The time has come, I see. To self-publish my second novel, Spanish Soap Operas, or to go the next round of queries and conferences.  Another writer friend, Nancy Shohet West, had many compelling reasons to self-publish her non-fiction book, "The Mother-Son Running Streak Club" - timing, economics, control, her mother's previous experience in self-publishing, etc. But mainly, her year with an agent, which produced interest but no deals.  I've been studying up on self-publishing, its many pros and cons; I've set up an account with Createspace.com, and have attempted to learn all the various technical and business steps to get the thing down. This, after four years or more, trying to write the best book I could write, with lots of helps and critiques from lots of writers and friends. I really do think It's time.

For me, it's not merely time that's pushing me toward self-publishing, but age - my own and my mother's - plus other family members who've heard about and waited to see this book I'm writing. At mid-age, I'm focused but understand the need to conserve energy —using that energy toward something more productive (self-publishing) rather than likely less productive (another round of queries). I do at this point understand the publishing market pretty well, and I don't despair.But this book, like the first, is somewhat hard to categorize: Between literary and mainstream, challenging themes but accessible language. Cross-Cultural Relationships for Mature Young Adults? Maybe.  I guess there isn't really a place on the bookshelf for it. Strangely, interracial romance is fine; and so is multicultural literature for children. But interracial and intercultural friendships don't seem to have a niche. Yet.

But, people are waiting. In truth, I told my 78 yr old mother the book was going to be printed and available May 2011, June at the latest, so I've got to do something. I have a couple of book groups waiting to read it. And, my wild card —sending it out to teachers and department heads at Middlesex Community College, and other local schools, where I hope they might adopt it.  It is, after all, my target market, written for those students out of my own experience in trying to teach non-readers the importance and joy of literature.  They don't believe me. In fact, they resist  and say reading literature makes them feel stupid - not understanding the vocabulary, or the references, or relating much to the characters in the stories. What's the point?  Why do they have to interpret it at all?  I don't mean to say that SSO is dumbed down, or that it doesn't have wider appeal.  But it deals with complex, even controversial issues on the reading level of a Harry Potter - not too difficult.

So. Here she goes.  Blurb from the back cover of Spanish Soap Operas:

Against her parents’ objections, Gretchen Kemp has left 1980’s small-town Ohio for New York City with her best friend Kimberly to make a new life. But after Kimberly is assaulted and leaves, Gretchen is on her own. Lonely and isolated, she takes a chance on two new friends from very different backgrounds: Bloomingdales and celebrity auctions with golden girl, Paige; and salsa clubs and telenovelas with vibrant, sassy Marisol. Quickly, New York becomes a place of wonder and excitement as Gretchen gets caught up in the soap opera-like action. But the city has another side, the scourge of drugs and crime, which links their lives in unexpected and dangerous ways, testing Gretchen’s friendships and her ability to survive in the city.

Look for it!