Mother's Day Reflections of the World of Publishing from @StephRyanAuthor

Happy Mother's Day to all those caregivers out there. I don't have any human children of my own, but my fur babies are more than enough for me at this point in my life. My hat is off to those who are able to juggle everything and raise kids in the crazy world we live in today.

Speaking of crazy...

You know how I love the Real Housewives shows. They're so over the top and allow me an escape of what's going on in my life. Watching these crazy women go at each other is so entertaining that at times I forget that they are real women. Sure some of it may very well be staged, but there are times when those fights are all too real and too close to home.

When I first entered the world of publishing, never in my wildest dreams would I ever think there would be so many incidents of backstabbing, sabotage, fighting among authors in the same genre and among those in varying heat levels of the genres, fights between author and reviewers/bloggers...and on and on. If I would have known this profession would be as cutthroat as it is, I'm not sure I would've ever jumped in and submitted my first book to Siren Bookstrand under another pen name.

Maybe it's better that I didn't know. I've learned a hell of a lot in the last four years. Some of which isn't very pretty and I'm not proud of all of my actions at times, but I own up to them and have moved forward to try to be a better person and treat others accordingly. Unfortunately, part of those lessons learned have been at the hands of a few who had disguised themselves as friends—people to lend and ear or shoulder to cry on when things were rough.

What a crock. This is where I have to remind myself and all of you to listen to your inner voice. If the situation sounds too good to be true, it will turn around and bite you in the ass when you least expect it.

My adventure as an author and publisher has now become like the Real Housewives. I can't declare any city as part of the name as the ensemble are from all over the country. Maybe we could call it "The Real Housewives of Indie Publishing" or "The Real Housewives of Amazon." No matter the title of the thing it all ends up the same—into a nightmare of lies and half truths.

The only way out of the quagmire is to walk away. Even if you know you are telling the truth and you feel betrayed, let it go. The others involved in the mess may feel the same. If it's meant to work out, it will in good time. You can't force it. You have no control over whether people believe you or not. What you do have control over is whether or not you allow others to take you from your chosen path.

Some of you may be here to see if I'm going to spill any dirt on what has been happening between me and some others. You won't find it here. Those issues are between us and no one else's business. One day the whole truth will come out. Until then, all of us have lives to lead, books to write and readers to meet.

Speaking of books to write, I'll have chapter 7 of Dangerous Medicine up in two weeks. It will be the final chapter of the free read portion of the novel. Make sure you catch up on the rest of the story before then. 

Chapter 1

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6

See you soon,
~Steph