Um. I was looking for the mouse and this pad was so comfortable....

Um. I was looking for the mouse and this pad was so comfortable….

Most of you know I’ve been working on a novel called Never Turn Back.

It’s based on my grandmother’s life, which, on the surface may sound really dull, but it’s not.

I guess you’ll have to trust me that it’s not about baking cookies, bingo, and early-bird dinner reservations at Denny’s.

Maybe your grandmother, Honey, but not mine!

Maybe your grandmother, Honey, but not mine!

My grandmother was an international woman of misery mystery.

Well, she was a woman. She came to America from Finland. And there was a lot of mystery (and, yes, misery) in her past.

If you read my memoir, How was I Supposed to Know?, the book is nothing like that. It’s fictional and it’s serious. There’s even some historically accurate facts in there. As I said, totally different from my memoir, which you should read if you haven’t and you like funny, poignant books about how to live with courage in the face of more challenges than you could wave a fly swatter at.

But this post is about my novel and what’s holding it up from you holding it up in front of you.

The answer is me.

Yup. I'm the Culprit Princess.

Yup. I’m the Culprit Princess.

I’m reading it through one last time to get it as clean and sleek as possible, given my dizzy blonde head. It’s been through 4 beta readers, a writing coach read-through, and a line editor. Plus I’ve spent more time reading it than I did writing it.

The going is slow, but that’s how the going is when you read for accuracy and perfection. Just ask any obsessive-compulsive.

I do have one little major thing to share, though. The cover!

It's like Peter knew the vision for the cover inside my head, only better, and made it real.

It’s like Peter knew the vision for the cover inside my head, only better, and made it real.

It was designed by Peter O’Conner of BespokeBookCovers. He’s a gem to work with and a genius. If I ever write another book, he’s the guy who will do my cover.

Anyway, my edits should be done in a week or so (except now I’m distracted by this Writing 101 Daily prompt Challenge, which is only 20 days of annoying daily posts from me). Then I just have to get the manuscript copyrighted and uploaded to Amazon for both Kindle and CreateSpace.

I’m thinking October sometime.

Easy-peasey with Phil helping me. Now that he’s my non-husband, he’ll do anything for me. Of course, he did anything for me before….

So, I’ll keep you posted on my progress and let you know firm dates of release when I have them. There will be Kindle free give-away days, too, so stay-tuned, okay?

What do you think of the cover? Would you pick this book up if you saw it in a book store?
Are there still book stores?