Friday, October 17, 2014

An Anniversary

This month Amber Quill, who are both Deirdre's sole publisher to date and now Gwynn's main publisher celebrates twelve years in business. That is twelve years of producing some great fiction and growing by leaps and bounds. In the dog-eat-dog world of small press and independent publishers, that is a pretty major feat.

During that time as well as before AQ began, many 'e-book' producers have come and gone, some leaving a very sour taste and bad odor behind them. In fact, sharing just such experiences is why the team that incorporated to create Amber Quill Press originally came together and vowed to do it right. And do it right they have. In my opinion they combine the best aspects of a friendly, family-like environment with a totally professional and ethical business model. The original crew mostly remains and each person has a specialty and one or more jobs to fill. Each does his or her part with efficiency and professional skill and dedication. I love them and enjoy working with them, feeling very lucky to have such a great support team.

I feel myself to be very blessed that a couple of friends urged me to enter my first little foray into the new "erotic romance" genre in the initial Amber Heat contest that was held early in 2004. I did, with little expectation of getting anywhere. I was a relatively new widow at the time and trying to find a new voice and muse after having lost not only my spouse but my first critique partner, my tech adviser on military and law enforcement which form the background for many of my fiction works and even an occasional co-author.

When I got the email (the modern version of 'the call') on April Fools Day in 2004 I was sure it was a joke! But no, it was for real and that JuneKarola's Hunt was released. As the old cliche goes, the rest is history. I reached beyond heterosexual erotic romance to another new genre, the GLBT romance and some sixty titles later, Deirdre O'Dare is still writing steadily
I suppose most authors have their 'up' and 'down' times. I tend to write in spurts and the last year or two it has been slower. I have gotten caught up in some new endeavors and perhaps it is just a matter of slowing down a little with the inevitable passage of time. However, I never intend to stop writing and there are at least two contracted tales awaiting release in the next few months and I am committed to produce others. Gwynn Morgan is also working on some new projects as well as getting her out-of-print books reissued. You can bet there will be new things to talk about here in the coming months!

I do know that The Mule Man will be coming out in December. It hasn't gotten to the edit or the cover stage yet but you will be hearing about it before the mid-month release, I promise. It is another stand alone tale as was Red Tails in the Sunset earlier this year. Then Midnight Cowboys will be part of a 1960's Amber PAX group, release TBA. I'm looking forward to them both and will pique your interest with tidbits and behind the scenes background as the release dates approach!

Meanwhile enjoy the fall, which has been my favorite season all of my life, and get ready to settle in for the cold nights which are so great for reading! If cold and snow is your favored milieu, check out my newest blog about one project that has really grabbed my attention and is taking shape bit by bit. You can visit http://gwynnmorganalaska.blogspot.com  to read about my summer trip to the northernmost state and the objective of that and future planned trips. Sled dogs! Mushers!! Thousand mile races!!! There is some awesome stuff up there.
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