The Joys Of Summer!

Writing poolside today! It's hard not to be inspired on a beautiful day :)

Reminiscing In Old Writing!!

I have been a little MIA lately ... One of my very best friends came to visit from Calgary with her two little ones. It was like a flashback to five years ago when my boys were small and demanded every minute of every day! As hard as those years were I loved every minute of them.
I am so lucky to have a few of those friendships that you find early in life and the bond grows so strong over the years that time, distance, and crazy schedules cannot affect them. It was a great visit.

Then I came down with strep throat ... :(
Though I am officially on the mend as well as my boys. Apparently I taught them to share too well.

I have submitted my romance novel, Truth or Dare, to a few publishers. It's funny because my kids were probably the same age as my friend's when I wrote that book. It was somewhere in those blurred years of sleep deprivation, diapers, and constant cleaning.  I honestly don't know how I got it written. The mysterious of life. Where there is a will there is a way :)

Now I am on to another older manuscript that I thought I would see if I can shake the cobwebs off while I'm at it. It's another romance. Just in case True or Dare has some luck I can try and sneak this one in too. It can't hurt!

A Taste Of Romance.

I have been going through some of my older stories and came across Truth or Dare.
It is a romance novel I wrote years ago. I am currently reading through it now, trying to polish it up for submission.

Summer Pace ... Slow But Steady

Other than spending lots of time outside enjoying the sun I have recently gone back on some older manuscripts that I had written previously to Alluring Song. They were before I had any intention of publishing my writing.

It seems like there is currently more demand for the romance genre and I am hoping I might have more luck with that angle when it comes to publishers. Still working on getting my foot in the door. I picked one manuscript in particular that is strictly a romance and I am going to polish it up with the intention of submitting it to a few publishing companies. Not sure if this is entirely the best direction to take but there are no rules or guidelines when it comes to this process. It is just a lot of trial and error until you stumble upon a lucky break.

My other fantasy book that I am still working on is currently on hold for the time being as much as I would love to throw myself into it. With my children home for the summer it is much easier to tweak an old story with the scattered time I can grab between playing catch, swimming, riding bikes, summer hockey, baseball ... Though when time allows I will be ready to jump back into it. I find the fantasy genre a better fit for my imagination because it doesn't always like to stay in reality :)

Author Spotlight for Aside From Writing!

I had an author spotlight today on a website that is hosting an Indie Author Month called Aside From Writing (asidefromwriting.com)

You can find my spotlight by following this link!
http://asidefromwriting.com/2015/07/10/indie-author-month-aimee-mcneil/

Finding A Publisher Seems Impossible!!

This was me today! Ugh! Searching through so many different publisher sites, reading through their long list of submission guidelines and requirements only to discover that they are only accepting short stories, or will not accept self-published works, or will not let you submit a request if you are submitting to anyone else, or ... the list goes on. So many different stipulations and not all the sites are straightforward so it is a very time consuming process.

I have recently decided to turn my focus toward possibly finding a publisher that will take on my book and hopefully my future work as well. I feel that my inexperience with marketing is doing my book an injustice. I know it has only been a month since it has been released but I feel I do not have the resources or know-how I need to promote my book properly. If I can join forces with a publisher who has an established presence and expertise in marketing then I can focus on what I do best, my writing!

I have tried this process of finding a publisher before I self-published and had no success, not even any kind of response. I am hoping now that I am getting positive reviews from reputable book bloggers it will at least make them consider me.

Out of the countless many publisher sites that I searched through today, I sent off two submissions that seemed a good fit for my book based on their requirements. Fingers-crossed. For now I will continue doing what I can :)

Summer Time!

Well the month of June flew by! My daughter has officially completed high school and is ready to take on the world. I have two more months until she moves out. I wish I could make this summer last forever and she can't wait for it to end!

Now summer is here in full swing! I normally admit defeat at this point and don't actually work on my writing
because my boys are home and there is never a quiet moment for me to put thoughts together BUT this summer my plan is to attempt to continue making progress on my next book. I am still hopeful to find success for Alluring Song. My ideal plan would be to publish my next one with profits from my first book. We shall see if this is feasible or not. At this point I am still very much in the red. Patience, patience, patience, persistence and hope!

I do my best writing in the morning, large cup of tea, by myself, with music playing in the background.

With summer here my writing will be whenever time allows, with loud children in the background, constant interruptions, and since we spend so much time outside I will be "old schooling it" with pen and paper! ... though I wouldn't have it any other way! I love our summers :)

FUN EBOOK GIVEAWAY!!!

 Are you up for a fun ebook Giveaway???

Visit www.facebook.com/aimeemcneilswriting 

for details.

Deadline for entry is JULY 10th!!!

My Interview With The Laker

Click on my picture to link to my first interview in the July issue of The Laker.

Ebook Giveaway!!

Deadline is July 10th!