The Beach is a Magical Place by Susan Sands

I spent a week at Perdido Key on the Florida Gulf Coast last week. There's something about changing locations from that of a landlocked position to the coast. The salty air, the white sand, and the water--just the sight and sound of it bring instant relaxation. Well, after the packing, the prepping at home for being away, and the six-hour drive. After all that.

We had great weather and ate fresh seafood nearly every day. The key lime pie was awesome! I was at the beach for two days by myself before my daughter and her friend joined me. I'm almost never home alone, and I was able to finish my second Louisiana book during that time. I turned it in a month early, which never happens, so I've created a month to begin a new project. 

I'm home for a week, then I'll head to Fripp Island, SC for a "research trip" with a dear writing friend to work on my new book. Fripp is a barrier island that serves as a wildlife and bird sanctuary. I plan to include some of the island's ecological concerns in my novel as part of the storyline. It's a place I love and where I've visited many times. 

I hope everyone is enjoying summer and getting out to do the things you love!

Susan Sands

Writing the Book Might be the Easy Part! By Susan Sands

When an author releases a new book, especially a holiday title, she has a short window to get the word

out. The publisher does a certain amount of publicity, but it's up to the author to find creative ways to reach readers, especially during a pandemic. There aren't a lot of opportunities for in-person book signings and personal appearances. Zoom isn't especially well-attended, unless you are a big bestselling author. I am not a big bestselling author. But I do have friends who are.

I'm trying to be as creative as possible and do as much as I can during the short window between release day on October 19th and December 25th to promote my new book, Noel, Alabama. Besides screaming myself hoarse on social media, I've got an online book tour scheduled, lots of shoutouts with my author friends on release day, pre-release reviewers who've read the advanced copy, a big Zoom event with some of those big author friends I mentioned on release day, hosted by FoxTale Books, my local indie bookseller. I could go on because there are plenty of other smaller events to share... 

I'm scheduled to appear on my publisher's blog and their Facebook book club and they will be posting my cover on the website and social media pages. They've been doing some pre-pub publicity stuff as well. And I know there are so many other things done leading up to pub day on the publisher's end.

I say all of this to show how much time and effort goes into finding readers for mine and any author's book. The sales window for a holiday book ends on Christmas day, so all the effort is concentrated into a few short months--weeks. Writing the book really is only part of the whole picture.

It's a lot of effort for a book. I do hope my readers enjoy it!

Have a happy October!!

Susan Sands

Writing What You Don't Know by Susan Sands

I turned in my new Christmas book yesterday, due out October 19th. The title is NOEL, ALABAMA:   An Alabama Christmas Story.

It was a journey in discovery in lots of ways. My heroine is a location manager for a film studio. Did you know they are called location managers with no s? I didn't. The job is to scout locations for filming projects. The location manager or location assistant heads to the place ahead of everyone else and secures lodging for the cast and crew, gets permits from the city for blocking off streets in neighborhoods, works to make sure there's a place to park all the trailers for talent, catering, directors, producers, and electrical. I could go on and on.

Let's just say, this book was thick with research. But as writers, we often have to find professionals to help us look like we know what we're talking about beyond our internet research. Fortunately, I had one. One in the movie business I went to college with. He set me straight about all my wrongness. Now I know all about key grips and dolly grips and honey wagons. Just ask me.

I did watch Steel Magnolias being filmed in my college town my senior year and remember some things about the sets and such. It was a big chaotic production and it turned that town upside down for months, it seemed. But it was such fun, and so exciting.

Maybe someday this very specific research will be useful again. Otherwise, I will store it in some unused part of my brain where all the other "I slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night" stuff has found its way. Just enough to be convincing. So far, I've written about a clinical therapist, an ER doctor, a photographer, a television chef, a beauty queen, and an art curator. I am none of those things.

I hope you are all staying healthy and safe. We are still lying low for now.

Enjoy this lovely weather as best you can. I hope to be able to share my new cover next month!

Susan

My Weird Love of New Car Shopping by Susan Sands

I like to shop for cars. It's a strange obsession, I admit. A complete waste of one's time. Possibly. An avoidance of writing? Definitely. But we all have our oddities. Some writers clean to avoid writing. Some go on social media. (Me too, but lately it's such a mood killer that I've begun avoiding it.)

Back to my car shopping. I don't have endless funds to buy cars. Nope. But I love the new technology in them. The smell of them. Driving them. I'm a salesman's nightmare. Or happy dream. I leased my first car almost three years ago and got an email that they would take it back early. I got excited and jumped on the opportunity, ran to the dealership and drove all the new cars. My husband suggested I branch out to other makes and models because they would pay off my remaining lease to get my business.

As you can imagine, this opened up a whole new world of test drives and time wasting. I live five minutes from eight or nine dealerships. I decided I would be open minded about my decision. Not pressured by brand identity. I would pick the car that I loved the most. (Within budget reason)

I have quirks about cars/SUVs. I have to be able to see all around me. Nothing claustrophobic, and the vehicle has to accommodate my shortish arms. My elbow must reach the middle console as an armrest. And the telescopic steering wheel must come out enough so that I don't drive with straight, reaching arms, because my leg length to reach the pedals is normal. And I like a light interior because of heat and dust. The newer trend for all black shows everything and is very hot here in Georgia. Finding all this is all much harder than you think.

