I'm such a popular girl today, that I'm invited to TWO parties today: Blogging A to Z and The Insecure Writer's Support Group.
Luckily for me, my theme for A to Z is writing related (Going Indie!), so I'm going to try to put these together.
Don't forget to check out the other participating blogs in AtoZ as well as the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop and its fabulous hosts today: Melissa Maygrove, Cathrina Constantine, Kate Larkinsdale, and Rebecca Douglass!
So, let's talk about Anticipation.
![]() |
| the infamous moment in the Rocky Horror Picture Show |
When it comes to Going Indie in my writing life, I considered it from the beginning, which for me was 2014, when I was shopping around Going Through the Change, which would become my first published novel, to small publishers after having already spent two years querying for another novel to Big 5 publishers.
But, that was 2014. It was harder then. Not that it's easy now, but information is more widely available, some of the stigma and snobbery has abated, and tools and systems have improved. When I looked at it in 2014, I was daunted. I knew I couldn't manage alongside a teaching job and raising two young children, so I put that idea on the back burner.
But I never let it go.
There's so much about indie publishing that appeals to me: being in creative control and exerting greater influence over timing ranking high on the list!
So, in 2025, when my last contracted novel for Falstaff Books was published, I decided my next project would be indie.
So, that's what, a decade or so of anticipation? Sooooo worth it, though. Hope you'll join me for the rest of A to Z (a post a day, excepting Sundays, in April) to hear about why.
IWSG's question is all about music today:
April 1 question - If you have a playlist (or could put one together) that either gets you in the groove to write or fits with one of your books, what is it? What type of music or what songs?
So, how perfect is it that to build a little anticipation for that first indie book, Not Too Late: A GenX Romance, releasing on April 28, 2026, I've got a playlist of the songs that served as my chapter titles.


Have fun with both your parties. Congrats on your upcoming book release!
ReplyDeleteThank you! My Wednesday was so full I'm doing all my responding on Thursday, but it's still fun!
DeleteI know all of those songs!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with going indie.
Thank you!
DeleteI love it! And you know, it was all about timing. Everything in this world has its own time and place, and if we can wait for the stars to align, we'll find the success we're hoping for.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely way to put it! It's not just whether it's the right thing, it's whether it's the right time.
DeleteI find music without lyrics to be more conducive to writing. Great A post!
ReplyDeleteMe too. Or if the lyrics are in a language I don't understand.
DeleteYou got this - superhero or superwriter - the Anticipation is worth it.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am pretty excited!
DeleteWow, your book sounds fantastic, and I love the playlist. I'm Gen X myself. I will have to be checking out your posts. I will be going indie myself and am trying to learn everything I can.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on choosing your journey! And wishing us both success.
DeleteLooking forward to your A2Z and hope to learn from it. I prefer no music when I'm writing. I think it's because I'm ADD and it distracts me.
ReplyDeleteI'm also ADD, which might be why I also prefer to write in silence.
Deletep.s. This is Lisa at https://tao-talk.com
ReplyDeleteThank you! I was trying to figure out how to reciprocate!
DeleteGee, how much has changed in just over ten years.
ReplyDeleteIKR? It's kind of stunning sometimes.
DeleteWow! A playlist I actually recognize! LOL
ReplyDeleteI debuted in 2014. Querying might have been more difficult, but Amazon's algorithms were much better. Now, every time I figure them out and adjust, Amazon changes them again. Ugh.
Trying to understanding those algorithms is like learning alchemy.
DeleteLove that playlist! Instantly takes me back to being twelve and discovering the joys of listening to the radio.
ReplyDeleteDid you make tapes off the radio, too, like i did?
DeleteLove that Tim Curry image :-) I'm enjoying Not Too Late and love the chapter titles! (I'll be sharing it for "N".)
ReplyDeleteRonel at Ronel the Mythmaker
w00t! Thank you!
Delete