Authors corner

When my first book was three months from its June publishing date, I was speaking on a cruise. One of the other speakers had made the New York Times list with her first book. Taking me under her wing, in three hours, I got a listen my new author and you will hear an earful scolding. Oh my, did I get an earful—it was a “kind” earful, not a true scolding. Will, kinda. My expectations were that all I had to do was sit back and wait when St. Martin’s Press rolled out the book. Nope, I was told, “You have plenty of work to do the moment you get off this ship.”