Anticipating Valentine's Day

It's one of those days that some people adore and others love to hate. If you are comfortably paired up, you may be anticipating romance. If you are not, you could be planning an evening for staying in, ironing clothes, washing your hair, doing your taxes . . .

May I suggest that you get a dose of romance either way? The Rainbow Rock Romances all have new covers that feature portraits of the couples along with the painted landscape. As an example, here are Chris and Sarah on the cover of DON'T PROMISE ME RAINBOWS, book #3, as well as Eden and Logan from A RAINBOW IN PARADISE, #book #5.

My cover designer and I are so much into the Valentine spirit that we already have a cover for Book #8, the one I'm still writing. If you read book #4, you met Danny Sherwood as a boy. In book #7 you met him as a grown man and trooper for the Arizona Highway Patrol. You probably wondered what kind of woman could capture Danny's heart. Meet her in DANNY'S GIRL, coming by mid-March or maybe a little before.

While I'm here let me express my love for all the good people in my life: for family, friends, good folks in the publishing industry, and especially for you. You, the readers, are the ones who make it all happen. So from everyone in Rainbow Rock, let me wish you a very

Love and romance to you all.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th, titled EASTWARD TO ZION, is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected this spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth

I Always Go Home

The Rainbow Rock Romance series has been my writing "home" for the past couple of decades. Though I occasionally step outside the series to write something else (and some of these books may actually be better stories; my sister likes MAGGIE RISING best of all), I always seem to come back to that fictional small town in northeastern Arizona where everyone finds a home. Like Marcie in Book #7, I always RETURN TO RAINBOW ROCK.

Why? It's what my imagination has conjured as the best of American small towns. People care about each other and take care of each other and yes, that sometimes expresses itself as gossip, but even the gossip is never mean-spirited as folks reach out to help their neighbors. The high desert has a natural beauty that becomes a character in its own right as the people of Rainbow Rock learn to adapt to this rugged, harsh, wild but beautiful landscape. Add in the other neighbors, the Navajo and Hopi cultures with their ancient traditions, and you have a lovely mix for comedy, drama and romance.

Occasionally folks ask me about the order of the Rainbow Rock books. Here you have the authoritative word. 

1. Ride the Rainbow Home, the story of Jim and Meg
2. At the Rainbow's End, about Alexa and Kurt
3. Don't Promise Me Rainbows, Sarah and Chris
4. A Little Night Rainbow, Max and Cretia
5. A Rainbow in Paradise, Eden and Logan
6. The Trouble with Rainbows, Angelica and Joe
7. Return to Rainbow Rock, Ryan and Marcie

Coming Soon! #8, Danny's Girl, the story of Danny Sherwood and ??? Find out soon!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=susan+aylworth+%2B+rainbow+rock+series&rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Asusan+aylworth+%2B+rainbow+rock+series

Yes, in the end, I always go home. I invite you to join me there.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth

Some Resolutions for the Over-Scheduled

How does it feel to be a multi-published author, a mother of a whole sports team (pick one), grandmother to a small army, and president of a busy local women's group? Don't ask me; I don't have time to think about it--or time to think about much of anything for that matter.

Like most women I know (and many men), I'm programmed by the American work ethic: push, push, push, do, do, do. Be organized; be efficient; be productive! More than once I've wondered about the efficacy of the ethic we all seem to value so highly. Is it making us healthier? wiser? happier? I could be wrong, but I'm not seeing it. So, on the assumption that we can use some perspective in this hectic world where better is more, I propose some resolutions for 2014. If you like them, you are welcome to adopt them as your own:

1.  Take Time to Be Still -- and Not Feel Guilty
A favorite scriptural snippet says, "Be still and know that I am God." How can we contemplate the enormity of the infinite (or even how best to remove that ugly stain from a favorite sweater) if we never take time to think? We do not live to do; we do to live. In 2014 I promise, at least once in a rare while, to take time just to ponder, to wonder at the magnificence of all that surrounds me. If I lose my capacity for wonder, how can I inspire it in readers? (See? I've even found a way to make it productive. Oh, how programmed I am!)