I had to rule out over half the cars I drove outright. And you wouldn't (or you would) believe some of the male personalities I dealt with. I asked if there were female sales people. There aren't. The reason given is the six-day-per-week, ten-hour schedule. Part time doesn't allow the sales person to hit any of their numbers. Wow.

So, I found my car. She's beautiful and perfect. She has ALL the new safety features and technology. She has a cream interior and is guaranteed not to show denim transfer. She has seats that have a massage feature (???). Heated steering wheel. All of it. I'm completely in love and my exciting search is over. I get to do it again in about 2 1/2 year. Can't wait...

Now I must write my book. It's getting good, y'all. The whole time I was wheeling and dealing with the sales guy, I was thinking about my book. So, maybe there is a benefit to all the time away from the writing. I've found my aha moment for the story.

Anybody else love to shop for cars?

I'll be in the writing cave if anybody needs me!

Have a great weekend!

Susan

Where Was I? By Susan Sands

This past month has been a blur. More so than last year even, which is saying quite a lot. My mom

spent most of November in the hospital recovering from setbacks from a fall after spinal fusion surgery. Then two my college children had wisdom teeth removed the week before Christmas, which required more caregiving on my part. Christmas was almost not a thing this year, as it wasn't a thing last year because we moved.

I did manage to sign a contract for a new holiday Alabama book that is scheduled to release sometime in 2020. That right there is progress, folks. Tangible fruits of labor I will yield in the coming months. I also hope something great happens with my women's fiction titles on submission.

I'm hoping that good things happen for us all moving forward. 2019 was a contentious year in the romance writing world. In the world in general It won't sort itself out, and there is much to be done. Every time I read about it, I feel the weight; the drag. It's ugly and it's big.

I will continue to write and focus on my career and pursue my goals. I can't let this hurricane take away my passion. I hope something positive can prevail in the end. I'm  more determined than ever to succeed.

Best to you all in 2020!

Susan

Crawdads by Susan Sands

I'd been on a reading dry spell for some time before picking up Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia

Owens recently. After hearing so many wonderful things about the book, it would be my first read as I jumped back into novel reading.

The story was amazing. But what blew me away about it was how quiet the story was and how  nature lived and breathed within the pages. Ms. Owens is a bestselling non-fiction author and a wildlife scientist. In Crawdads, she applies her extensive knowledge of flora and fauna within the setting and creates a rich canvas where Kya, the heroine lives completely alone most of her life. But  even when she's alone, she's not. There are the birds she feeds, the insects and feathers she collects lovingly, the marsh. Constant sounds and activities of life surround her. They are her family. She can count on the tide to come in and recede every single day. It never lets her down, not like the people who were supposed to love and care for her but didn't.

I could go on and on about symbolism and the author's knowledge of her subject and how it enhances the reader's experience. But there's something else that makes this book so different. The way it breaks the rules. The rules of writers in many ways.

As a writer who's published several books and continues to work toward larger publishing goals, as most authors do throughout their careers, this baffled me. But as I read and relaxed into the story, I didn't care. I only wanted more. The constantly switching points of view without changing scenes or using devices to do so,  the pages and pages of introspection without dialogue where nothing much happened didn't throw me out of the story. Not. One. Bit. This book did all the things every craft class /book says not to, but it did it so well that I didn't care. I just wanted to keep reading.

And there was payoff. I won't say what it was to avoid spoiling it for those who haven't had the pleasure of reading the book, but there was.

So, breaking the rules well, as they say, works. As long as you can get it past your editor. Great job, Ms. Owens. I'm a fan.

Happy summer reading, everyone! Where the Crawdads Sing is wonderful!

Susan

My Month of May by Susan Sands

Hello all, and happy spring!!

I hope you are all enjoying some much-deserved warmer weather wherever you are. Here in Georgia, the days have gotten significantly less chilly and are often downright hot in the afternoons. Of course, after our wet and endless winter, none of us are allowed to utter a word of complaint.

Pollen, on the other hand, is another matter entirely. It's still around and coating everything and everyone in it's yellow glory, though not as thickly as in April.

I'm not particularly allergic to it, but what comes after. The grasses and such that bloom in early May are my kryptonite. I sneeze constantly and want to scratch my eyes out for weeks every year around this time. My husband refers to May as "My Month of May." Not his, but mine. My birthday, Mother's Day, and anniversary are all in May. So, we celebrate them all in the midst of my horrific month-long allergy attack.

If you see a photo of me this month, it will likely be with red, watery eyes, and a runny nose. Yes, I've tried Benadryl at night, Claritin during the day, eye drops, Flonase, and enough saline to lower the ocean's levels. I live in Georgia, y'all. Things grow and bloom. Mostly in the month of May.

Obviously, this isn't going to kill me, so my apologies for living in my own little ragweed-infested world while others struggle with far worse illnesses, but I blog about what's happening in mine. LOL.  I will trudge on with My Month of May and continue to write and enjoy the beauty around me and appreciate the mild temps before they scorch the earth in a month or so.

My current book is out on submission and I'm in limbo waiting to hear back from editors, so keep your fingers crossed on my behalf for good news...

I'm working on a new novel set in the Low Country in South Carolina, one of my favorite vacation spots. It's about a woman whose DNA test results set off a chain of events that threaten to destroy the foundations of several families in the area.

Best wishes on a lovely Month of May!!

Susan