So, here we are.  Yes, I know.  I’m like an annual blogger.  It never happens and then all of a sudden, it never ends.

Quietly, behind the scenes, I’ve been going through a mini-revolution.  Nothing too ground breaking as I see so many of my fellow authors fighting to find their own new paths in the wild wild world of publishing.  Some posts about Indie Publishing draw incredible fire, but I have the feeling I can sneak this one in without anyone noticing.  After all, it’s just me, right?

So, confession time.  I got tired of pitching amazing concepts, dream stories and books that in my soul I felt that if I didn’t write them, I may as well quit.  At the start of my “Cinderella” career, I had never gotten rejections.  I sold, for the most part, my first book in that dreamy haze and felt very blessed.  The slow and subtle sensation of being “unwanted” or “found wanting” came later.  The rejections came later.  The publishing industry changed and I was just new enough to the game to be in a “last one hired first one fired” dance with publishers that couldn’t remember the difference between Regency and Victorian romances, couldn’t remember much of anything when it came to my stories…except that I wasn’t the magical breakout I needed to be for them to bother to try to remember…except to ask if I was interested in writing contemporary erotica.  (Hey, can you do 50 Shades of Grey stuff?)

The snubs were unbelievable and I swallowed all of it.  I truly hoped that if I just kept writing good books that eventually they’d love me again and somehow value me.  My books got better as I went, as I grew, and the publishers could not have cared less about what was happening between those covers.  It was a numbers game and I just didn’t have the winning lottery ticket.  So they starve you out…

I had agents that I needed to remind them what I wrote.  I would be the one to tell them I’d won an award or to attempt to earn some kind of applause.  But there was always another bigger name on the other line and I wasn’t really worth their time.  I don’t blame them.  A percentage of nothing is nothing, so I wish them success in their future endeavors.

But through it all, the readers never turned away.  The readers kept me going.  Little notes and emails, support and encouragement.  ”When is the next book coming out?”

Well, now I can answer that question.  Because I’ve ended the bad marriage with traditional publishing.  Nothing against them.  I’m sure there’s a good one out there somewhere but for now, I’ve had enough of the one-sided relationship with NY.  Life is precious and time is short.  And if I want to focus on the positive forces in this universe, I can’t keep getting in bed with publishers that make me feel dirty and then don’t even have the courtesy to pay you for services rendered.

I’m on my own.  I’ve never been more terrified and more exhilarated.  Because now, it’s just the readers and me.  And we’ll see what happens next.

I’m releasing a Historical Romance trilogy this summer.  Three books in three months – June, July and August.  And yes, they are unlike ANYTHING out there.  The Black Rose Trilogy will be a make or break with: LADY FALLS, LADY RISES, and LADY TRIUMPHS.  Strap in, readers.  If you like kickass heroines, (think “Revenge” meets “Upstairs/Downstairs”) then pull up a chair in the parlor of the Black Rose and hang on…that’s all I can say about that.

I’m also releasing a Romantic Comedy, DEVIL TO PAY on August 8.  The first in my new Eternity Gambit Series, with three more books to follow before Spring 2015, so no need to wonder or worry about being left hanging  I promise.  You’re in good hands.  (DEVIL MAY CARE, DEVIL OF A JOB, and DEVIL IN THE DETAILS are all WIPs and on their way!)

Oh, and there’s more… I’m working on a single title Historical Romance for BGP (Brown Girls Publishing) which should come out next year and I’m starting a new Urban Fantasy/Alternate Future Series next year as well.  The Imbalance is a series I’ve been wanting to run with for a loooooong time and I can’t wait anymore.  My brain won’t let me hold this one in for much longer.

So I’m Indie.  It feels like coming out.  I’m going to try to make sure the books are available in every format possible, electronic and print.  Audible and who knows… But this is it.  It’s all me.

No more talk.  I’ve mourned the past, the failure of that “dream” and I’m moving on.  I’m taking charge and drafting a new dream.

The new dream is that no matter what happens, it’s just you and me.  I keep writing and somehow in the cloud of crazy chaos, we find each other and the stories land in your hands and in your hearts.  And when the dust clears, we won.  Because I didn’t quit.  And I never will.

Here we go.