2.  Enjoy the People, Not Just the Task
In my family, my writing, my church, my neighborhood, I am surrounded by lovely people, beautiful people who inspire me to do and be a better human being, not just a more efficient one. In 2014 I promise to keep reminding myself that the people around me aren't on my checklist of Things To Do. They are my soulmate, my children, my grandbabies, my sisters and brothers and friends. They deserve more of me than the few minutes we spend working together, and frankly, I deserve some quality time with them.

3.  Take Care of Me
If you're like me (and I'm guessing you are), you've spent years on the family, the writing, the work. Self-care has fallen by the wayside or been managed with a lick and a promise. As the years pass, each  takes a toll, but to quote Indiana Jones, "It's not just the years; it's the mileage." In 2014 I promise to make some time for me: for the exercise I know I need (and for which my body always thanks me), for preparing healthful meals (at least most of the time), and for an occasional pedicure or massage. (Okay, maybe not many, but some!)

4.  Single-Task Now and Then
The downside to multi-tasking is the lack of focus. Sometimes a task (a talk with a child in pain, a final edit of a cherished manuscript, a date with my sweetheart) is worthy of total 100% dedicated focus. In 2014 I promise each day to do at least one thing of value that gets my full attention--at least for a little while.

5.  Unplug--and Like It
Do I have a new email from my agent? Has my cover artist responded to the request I sent an hour ago? Did I get an answer to my text? If you're like me, you have fallen into the ubiquitous 21st century habit of being plugged in and turned on (at least electronically) during almost every waking minute. I've become so attached (I'm avoiding the word 'addicted') to my various electronic brains that I sometimes fail to use the one in my head. In 2014 I promise to unplug completely--from everything, even the TV--for at least an hour a day. Well, most days anyway. And I promise to do it without getting the shakes.

Those are a few of my resolutions for the new year. As I write, it is almost the middle of January and I've only broken five of them a few times so far. But resolutions are to help us with the things we don't already do well, right? Misquoting Robert Browning, "A woman's dreams must exceed her grasp or what's a resolution for?" (Hmmm. Better leave the literature to the masters.) I wish you all the best with your new goals and aspirations. May your new year be blessed.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.

A Plan for 2014

People at writer's conferences like to talk about author career planning. Until recently I thought it was some kind of silly mind game:  Tell them career planning is possible, and then watch while they plan and struggle and see it all collapse in smoke. Fooled them, ha-ha!

Publishing is such an odd business and only a small part of the business decisions are made by the author. Once the publisher gets a signed contract, in come marketing, cover design, layout people, promotions, yada-yada-yada. It's enough to scare many talented people out of the game.

But the rules are changing. It's been most of a decade since a writer colleague sent me an article called "An Author Needs a Publisher Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle." The article extolled the virtues of digital self-publishing and how an author can have full control over all her own publishing, marketing, promotional decisions, cover design, etc. All she has to do is take all the risk and do all the work. No biggie there.

I still see advantages to traditional publishing, especially with the Big Six in New York. Have a book published by Random House or Doubleday or [fill in the blank Big Publisher] and the odds are you'll reach a much bigger audience with a broader range of backgrounds and interests. That's no small thing. Still I have finally jumped into the world of electronic self-pubbed novels with the release of MAGGIE RISING and RETURN TO RAINBOW ROCK in the last three months. With that in mind, I've cautiously made a plan for 2014.

The Basics
First comes DANNY'S GIRL, the eighth book in the highly successful Rainbow Rock series. Readers who have eagerly inhaled the first seven books are looking forward to seeing what kind of woman Danny Sherwood needs and wants. That book is well on its way, expected for an early spring release, and there will be further books in this series since I love returning to Rainbow Rock.

