Monday, April 11, 2011

Mark Twain put it best...

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Though I can understand why most might have thought I fell off the face of the earth. It's been a long while -- almost two years since I posted here, and almost that long since I posted anywhere else. I scaled back my public appearances. Even my almost constant stream of stories all over the web seemed to dry up. So where did I go?

The answer to that is long and complicated, but I will try to make it short and sweet. In a nutshell, here goes:

I started a freelance business. I loved writing erotica, but it was time to stretch my wings. What started out as an experiment grew at a rate that was sometimes downright frightening, to be honest. Soon I had a decision on my hands: should I continue the freelance business, even if that meant I had to pull back a bit on writing erotica?

I had been writing erotica on a professional level for well over 15 years at that point, and that's a long time to do any job. So why not try something new? For that and many other reasons, I forged ahead with the business. It did well, and I was quite pleased with it. I even tried my hand at working as a serious journalist, and wonder of wonders, I loved it -- and I was good at it.

All the hard work paid off, and soon I had another choice: Keep building the freelance business, or take the great offer to work for a media company. I chose the company, and it was a good decision to make. Sometimes it's hard to believe I actually have a "day job" after being self-employed and independent for so long. However, I love the work, and it gives me the freedom to pursue my other writing as well.

And that, my friends, brings us back to erotic writing.

I never abandoned erotica! I was still writing about the naughty things that happen between the sheets, but I didn't have time to do much more than write. As any writer knows, the writing is where it begins, but certainly not where it ends. There is so much more to being a working writer: tweaking manuscripts, making appearances, networking, taking the time to promote yourself and your novels, signing books and of course, getting a head start on writing the next one before the ink is dry on the previous book.

Of course, other things happened. Some personal, some not. Life changed. I moved to a little town on the Georgia coast, which is much quieter than my former home of Nashville. But I have also been spending time in a not-so-small town on the outskirts of Philadelphia, so in many ways I have the best of both worlds: the quiet and very private home in Georgia and all the cultural experiences to be found in the Keystone State.

Is that all a bit cryptic? Perhaps. But I have found a renewed enjoyment of privacy these last few years, and it's going to be hard to come out of that shell again. However, I intend to do just that, and it all starts with my new novel!

A Week in the Snow will be released by Total-e-Bound on June 27. This summer, I will be quite the busy bee, promoting the book on websites and in person. Look for me in Philadelphia, New York, and perhaps many places in between. I'm going to post a list of upcoming appearances over the next few weeks, as well as plenty of information on the new book.

It gets better -- there's yet another one coming soon after that! Then another...and another. Looks like I'm back in the erotica business, friends!

And oh, my. It's good to be back.

5 comments:

Charlotte Stein aka The Mighty Viper said...

Hello, Gwen! It's so lovely to see you didn't stop- too many erotica writers just disappear forever.

Charlotte xx

Home in the Hills said...

Glad you're back. Missed "seeing" you around the ol' laptop. It sounds as if it's been an interesting couple of years. And I'm jealous of you being on the Georgia coast.

Angel said...

Thank you, Charlotte! I agree -- over the years I have seen so many erotica authors drop away and never be heard from again. I can't imagine walking away from erotica forever...even a few years was difficult. I really started to miss it.

Angel said...

Sonny, it's good to see you! The last few years have definitely been interesting...maybe I will tell more of the story one day. Hell, maybe it will become a book! *grin*

The Georgia coast is beautiful but oh my goodness, it's hot as hell! It's going to take some time to get used to this.

Yes, I might be a wuss.

Jeremy Edwards said...

Welcome back!