Guest Post and International Giveaway with Christine Nolfi

Publish Me Bright

By Christine Nolfi

With the release of my novel Treasure Me, now available on the Amazon Kindle store, I’m often asked about the road to publication. “It ain’t easy,” doesn’t cover it. And these days the whole process is on steroids. Or it’s like the day your boss made you work way too many hours, you came home to discover the laundry room needed a snow shovel to clear a path to the washing machine and somewhere amidst the chaos of kids screaming and your temples pounding, you drank three cans of Red Bull.

It’s something like that.

Not too long ago, the path to publication was straightforward enough for a schoolgirl to understand. Write a great novel. Win a few contests. Find a literary agent. If you were proficient at all three, the odds were good that you’d walk through door number #4: release of your work by a New York publisher.

Today the process has burst apart like so much confetti drifting down in your kitchen.

Women novelists are to blame. Perhaps “blame” is the wrong word. True, women have the delectable habit of strolling into a world usually constructed by men and revamping the architecture. They cut through cherished structures men spend years devising and repaint the tough-guy rooms. In bold reds or snappy pastels.

We’re mean that way.

Several years ago, a group of writers—most of whom were women—took a critical look at the genre palette. Romance. Suspense. Historical. Fantasy. Breaking the rules, they began mixing the colors in new and surprising ways. “Romantic Suspense” was the first obvious breakout. Others followed. Vampires in Victorian England. Zombies consorting with elves. Quirky blends of women’s fiction with laugh-out-dialogue.

In the midst of this madcap creativity, e-publishers began to spring up on the Internet. You liked erotic romance but couldn’t find the novels at your local bookstore? No problemo. An e-publisher had just the thing. You liked fantasy with a bit of historical thrown in? The book was somewhere in cyberspace, waiting to be downloaded.

Then things got really exciting.

Writers began sidestepping publishers and releasing e-books on Amazon and other outlets. They followed up with print-on-demand paperback novels for readers who wanted a physical book. The freedom to self-publish revamped stark genres into a wildly colorful new palette with talented authors entering the marketplace in droves.

Like many novelists, I’m one of the writers to benefit from publishing’s paradigm shift. I spent years working with agents and pitching to editors in New York. The number of compliments I received on my writing could stuff my kids’ lunch bags for a month. Yet the elusive prize of a publishing contract never arrived. I didn’t fit the structured genre mold.

What do I write? I like to think the answer is, “Great stories about women, for women.” Second Chance Grill will soon follow Treasure Me as a June release in the Amazon store. The speed with which I’m building a readership is exciting—thrilling, actually—and I’ll soon follow up with print-on-demand. After that? I have three more novels in the hopper. All will appear on Amazon by fall, 2011.

None of which answers the question, “What do I write?” The novels are a blend of romance, women’s fiction, cozy mystery and comedy. Both Treasure Me and Second Chance Grill portray the fictional town of Liberty, Ohio. Theodora Hendricks, Liberty’s feisty old matriarch, carries a Blackberry and a pistol. Her nemesis, fluttery Ethel Lynn Percible, may have breasts that look like empty Hot Pockets, but she sure knows how to dress. Then there’s tough-talking yet softhearted Finney Smith, the restaurant’s skillet-wielding cook. She’ll find love in one of the future Liberty books.

Of course Treasure features a beautiful thief named Birdie Kaminsky who meets her match in investigative reporter Hugh Schaeffer. But it’s other the women of the Second Chance Grill who provide many of the laughs.

I hope you’ll stop by Amazon to sample my special blend of Women Empowerment and tasty eats.

Pass the color pots, please. I’m mixing something new.

About the Author

Christine owned a small public relations firm in Cleveland, Ohio. Her articles and press releases have appeared regionally in Ohio. Her short story, Night Hour, appeared in Working Mother magazine.

Christine closed the firm fifteen years ago after she traveled to the Philippines and adopted a sibling group of four children. She has been writing novels fulltime since 2004. Treasure Me is the first book of the Liberty, Ohio series, available at Amazon.

The second book in the Liberty series, Second Chance Grill, will be released June, 2011.

Contact Christine: http://christinenolfibooks.blogspot.com/ and christinenolfi@gmail.com

Giveaway Details

Christine is giving away a digital copy (PDF or PRC) of TREASURE ME to one lucky commenter!  The contest is open internationally.  To enter, please leave a comment about the interview or a question for Christine, along with your e-mail address.  Contest ends on Tuesday, 5/31/2011, at 11:59 pm CST.  Good luck!