in itself and worth a celebratory glass of champagne. However, every real writer knows that the completion of the rough draft is when the real work of writing begins. I didn't realize to what extent until a few years ago but no matter how hard it is, I still wouldn't trade it for anything. Because when that last piece of the puzzle has been placed, there's a sense of calm, like all is well with the Universe. I wonder if it is the same euphoria across all the creative arts.

The Influence is now complete. I have to give a tremendous shout out to my co-horts at Fiction Lake. Mike, Brad, Tina... you peeps are wonderful for being so giving of your time to help edit, design, format, and all that jazz. I also want to give a shout out to my sisters and (3, 4, 5?) brothers at the MP, many of whom are giving their time to read and review The Influence.

So here's the deal. Be on the lookout here and on Facebook for the announcement of the release of The Influence. It will be available on Amazon Kindle exclusively for around 3 months. Want a really good deal? Then keep your eyes peeled for my Select Freebie days where you can download a free copy right to your Kindle.

If you're waiting for another version to be released, you won't have much longer to wait. I promise. :) In the meantime, you can look to the right, in my sidebar there, and enter your email address to subscribe to my bonafide, official newsletter. Once we've received confirmation of your subscription, you'll be entered into a drawing to receive a free, signed copy of The Influence when it comes out in print in a few months.

Peace, love, and YIPPEE!

Pamela

"The Influence" by Pamela Caves Excerpt

The Influence is now available in Kindle format and paperback through Amazon and CreateSpace. Also, now on Smashwords (many formats available) and Barnes and Noble (Nook). Search for it on your favorite site!  Order your signed print copy here.

It was just passed eight o’clock, dark outside if not for the sporadic street lights. I was worried about Bella. If she wasn’t home before Daddy and Nana Lou made it back, he would go looking for her. Then the worst begin to form in my mind. What if they had drown? What if they had fallen or gotten lost? That’s when I heard something coming from my room. It was a slight knock that I wouldn’t have been able to hear if I’d had the television on. I closed my book and slowly moved to my bedroom down the hall, the tapping becoming more urgent. I also heard something else; frantic grunts.

I expected to see a stranger trying to get my window open. Someone was going to rob us, I thought. My heart was racing as I rounded the corner. I certainly didn’t expect to see what I came face to face with when I walked into my room.

Bella Mae was standing outside the window, her face red and puffy with tears, her clothes dirty and ripped, and possibly the worst sight I’ve ever seen, her hands were covered in blood. Thick red blood was smeared over my window like strokes of paint. There was blood smeared through her hair, streaks down her tear soaked face, and patches of blood on her torn clothes.

At first, I thought it was her own, that she was bathed in her own blood, but that wasn’t quite right. Most people, professional actors excluded, can be read like a book and Bella Mae’s expression was no exception. She wasn’t in pain; her eyes were laced with fear and shock. But if that wasn’t her own blood, then whose was it?

Oh my God! David!

I had the most terrible sensation in the depths of my stomach. My stomach was falling while simultaneously the rest of my body was floating. It made me nauseated. I began to sweat despite air from the AC blowing directly on me.

demon from hell

I was torn between running and calling the police or helping my little sister.

Bella was sobbing and talking indecipherably, her hands unable to get enough traction and shaking too badly to push my window up.

I expected to hear her pleading voice in my head, begging me not to think bad of her but I never did. I supposed it was because she was too consumed with her own thoughts of horror to send anything my way.

In the end, though, I finally helped her, for probably the same reason that a beaten wife keeps going back to her abusive husband. Out of love and fear. It’s funny how the two most distorted emotions of humankind can seem to co-exist so harmoniously.

I slid open the window and because she wasn’t quite tall enough, I had to take her hands and help her over the frame and into the room, with thoughts of the blood getting on me somewhere in the back of my mind. What I was thinking about was an incident several years before; the two year old version of Bella Mae as she ran to the back door, sensing that Momma and Daddy were moving the frog rock, and the back door had flown open on its own. I wondered why she didn’t use that power this time.

Once inside, she grabbed me in a hard hug and began to wail to the tops of her lungs in agony. I sprung tears as well, partly because I hated to see her in such turmoil, but mostly because I didn’t know why she was in such turmoil.

