Frustration (and opportunity)
By the time I wrote my first book, I’d been a Quality Manager in a few different industries: aerospace, internet, semiconductor. We’d decided it was time to go back to the US after 6 years overseas, and there wasn’t a place for me in the company’s offices here (not one that didn’t report to my husband anyway – and even if they’d allowed that, we wanted to stay married! So I was between jobs.
The first thing I’d worked on at my previous company was to oversee the update of their process for developing new products, which touched every aspect of the organization, so I had a good idea of how things worked, at a high level. The last thing I worked on there, years later, was to participate in the revamp of their entire process system. They’d hired a consultant firm to come in and lead us, and those people kept telling us they had the One Right Way(TM) to do this. Some (not all!) of my colleagues leapt gleefully in and started adding complexity left and right, generally without talking to the people who would be responsible for actually executing those processes.
I was convinced that it didn’t have to be that hard, and that there was more than one way to do it (and that simpler is generally better, wherever possible). I knew that people who don’t have a voice in the work they do are likely to sabotage processes foisted on them by simply not following them, especially since they are quite likely to be wrong.
So I wrote a book explaining the basics of process creation and implementation, so that people could make informed decisions of how processes should work at their company.
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Working on the next thing
While Together in Percival is off with its beta readers, I’m trying to get some work done on the next thing. I think of it as the Rowhouse Book, but the currently planned real title is “Other Duties As Required,” though that’s subject to change. It’s being a…
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A Plan – and some book recommendations
I think I have a Plan. It could even be called a Cunning Plan, as it dovetails the publication of Percival 3 (or as I like to call it, George III, the Mad One) nicely with some upcoming travel plans. However, it has one risk factor: it depends…
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What do authors do after a book release?
Other than drinking champagne, of course. A Heart in Percival was released on March 20 on Amazon, but I’m still working on getting it published on Ingram, so that indie bookstores and libraries who don’t like to buy on Amazon can get it there. (I’m currently waiting for…
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Shortly before release day
I am officially past the point when I can change or edit my book before Amazon publication now – or at least, I am for the paperback and will be for the e-book at midnight. The Library of Congress Control number came through just a couple days ago,…
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State of the Author, early March 2026
Almost everything is done for Book 2 (The Heart of Percival, but my working file is still called “George II”. ) All the text has been edited, beta-read, re-edited, professionally edited – twice – and rechecked one final time, and it’s all been uploaded to Amazon. I would…
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Free: First Chapter of The Heart of Percival
Or scroll down if you prefer to read inline Chapter One: Adjustments It was a really good party. This was the first one I’d thrown in years, so that was a relief. It was good enough that most people stayed until after midnight. (And when you’re past forty,…
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About Release Dates
One of the big differences between traditional and self-publishing is around release dates. When you’re working with a big publisher, they choose the release date and it depends on a lot of things including marketing and their other planned releases. As a result, there’s typically a long wait…
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Quick update (Status of the Author, Feb 2026)
I’m still well on track for releasing The Heart of Percival by the middle of March (though Amazon shows a later date – that’s for safety since they let you pull dates in but not push them out. I’ve incorporated all of the editor’s feedback, and now I’m…
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Books about stuff
Book 3, as yet untitled, is cruising along – well over 11,000 words! We’re heading out next week for a road trip, no idea how much I’ll get done on travel but I am taking my laptop. Meanwhile, the books I’ve been reading are making unexpected links in…
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Status of the Author, December 2025
November felt like I was drowning in travel plans – first we had a couple trips for regattas, then a trip to CA to see family with a quick visit to Ted’s parents on the way way, another visit to his parents for Thanksgiving, and then I had…