Been doing the happy dance, even without Internet. Signed two contracts within a week of each other.
One with Oak Tree Press for the publication of my first romantic mystery. I’ve experienced some thoughts that I want to share about The Purloined Skull. It occurred to me that writing a mystery isn’t that much different from writing an historical. History, after all, presents many mysteries of its own, and I often wonder if I’ve solved them all with the writing of one of my historical romances.
This book began with bones in the title, but so many other books with similar titles have come out that mine has morphed away from that. I finally settled on this one as a play on Poe’s The Purloined Letter. Since this is the first of a series, I may fiddle with Poe’s titles for the others. Set in fictional Grace County in the Arkansas Ozarks, the story is a sensual, suspenseful, tale involving a decapitated skeleton, a misplaced skull and restless spirits. There’s an eerie, twisty ending no one will see coming.
Enough hints about the book. There’ll be more in the months to come before the projected publication date of September, 2013.
It feels good to know that there are publishers out there looking for good books. Thanks to the growth of small publishing, and the explosion of Ebooks, writers can look forward to a brighter future in this crazy business. With so many good books on the market today, readers have the opportunity to find just what they want to read.
About the same time that I signed the contract for The Purloined Skull, I also signed with my current publisher, The Wild Rose Press, for the publication of a women’s fiction novel, Once There Were Sad Songs. There’s no release date on this one yet, but I’m looking forward to that as well. This love story about two displaced people searching for serenity in their disturbed worlds takes place in 1985 and will be released in TWRPs Vintage line.
Congratulations to Editor-in-Chief Rhonda Penders and Wild Rose Press for winning the Golden Apple from RWA. Way to go.
To make things even more exciting, I’ve begun writing the second book in the historical western romance series, The Victorians, set in Victoria, Kansas. Following Wilda’s Outlaw, this one is the dark story of a troubled man, battling horrible memories of war, and the woman who loves him. Think Wuthering Heights, only since it’s of the romance genre, there’s a happy ending. Readers know to expect that so telling it isn’t a spoiler.
This writer is going to be very busy this year.
Velda Brotherton 
Busy is a good thing sometimes, and in this case I’d say it definitely is. Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Hot diggedy, Velda. Good for you!
Dear Energizer Bunny!
What a wonderful lot on your plate, and in the midst of a move. You continue to amaze and delight and boost my spirits! Thank you, Velda
Exciting news, Velda! Here’s a contest someone on Google+ announced who is gathering anecdotes from writers about where they get their ideas because she wants to make a blog post about it. Winner gets to link to their latest book. I have no idea how much readership she has, but you have good idea-stories to tell: http://marcelleliemant.com/submission/. I submitted mine because although my book isn’t published yet I do have a promotion page about it to link to if I win 🙂