I pulled back, held her at arms length, and gave her a small shake back to reality. Her wail dwindled to peeps between silent tears. The paths the tears left in the blood on her face made her cheeks look ghostly white. She was trembling, not visibly, but I could feel it in both my hands and heart.

“Are you hurt?” I said firmly, keeping my own lump of fear down long enough to take charge of the situation. I realized that this was the first time in our sibling relationship that I had taken the upper hand.

She whimpered, and a puzzled look crossed her face as if she thought she had heard me wrong.

“Are you hurt?” I repeated, more stern.

She shook her head. I grabbed her hand and led her to the bathroom. We started with her hands and while I got a wash cloth from the linen closet, she began to wring her hands together under the faucet, scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing in places that she had already washed. I had just finished studying William Shakespeare’s MacBeth for my literature class, and I couldn’t help but think of Bella as Lady MacBeth, constantly rubbing her hands together for fear of the blood; the guilt she suffered. It occurred to me then what Bella had done, and the shock of it almost knocked my breath away, as if I’d just had a ball bat swung at my chest.

“Bella,” I said slowly, trying to keep from screaming and vomiting at the same time. “Where’s David?”

The peaked expression on her face confirmed my fear. David was no longer part of this world but now living in the next. I wasn’t aware that the wash cloth dropped from my hands. I had to sit down on the side of the bathtub and breathe slowly, otherwise I’d go mad.

Click here to read another excerpt from The Influence.

The Influence is now available in Kindle format and paperback through Amazon and CreateSpace. Also, now on Smashwords (many formats available) and Barnes and Noble (Nook). Search for it on your favorite site!  Order your signed print copy here.

Poetry from "The Influence"

Poem from my novel, The Influence:

For life is always mysterious

The sun, the rain, and the moon

After struggling through the night

The daisies begin to bloom

Something so miraculous

And yet

Something so pure

Can see passed the reminisce

Into life’s dark cure

Would you like a free, signed copy of my debut novel?

Everyone who is on my newsletter list between now and the time I get my first shipment of books in (around August/September), will be entered in a drawing to receive a free, signed, print copy of The Influence.

To sign up for my newsletter, click here or you can enter your info in the form in the sidebar. >

You will not be spammed and your information will not be shared. I shall guard it with every fiber of my being.

Oh, and sorry, to be fair, I have to say that family is not eligible to win.  Besides, my sisters are getting copies anyway.  Don't think I'd leave y'all out.  It is a book about sisters, after all.  :)

Peace, love, and luck,

Pamela

I love my sister so much, I shot my niece.

 As we brainstormed for cost-effective cover ideas for The Influence, I thought about my little niece, Julia. She is the physical embodiment of the character of Bella Mae Cassler in my story. I also knew of some places around my hometown where there were large rocks (you'll get it when you read the book). The idea was to get Julia around these large rocks and photograph her for the cover of my novel.

My little sister was all for it. But that led to a string of amusing text messages.

Bethany: What kind of book is it?

Me: Contemporary science fiction. What time will you go to bed? I'm in class but I can call you and explain the story if you're not in bed later.

As a parent, I thought she might be asking in order to see how her daughter would be portrayed according to the story. But as it turned out, it wasn't actually Bethany who wanted to know. She had been telling someone about my book and they want to know what it was about.

Me: Okay. So you don't care if the baby in the story is a blood thirsty demon? LOL (Please note that this was only a test to see if she would object to such a subject. This is NOT what the story is about.)

Bethany: Nope. That will match Julia perfect sometimes! :)

Me: LOL

Less than 5 minutes later, I got another text message that was accidentally sent to me instead of Bethany's friend.

Bethany: She just told me it's about a baby that is a blood thirsty demon.

Let me do my best /facepalm /headdesk combination. */FACEDESK*

Then came the day of the shoot. As it turned out, though, the large rocks weren't ideal for my cover. While the shape would've sufficed, they were limestone, not granite as indicated within the story. So we ended up shooting in a field next to the Fyffe High School football field. It was the perfect setting for an Alabama-based story with wild onions and puffy dandelion weeds sprouting up all over. My youngest son was along for the ride, as well, and he helped keep Julia interested in running around.

Included in this post are some of the photos from the shoot. I don't know yet if any of these will become the cover of my book, but nevertheless, we ended up with some great shots of our cutie pies.

At the end of the day, I thanked my sister for letting me shoot her daughter to which she replied, "Anytime."

