Tomorrow is a Big Day!

Tomorrow is a big day for me, so I hope you’ll allow me a few minutes to tell you about it!

 

‘Her Only Option’, my fourth novel, will be released by Whiskey Creek Press tomorrow. Although I say ‘fourth’, it’s actually my eighth, if I count the four novels published between 1968 and 1978. My writing career has been divided into two parts, separated by 30+ years, and I tend think of my first four as my ‘early’ books, and the four published since June 2011 as my ‘new’ books. ‘Her Only Option’ was, as you already know, inspired by my visit to Egypt two years ago – and is the only book where I can pinpoint the moment when the seed first started to germinate in my mind. Here's a link to my blog about its early development http://paulamartinpotpourri.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/third-novel-accepted.html

It’s also the first book that has been classed as ‘romantic suspense’ as it does contain an element of mystery and suspense. I have to admit that part of the suspense was mine, because I kept changing my mind about who the ‘villain’ was, until I finally managed to pull it all together! I wonder if you’ll be able to guess before it’s eventually revealed?

 

Fortunately my print copies arrived last Friday, and I’m hoping for some sales tomorrow, as I shall be doing my very first book-signing session—6pm to 8pm at a small Gift Shop/Coffee shop/Ice Cream Parlour! This is the poster currently displayed in the window. Not wildly high profile – but it’s a start! A friend of mine knew the owner, and introduced me to him. We went round the local shopping precinct about 3 weeks ago, and managed to persuade several stores to put up posters in their windows, but I was still getting worried that no one would turn up, mainly because it’s not really the best time of day. However, my friend who lives near the shop has persuaded some of her friends to drop in, and yesterday I heard that 6 of my friends, plus one of my daughters, will also be coming, so at least I won’t be sitting there all on my own!

 

Finally, because it’s supposed to be lucky to have 3 good things happening on the same day, tomorrow will also be the day when I finally submit my current novel. This new one, ‘Dream of Paris’, is a revamp of a story I wrote back in the 1970’s. I started to rewrite it as part of NaNoWriMo last year, then put it to one side while I finished ‘Changing the Future’ and also worked on another story. Apart from the basic premise of the story, it’s very different from the original version, not least because I’ve had to update various things. Its main setting is a high school – and schools have changed a lot since the 1970’s (and since I finished teaching in the 90’s, too). Fortunately, one of my daughters is a teacher, so I’ve been able to check things out with her and say ‘Does this sound right?’ Paris plays a large part in the story, and in the 70’s the usual way of getting across to France was on a cross-channel ferry. Now, of course, the Channel Tunnel and the high speed Eurostar trains have reduced the travel time dramatically. Last, but not least, there were no computers or cell phones in the 70’s. It’s so easy now for people to keep in contact, but sometimes, in romance novels, you don’t want them to be able to contact each other easily! Having to get around that problem gave me some headaches at times!

 

So – tomorrow is a big day. A new release, a book-signing, and a new submission – please wish me luck!