Kristina's Books & More: Release Day Blitz! Without Consent by Bev Irwin!

Bev Irwin

What an exciting day! And a contest too!

Another release day. Today is the day my medical / police thriller, WITHOUT CONSENT, comes out. So thrilled, I’m doing the happy dance. Glad you could come and join me.

What type of dance would you do? Jive, polka, rumba, or would you be refined and do a graceful waltz?

I’m doing a rock and roll. This is the fifth book in just over a year to be published which leads me to the today’s topic.

What to do while you are waiting for the train to stop at your corner?

The first thing you need to do is decide where you are going?

Do you have a specific genre you love to write and read? Or are you like me and like to genre hop?

I guess it’s my ADD but I like to multitask and I also like to flit from one writing project to the next. Not the most effective way to get the job done but it does keep things interesting.

Usually, I have several projects in varying stages of completion. Right now, in the romance genre I have a contemporary, a medical, and a suspense manuscript nearing completion. Another medical thriller with the same characters in WITHOUT CONSENT is partially written. I have three young adult novels in progress, one of them a sequel to my paranormal young adult, GHOSTLY JUSTICE with Daria and ghost, Amanda.

Now to just get them finished. But I have been so busy with edits and promotion for the books that came out this year that my writing time has been limited. I’m not complaining. It has been an amazing time. I’m so glad I’m ADD and had so many projects to pitch once the train stopped and let me get on.

So how did my journey begin?

It started with a pitch session with Savvy Authors in the summer of 2011. I pitched my medical romance, WHEN HEARTS COLLIDE to Debby at Soulmate Publishing and that book came out in December of the same year. At the same session, I pitched two books to Lauri at Black Opal Books and she contracted me for both of them! The first, my paranormal YA, GHOSTLY JUSTICE, was released in April, the second, a suspense with romantic elements, MISSING CLAYTON, came out in July.

Then, in October, Black Opal Books published IN HIS FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS, a middle grade/ YA, adventure. This book is about a boy’s survival in Northern Ontario while he searches for his missing father.

And, now today, (I’m doing a drum roll) my medical / police thriller, WITHOUT CONSENT, is being released. Wow! What a ride it’s been.

Now to get back to writing and finishing all those other projects and pray that they also find homes.

But I’m digressing. The point I’m getting at is that while you are waiting for that first amazing contract, you need to be writing, revising, writing, revising... It’s always good when you get a contract to be able to say, “Well, if you like that one...I do have...”

And there you go, possibly not only published but multi-published.

You write, you write some more. Keep that pen moving. You take courses, learn your craft, join on-line groups, go to conferences, meet other authors, network.

Go to conferences in the genres you like to write in. There are a ton of them out there and at different prices and lengths. You can find some that are an afternoon, a day, or even a week. Remember they can be a tax right-off when you do get published.

For myself I really enjoy a good mystery or thriller so I tend to go to conferences like Bouchercon (for writers and readers), Sleuthfest, Book Passages.

Network at the conferences. You never know what will happen. For me one of the most thrilling thing was chatting with Lee Child and him offering to read my manuscript and giving me the book endorsement: “A fine medical thriller.” Now how cool is that?

I’ve met so many wonderful writers at these conferences. You don’t harass them, you chat about life and interests. Respect them and their privacy, but don’t be afraid to approach them and say how much you like their books or their characters.

Do all the prep work so that when the train stops you are ready to leap on board with your bags packed with a variety of the best you can write manuscripts.

And keep dancing. I know I hope to.

Enter the Giveaway Below for a chance to win an eBook of your choice of one of my novels.