And getting to spend the day with my wonderful little sister and niece... priceless. Because ultimately, that's the theme of the novel; the love sisters have for one another. I should know - I have four of them and I'm grateful for each one. We may not always get along or see eye to eye, but I hope my sisters know how much I love them and appreciate them.

Peace, love, and togetherness,

Pamela

Publication schedule for "The Influence" - Debut Novel by Pamela Caves

So right now we're working on the "next to last edits" before I go ahead and send The Influence (*contemporary science fiction) off to my beta readers. When I have enough feedback from them, we'll dig into final edits. Usually, at this stage, they would have already read it but since I wrote this novel before I started using betas, we have to backtrack a little.

We've decided we're going to dive into KDP Select first. In layman's terms, that means it will be available on Kindle via Amazon ONLY for a period of 90 days. We're shooting for an April publication date on this. During this time, I'll be doing a blog tour and begging asking for reviews. (If you're interested in me guest blogging on your blog and/or reviewing my book, shoot me an email at pamelacaves@rocketmail.com.) We're doing the Amazon thing first because it has the potential to increase exposure.

Around August, we'll have it available in print and on other sites. I'll also have copies in stock to sign and sell.

So there you have it. There's the plan. I'll start posting descriptions and maybe a couple of excerpts here and there.  We should also have cover art in the next couple of weeks. I'm very excited!!

I appreciate all my readers and supporters. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Peace, love, and editing,

Pamela

*Contemporary Science Fiction - a story with science fiction elements set in modern day. If you'd like an example of a previous contemporary science fiction story I've written, see The Hand.

Some updates and changes to my titles.

In gearing up for the release of my debut novel, The Influence, I've decided to do a major overhaul of my existing titles.  I've updated the covers for a couple of them but the most prominent change is my prices.

Because I would like to build more readership between now and my big release, I've lowered the prices of several pieces and made a few others free.

Some of my links on my home page may not work yet and some of the prices may not yet reflect the changes but they will soon.

I'm very excited about these changes. I know. It doesn't take much to make this nerd happy.

Peace, love, and download some of my work already,

Pamela

Now is the time. Get ready.

Over a week or so ago, I resubmitted Future Past to Hadley Rille. I received a response several days ago. I haven't blogged about it until now because it has taken me this long to process the information. (Actually, to be honest, I have yet to fully process the information.) So here's the thing; I still haven't gotten a yes or no. I have another edit request with another set of no guarantees. This time, the editor thinks it might be a good idea to completely rewrite the tale in 3rd person.

I'm grateful for the criticism she provided and the patience she has displayed but I haven't decided if I'm going to rewrite the story to those specifications. First, I wrote it from my protagonist's point of view for the simple reason that it's more personal. Second, I wrote it in first person because I hope to write more books with the same characters and setting; a series if all pans out according to the plan.

It's at this point where a writer really begins to question themselves. Maybe you've been there, maybe not. I've come to a point in my life where I had to realize that writing is "in addition to" and not "instead of". I've always operated under the latter and I've never been happy with the direction I've been going in both professional and personal respects. It's the reason why, after 10 years, I'm braving the college classroom again. But sometimes I have to ask myself if my almost 20 years of on and off writing and submitting (probably more like 8 constant years if I compact it) and my approximately 150 rejections are worth keeping my work stalled. I feel like I've been in a tremendous rut. Sure, I've had minor successes here and there but I feel like I'm pressed up against a door that, while it's open, simply refuses to budge.

I apologize if it sounds like I'm whining. I'm really not. I'm just assessing things; trying to figure out why I keep getting so close but never actually touching. And it's not over by a long shot. I sat down the night after I got that email and thought about how my life would be if I just quit writing. And you know what? I wouldn't be able to do it. My insides would whither away if I even tried.

So I've made a decision. I'm going to release my debut novel this year. I'm already an indie publisher, I've just never released a novel before. I'd like to be brave and say that I've been ready to do this but that isn't at all true. Now is the perfect time. I haven't been ready until now. It's time I stood up and do what I've always wanted to do.

So I'll be releasing The Influence later this year which will be available in both ebook and print. Right now, I'm focusing on Barrier edits and we (my publisher and I) are preparing for its release in a couple of weeks. Afterward, I'll be compiling research for the newest novel I'm planning and then I'll be going over my editor's notes for my debut novel and preparing it for publication. Several of you have commented that you'd like to read a full length novel by me. You don't have much longer to wait so get ready! :) Thanks for sticking with me.

