Goodbye and hello

Three cat stories 
(photo by Mathias Erhart from flickr)

This week I took my very first book, Fresh Air, off the market. I published this novella back in October 2012, and it was an experiment. I had to learn formatting, editing, and marketing all at once, so I wanted to start with something small. I was hugely excited when I made my first sale—to a reader in Florida who had followed my writing online and was looking for the book before I even knew it was on sale!

Recently Fresh Air had become a bit of an orphan. When I redid all my covers, I skipped doing that novella because its sales were so low. In addition, I re-edited all my books in the past year—except that one. I kind of ignored it, meaning to take it down in the new year once Tao was published. A negative review last month reminded me that people were still reading the book, and it might not be the best introduction to my work. I am happy—as I’m sure you are—that my writing has improved over the past three years. While the innocent tale of a couple bonding over an orphaned cat was one of my favourite stories, it might not be one of my best. 

I do have plans for Fresh Air though. In 2016, I am writing a new novella for a box set of Crazy Cat Lady stories. Yes! Can you imagine something more perfect for me, someone who is always inserting cats into her books? I have started the novella already and it stars Marty Devonshire, a big, hulking player who you will meet in The Tao of Hockey. It's going to be my first inclusion in a box set, and I'm really excited about being in a project with some different and exciting authors.

So, once I get that story back, I’m thinking about creating a trilogy of cat/hockey stories: Marty’s story, a revised Fresh Air, and one new novella. Yes, I am cornering the market on combined cat and hockey tales. This project will be not realized be until 2016, but it’s exciting to think about, because as one era ends, a new one is beginning.