Next comes the yet-untitled second book in the Maggie Rising Case Files. We left Maggie at an interesting place in her life  at the end of MAGGIE RISING. Now we need to move her forward, letting her become a young adult, cheering her on as she discovers new talents and abilities.

There's a new series in the works, one I hope to market to the Big Six. Set in a medical center in fictional Hope Creek, California, the series will focus on the private lives and romances of the doctors and other medical personnel who live and/or work in a former Gold Rush town in the Sierra Nevadas. I'm having great fun with the early-stage research and writing. Somewhere in the next year, I also hope to make time to continue developing my novel set in the Italian Renaissance and featuring Lorenzo di Medici. (Can you see me crossing my fingers?)

If you've enjoyed the books so far, you can help in a variety of ways: (1) Drop me a note. Tell me if you might enjoy being a beta reader for an early manuscript of one or more books and which genre you prefer. (2) Review the books you've already read, especially on Goodreads which is fast becoming the major book reviews site since being acquired by Amazon. (3) Tell your friends, neighbors, mail deliverer, life-long enemies and people you meet in the grocery store about the books you've enjoyed most. Encourage them to read and review. Word-of-mouth advertising is always the best.

The Goal
My ultimate goal for 2014 is to be successful enough with the books to greatly reduce time spent at the day job and greatly increase the time I spend writing. That's what I've wanted since I was nine years old and started my first novel on a yellow legal pad. It stands a chance of coming true in the coming year.

For you, faithful friends, I have another plan:  May the New Year bring you your fondest goals, dreams and wishes and may it be a happy, healthy and prosperous time for you and those you love.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth

Thinking of Thanks

Having just passed Thanksgiving weekend, I've been pondering the many gifts of this past year. First I am grateful for family and friends, the lovely people who give my life meaning every day. My children are spread out across the continent, but I have a son close by who hosted us at Thanksgiving this year. Instead of spending two days in the kitchen, I contributed a few small items to the dinner, half of which were prepared by my sweet husband, who is a fine cook in his own right and always makes the lemon meringue pie (yum!). All that made for a lovely, relaxing holiday we enjoyed very much.

Though my offspring and their little spring-offs are all dealing with day-to-day problems and inconveniences, everyone is happy and healthy. That is one huge blessing and I'm grateful.

As an author I have also experienced much to appreciate in 2013. Here's a short list:

Books
Three new novels saw the light this year.  ZUCCHINI PIE: GRANNY'S RECIPE FOR LIFE appeared in June, a paperback release from Covenant Communications. My first two self-published, digital-only books appeared shortly thereafter, MAGGIE RISING in August and RETURN TO RAINBOW ROCK in September. I always feel my time is well spent when I can see the results that clearly.

Agents
Jane Dystel and Miriam Goderich at Dystel-Goderich Literary Management may not understand everything that's happening in the current publishing upheaval (no one does), but they come about as close as is humanly possible. They're hard-working, dedicated to serving their authors, and well enough situated in the business (after being in business since 1986) that they have some real power in the publishing world. I'm grateful for the day I met Jane Dystel and delighted to have her and her agency on my team.

Readers
Guessing how many people have actually read my books is tricky since some people download a book and never read it while others buy one paper copy and circulate it to everyone they know before passing it on to a hospital or retirement home where it will be read until it falls apart. Still it's easy to see that the numbers are growing and the range is growing, too. I now have readers in places like India and Turkey. How cool is that?

Twitter
I'm grateful for TwitterPals and RTers. With more than 12,300 followers, I manage to get the word out when there's a new release, a sale, or something to celebrate. I'm also averaging about 14% retweeting on those messages, which I find positively thrilling.

Mostly I'm grateful for the fun I have when I listen to those voices in my head and let them take me to interesting, exciting places. Years like this make the writing worthwhile. Thanks to Janice and Alisa (you both know why!) and to all of you who have been part of it. My 2014 be even better for all of us.

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.