Into the Night

Lately, my life reminds me of that song that goes “Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug”…. I feel like the world’s most smooshed bug.

 I know everyone has down days, but when you feel like you’re already on the ground, and someone’s kicking the hell out of you, it gets old, fast.  As an update for everyone, the bankruptcy battle continues… continues to go on, continues to strain my nerves, my health, and my constant struggle to maintain some kind of faith in the US legal system.  Now we’ve found out that they do plan to sell off our rights to another company… An idea I am opposed to.  While I might have little recourse in the case of the continuity books I wrote for the now-bankrupt publisher, I will not bend so easily on my own work. 

My advice, to this new company, is this: 

Tread very carefully.  Think long, hard, and wisely about your next step.  And before you make a single move, get to know the authors involved, on a one-on-one basis.  Get to know their concerns, the areas where they will not bend, now, and what they expect from you.

I was one of the few (in fact, the ONLY outside author to the company) left over who helped to launch the company originally (One of my books was a first launch, in January of 2004).  I have been trampled and disillusioned by the company, under its current owners.  Do not expect me to come along quietly, or to play nice if I’m not given a say in what gets done with my own books.  Get to know me, and what I know about when the company was good, and how it started going wrong.  Work with me, and be willing to bend when I say “This is what you can have” and ”This is what I want back.”  If you hope to gain back the trust of the authors, it will be YOU, not us, who will be required to bend, and make concessions.

I’m not trying to be petty, or bitchy, here.  This bankruptcy has left me with a very wary approach to this company, in any incarnation, and I know it has done so for many others.  A publisher runs on the good will of its authors, because we are the first line of business.  We write the books.  In many cases, the majority of all publicity done comes from us.  We are the face of the company, and in this case, many of us are uneasy and dissatisfied with having been thoroughly screwed over by the current owners, and the legal system.  We bring with us more than merely saleable goods.  We bring with us knowledge, and passion.  To gain access to that, and harness its capabilities, you MUST be willing and ready to listen, and to deal.  Negotiate each author’s works one-by-one.  Pay attention to their concerns.  And, above all, if you make a promise, KEEP IT.  We’ve been lied to enough.

I’m really excited… today marked a major milestone in my writing career.

 Finally, I no longer feel like I’m out there searching for my place, and trying to fit into whatever corner I’m directed to, then told I don’t belong in.  Instead, I am myself, and I’ve discovered what makes me truly happy in my writing career.  My very own niche.

I can now say I write Para-Suspense, with romantic elements.  That’s what makes me happy, and what I think readers will most remember and follow, for years to come.  Not that I’ve ever really written any differently.  But I allowed other people to categorize me, and they wanted something I didn’t want to become.  Something that wasn’t me, and didn’t allow my true voice to come through.

IN HER NAME was originally released under such duress.  it was so mangled I barely recognised it myself, and still, people told me it was “good romance”… Maybe, but it didn’t feel REAL to me.  So I pulled it from that publisher, and I returned it to the form in which it began, and I searched out a publisher who would take it as it was meant to be… and now, IN HER NAME has been re-released, in its full glory, by Aspen Mountain Press.

 If you’re interested in finding out more, check out my webpage at: http://www.esthermitchell.com/ProjectPrometheus/AtlantisSilver/IHNpage.html

or go to Aspen Mountain Press and find out more at:

http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/in-her-name/prod_73.html

I know, everyone thinks I’m going to talk about 9/11 and the twin towers.  Truth is, I’m not.  We all know what happened, and it was a terrible, horrible thing.  But now is the time to heal, not mourn.

We’ve been given a rare opportunity to honor everyone who’s ever sacrificed themselves for another, or been victim to another’s evil intent.  We’ve been given a chance to unmake the evil.  While this can’t return those we’ve lost, it can remake the energy of the world.

Yes, I believe in the flux of energy that surrounds and fills the world.  I believe that our actions effect this energy, for good or bad.  9/11 caused a negative energy that has surrounded this world, and threaded through all of our lives, for the six years since that terrible morning.  Well, today, we can change that.

 Today is not just 9/11…. Today is the EXACT day of the week that 9/11 happened on.  So let’s remake it with a little love… do something kind for someone else.  And, through our actions today, we can remake the world evil destroyed six years ago.