As for Future Past, I still haven't quite decided if I'll rewrite it in 3rd person. That will be a decision for later.

Peace, love, and goodnight,

Pamela

The End of my DAW Journey

Dear Mr. Stampfel,

In June of 2009, I submitted my science fiction novel, The Influence, to you for publication consideration. Just two short months later, I received word that you'd pushed my novel through the first stage. Every six months, I've sent follow-up letters and for each one, you've graciously taken time out of your schedule to respond.

It has now been two years since that first letter came to me. In that two years, I have written and published several short stories and I have written two other novels. My latest novel, a fantasy entitled Future Past, has caught the eye of another publisher and I'm in the process of doing their suggested edits in hopes that they will decide to take my work on.

I've been very patient with DAW because I love DAW Books and because I always have something going with my writing. With that being said, I feel like I've been patient long enough.

There was something that you found intriguing enough about The Influence to pass it on and it is my hope that you will give it another look. Even though I admit that I've learned quite a bit in the last two years and that The Influence could probably use another brushing, the story is unique and interesting enough to warrant further consideration.

I find that I can no longer offer you exclusive review after August 31 and will submit to other publishers. If you are interested (or whoever does the next reading), please let me know before the end of August. My contact information is at the end of this letter. If not, I feel it is time to move on. I love DAW but I love the story too much to continue to let it sit with no hint of when I might get some sort of answer.

Thank you so much for your attention. I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Pamela Caves

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Facebook has this thing where they show "On this Day in (year)".  If you're on Facebook, you've likely see this.  On this day in 2009, my status update was:

OMG! I got a letter from DAW (imprint of Penguin USA - Major publishing house in New York) that said my novel made it through the first reading! Not exactly an acceptance but it's not a rejection! Yippee!

I remember the excitement I felt that day.  I cried happy tears.  Finally, all my hard work and persistence meant something.  DAW recognized me and it felt incredibly good.  For almost a year, I kept that letter on my refrigerator so I could read it often. 

Eventually, though, it came down and is now stuck in one of my writing files somewhere.  When DAW said they were backlogged, I expected 9 months, a year at the most.  One year went by, then a year and a half.  Then last month I really had to ask myself if I was willing to sacrifice my dignity for a chance to work with a publisher as popular as DAW.

The Influence is very important to me.  It is a story that touches on the stereotypes of the South, a story about a religion's bad points while bringing out its good points.  It's a story about a girl who loves her sister so deeply, she goes to impossible lengths to protect her, even if she doesn't feel that her sister is entirely good.  I've been working on it for almost a decade.  It is a part of me as much as my arm.  It was hard to sit for so long without any word of how or why there was such a long wait and especially hard not to have any clue when I might expect a response.

As great as DAW is, and I mean no disrespect as I write this, I felt that I was being brushed off because without an agent, it was acceptable to treat me in such a way.  I'm a patient person and I realize in this biz, things often move slow.  However, telling writers to submit with exclusivity but then make them sit and wait for over two years to find out if they even have a shot is not very courteous or fair to those they've said passed the first reading.

Today is the last day of August and I haven't received a response on the above letter. I sent it near the end of last month so there has been plenty of time.  I've received responses to my follow-ups quicker than this.  To be honest, I really didn't expect to hear anything.  In two years if they hadn't decided whether they wanted my work or not, I don't suspect that they would pull out all the stops to tell me now.

It's sad that it's over.  For two years, I've clung onto that hope that I would get a phone call, email, or letter telling me that I'd passed the second reading.  It was a fun daydream, though.

Someone asked me awhile back if it was worth it.  I told them to wait until it was all over for my answer.  Even though it didn't turn out in my favor, I'm going to say that this experience was absolutely worth it.  Strange answer, I know, but I have learned so much in the last two years that had it not been for the first letter from DAW, I might not have learned anything.  I am so thankful for that.  It has and will continue to enable me to hone my skills.

What's next for The Influence?

I'm setting it aside for now.  I'm working on the first draft of Barrier, a sci-fi short fiction series that I plan on pitching to Fiction Lake.  Then I'm doing a complete rework of Future Past, my most recent fantasy novel, for resubmission to Hadley Rille.