Hello, all! Last week I attended the RWA Conference for the first time. I admit that I’d been slacking a bit since I joined, allowing myself to get overwhelmed by the volume of information available through the website, as well as the number of authors who are members. There were over 2000 members in attendance, which is a small percentage of the whole. I was a little intimidated to say the least. I mean, here I was going to the same conference as Nora Roberts and Sylvia Day, alongside authors who were New York Times Bestsellers or USA Today Bestsellers. Was I nervous? At first. Was it discouraging being around all these successful authors? Absolutely not! Quite the opposite in fact.
A panel of authors in one of the workshops I attended had some great advice for authors. Don’t career compare. It’s tough, I know. We all do it. But comparing careers does no one any good. Instead, be inspired by the success of others. We are not in competition with one another. Readers will always need books to read. Being surrounded by authors from unpublished and just starting out, to award winning authors with movie deals was inspiring. I learned a lot, which is important. As authors we’re continuously learning. Everyone was friendly, enthusiastic, and supportive. I stepped out of my comfort zone, did an on camera interview, and struck up random conversations with authors I didn’t know. It was fantastic.
For me, this is my career. It’s what I hope to be doing for a long, long time. I’m forging my path, and serious about moving forward. I work hard, probably harder than I have at anything else in my life, which can be confusing for folks unfamiliar with life as a writer. I mean, I sit at my desk all day in yoga pants and a T-shirt. How hard can it be right? [Insert eye twitch here] It’s hard. From all the panels and workshops I attended at RWA, on everything from characterization, to branding, to advertising, and more, the one thing that stuck the most was: writers gotta write. Well, yeah. Obvious, right? As an author, writing is what we do. Yet, once you’re published, writing becomes harder and harder. For one, your time is being consumed by all the other parts of being an author, as well as life stuff.
If you’re not careful, you’ll get to the end of a full day and realize you’ve done no book writing at all, despite being behind the computer all day. I’ve reached the stage where I need to hire a professional assistant for a few hours a month who I can delegate some tasks to, because writing books should be my priority. If I don’t write, there are no books, and if there are no books, there’s no career. Because of all these authorly things, and real life interruptions, my next THIRDS book is two months behind schedule, giving it the longest gap between THIRDS releases. This then pushes all my other releases back. I’m not unhappy about it, but it couldn’t be helped. Moving forward, I know what I have to do, and always keep in mind: writer’s gotta write. It’s a balancing act for sure, but we learn, and we keep going. There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing, so write on.
LATEST RELEASE
Genre: Paranormal Gay Romance
Series: THIRDS
Length: Novel
Published: July 8th, 2016
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: L.C. Chase
Ebook ISBN-13: 9781634773871
Paperback ISBN-13: 9781634773874
Life for Dexter J. Daley has never been easy, but he’s always found a way to pick himself back up with a smile on his face. Taken from his home, and the arms of his boyfriend and THIRDS partner, Sloane Brodie, Dex finds himself in a situation as mysterious and lethal as the Therian interrogating him. Dex learns what he’s secretly believed all along: his parents’ death wasn’t an accident.
Discovering the whole truth about John and Gina Daley’s homicide sets off a series of events that will change Dex and Sloane’s lives forever. As buried secrets rise to the surface and new truths are revealed, Dex and Sloane’s love for each other is put to the test, with more than their relationship on the line. If traversing the waters of murder and secret government agencies wasn’t enough, something inexplicable has been happening to Dex—and nothing will ever be the same.
PURCHASE LINKS
DREAMSPINNER PRESS EBOOK | DREAMSPINNER PRESS PAPERBACK :: AMAZON :: ARe :: BARNES & NOBLE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charlie Cochet is an author by day and artist by night. Always quick to succumb to the whispers of her wayward muse, no star is out of reach when following her passion. From adventurous agents and sexy shifters, to society gentlemen and hardboiled detectives, there’s bound to be plenty of mischief for her heroes to find themselves in, and plenty of romance, too!
Currently residing in Central Florida, Charlie is at the beck and call of a rascally Doxiepoo bent on world domination. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading, drawing, or watching movies. She runs on coffee, thrives on music, and loves to hear from readers.
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SERIES READING ORDER
Hell & High Water (THIRDS, Book 1)
Blood & Thunder (THIRDS Book 2)
Rack & Ruin (THIRDS, Book 3)
Rise & Fall (THIRDS, Book 4)
Against the Grain (THIRDS, Book 5)
Catch a Tiger by the Tail (THIRDS, Book 6)
Smoke & Mirrors (THIRDS, Book 7)