Dear Daniel

Dear Daniel,

On being taken seriously. I often wonder, in the grand scheme of things when things are going so well that if God likes to throw in a hiccup of two. I have the feeling I will be launching Bella Morte:Beginnings at Fandom Fest. Or even Imaginarium. Patience has never really been a strong suit of mine. I mean, I work hard. I want to see results, yesterday. So when I found out Bella Morte:Beginnings wasn’t going to make its original publication date I didn’t handle the best in the world.

I mean I had lined up a great tour, publicity, even a costume to where at the Cons I planned on attending this year. With the late announcement I had to cancel said tour, which made me look REALLY unprofessional. And I now have a 200+ dollar I created that has to wait until much later this year to debut. But in the end the argument goes, I’ll have a better book. Which in turn will sell better. I just hope I haven’t burned my bridges at the bookstores for good.

I was depressed, angry, and let down. Struggling with feelings of inadequacies, I felt like my editor didn’t believe in me. While the feelings are very real I know my editor just wants to put the best product out there that she possibly can. She wants the book to make money. That’s how she makes her money. On sales. And while as an author I can  work with a pushed back publication date it makes my life as a marketing director slightly more complicated.

Setbacks happen. Whether the book isn’t ready, the author is throwing a fit, or the editor isn’t going to rush their work it’s normal a house just opening its doors to encounter some wrinkles. That being said, I love all my editors, including Tir, my editor on the Bella Morte series. And I love working at Hekate under Delilah Stephans, I just had to get passed my disappointment and get back on the horse and get back to work on Bella Morte: Vengeance (book 3).

Of course, I’m working on BLACK OUT: An Aurora Black Novel. A self-publishing venture that I hope to grow into a self-sufficient continuing series. Delilah was the one who told me she felt I had the ability to write two books at the same time. Not that I hadn’t already done it. WHEN DOVES CRY(w/Missy) and GEMINI’S LEGACY I wrote at the same time while penning two scripts, YOU’RE THE REASON(w/Missy) and CITY OF THE DAMNED.

And of course I’m co-producing, writing, and starring in and co-directing the documentary inspired by this blog. It bears the name of this blog too. It’s opening the film festival portion of Imaginarium and that gives me great joy.

And City of the Damned picked up an award for Best Screenplay in the Author Fair Story Contest. Another reason for rejoicing.

The icing on the cake is that I belong to a group known as Adrian’s Angels. Yes, yes, I know a fan club of Adrian Paul television’s Highlander. They’re a great group of ladies, and sometimes being in their company yields great benefits. Adrian voiced a character in the animated scifi action flick War of the Worlds: Goliath. It yielded me a contact that could give me the breakthrough Another Way to Die was for me as an author. So fingers crossed for one of the the three scripts I sent their way will catch their fancy.

I don’t even mind that me and Missy got shutout at Nashville.

But I want to take a moment to thank two people. One is obvious, Missy. Without her standing by me when I was really sick I may not have made it out alive. Bipolar disorder is a wicked mean machine and if untreated it destroys the one who has it and everyone and everything it touches. Missy could have left me in Texas to face the illness alone. She is a whip smart woman and a great writing talent in her own right. Often I think she gets stuck in my shadow because I am such an in-your-face-like-me-or-not-here-I-am personality. She doesn’t want her claim to fame to be Amy’s Best Friend. She wants to be known as an author, a screenwriter, and a filmmaker in her own right.

Second, I have a friend, one of my best friends, personally and professionally. She works hard, and frankly, she was the one who blazed the trail for me to follow. A brilliant author, a talented screenwriter (she made the 2^nd round at Nashville this year) and a generous blogger. Her work ethic blows mine out of the water and she taught me if you want a writing career you have to go after it with gusto. And that even then it may take awhile for it to come around to what you really want it to be. Pamela Turner is the author of Death Sword, Rayne Hall’s Ten Tales Anthologies, and her first print book, the Ripper’s Daughter. Take a moment and check it out.

And you too Daniel, without you there’s no blog. Without you there’s no memoir. Without you I’m not opening Imaginarium. Thank you so much to all three of you.

Sincerely,

Amy McCorkle