Wow! A lot has happened since I last visited you guys. In February 2023, I was querying for a Literary Agent—and guzzling sweet tea by the gallon. After much soul-searching, in May 2023, I decided to call off the agent quest. My goals had evolved, and I wasn’t set on getting any agent anymore. Instead, I wanted to hold my book in my hand. I wanted to feel the product of my years of work—and experience what a fellow author got to experience—a physical manifestation of my dream.
So, I gathered information on small publishers that were taking submissions and chose my top three. I honestly can’t remember the first two, but my third time was the charm. I signed with The Wild Rose Press in June 2023, and my first book, Charm City Crab Puff, was published in April 2024. My second book, Charm City Spouse’s Club, is currently with my editor, so be sure to follow me and sign up for my newsletter to know when it will be released.
I can say that I would not appreciate my experience with my publisher and editor if I hadn’t first tried the agent route. There were many things I did in order to present the best I had to an agent. I took classes through Sisters in Crime to learn about policing and the details that could only help my MS. I completely rewrote my book at one point—in the hopes that changing the wording would make it more relatable to readers—and it did! I learned a lot of metaphors for tea—which has been a really fun experience. I got an unbiased developmental editor to read it, and she offered great feedback. Some of it I took, and some of it I acknowledged but chose to go another way.
There is nothing quite like holding your book in your hand. The sense of accomplishment and joy is like nothing else I’ve experienced. My spouse is successful in their career and has all these letters after their name, but I get to say I am the published author. It’s great, and I highly recommend it!
As a girl from a small-ish town in Maryland who traveled the world as a military spouse, I’m always curious where others are from. Where are you from?
Chicks on the Case 
Congrats on your dream coming true! Saying hi from Southern California.
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Thank you! 👋🏼 Hi!
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Congrats on holding your book in your hands, Pam! Happy that SinC has helped you on your journey, and I want to hear those tea metaphors! (Also saying hello from SoCal.)
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Be sure and pick up my book! It’s a fun creative way of sizing men up. Lol I’ve gotten lots of positive feedback on it, though. She collates her ex-husband to tea with lemon. It’s great.
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Sorry. She *compares* her ex-husband. That’s what I get for trying to do this on my phone.
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Then pick up my book! It’s a fun way to size men up on first glance. Lol She compares her ex-husband to a tea with lemon in it. Lots of fun stuff.
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Fantastic, Pam, and that a second is on the way, even better!
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It is! Sometimes I can hardly believe it myself.
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It is! Sometimes I can hardly believe it myself!
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Glad you landed a publisher! It’s a hard trek, for sure. I’m now in TN, but was born in CA, raised in IL, and have lived in SC, MT, OH, MI, MN, and TX. Unless I’ve forgotten one.
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Ooh! Where at in Tennessee? I went to college in East Tennessee—gorgeous. I’ve been in four of the places you have!
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Really? Knoxville, technically Farragut, but mailing address is Knoxville.
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What a small world! I went to Carson-Newman right down the road, and my first big world job was in Knoxville. We lived in New Market while my hubby finished up school. How cool!
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Congratulations on becoming a published author, with another book on the way. I am saying hello from Akron Ohio, the former rubber capital of the world.
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Hello, Ohio! My hubby is from Ohio and a HUGE OSU fan. lol Go Buckeyes!
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Congratulations from Studio City, CA, Pamela! Holding your own book in your hand is truly an amazing experience. And it never gets old.
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Thank you! It sounds like you speak from experience. 🙂
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Congrats on the book and the journey! There is nothing like a real book in your hands and to have it be your own must be wonderful. I was born in Brownsville, Texas and lived in Harlingen, Texas (30 miles north) all of my life in the same house except for college until I was almost 30 and then moved to Fort Worth, Texas as my husband (from my hometown) was transferred there and later Grand Prairie, Texas (total of 20 years) and now to Alpharetta, Georgia, as my husband was transferred here 31 years ago. We are retired and will stay here though we would love to go back to Texas, but it would be too big a move, not to mention the expensive at this late in our lives. You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of the girl. My father was in WWII and the National Guard as Battalion Commander for 20 years but no military moving there. Is it hard to move so much because you have friends, etc. or is it easy because you get to experience new things?
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There was good and bad with all the moving. My daughter went to nine different schools before she graduated. It was incredibly hard and not outside the norm for military kids. It’s nice to start over at a new place, but tough for finding jobs. We got to experience life in Italy and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. We spent a year in Texas, and my youngest was born in San Antonio. I prefer cooler weather tbh lol. 🙂
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