By Cheryl Shireman
I believe life whispers to you
and provides direction. I call that life force God. You can call it whatever
you want, but there is no escaping it. If we are open, and brave enough to say
yes, life will take us in directions we never expected, and you will live a
life beyond your wildest dreams.
Those whisperings often come in
the form of a “crazy” idea or a nudge to move into a certain direction that
seems odd or silly or daring. Then there is that moment when you think, Well, that’s weird. Where in the world did
that come from?
And then there’s the second
moment, when you have to make a choice. You can dismiss the crazy notion, and
probably even come up with a dozen reasons why it’s a bad idea. You don’t have
the time, the money, or the resources. Besides, who are you to do such a thing?
What in the world were you thinking? So, you dismiss the idea. We always have
that option - to say No.
But it comes back - that whisper.
Sometimes again and again. But if we are practical, and safe, we can squash the
notion until it is almost forgotten. Almost.
Such a notion came to me a couple
of months ago. I began to think of an anthology composed of women writers. An
anthology that would be published before the rapidly approaching holiday
season. The title came to me almost immediately - Indie Chicks. It was a crazy
notion. I was working with an editor who was editing my first two novels, and was
also in the middle of writing a third novel. Working on three books seemed to
be a pretty full plate. Adding a fourth was insane.
But the crazy notion kept coming
back to me. It simply refused to be dismissed. So I sent out a “feeler” email
to another writer, Michelle Muto. She loved the idea. I sent out another email
to my writing buddy, J. Carson Black. She loved the idea, too, but couldn’t
make the time commitment. She had just signed with Thomas & Mercer and was knee
deep in writing. I took it as a sign. I didn’t have the time for the project
either. Perhaps after the first of the year, when final edits were done on my
own novels. I dismissed it, at least for the present time. I’d think about it
again in another couple of months, when the timing made more sense.
A week later I surrendered, started
developing a marketing plan for Indie Chicks, and began sending out emails to
various indie writers - some I knew, but most were strangers. I contacted a
little over thirty women. Every one of them responded with enthusiasm. Most
said yes immediately, and those who could not, due to time commitments, wished
us well and asked me to let them know when the book when the book was published
so they could be part of promoting it.
One of the first writers I
contacted was Heather Marie Adkins. Earlier this year, while I was browsing the
internet, I came across an interview with Heather. The interviewer (oddly
enough, Michelle Muto) asked Heather, When did you decide to become an indie
author? Heather’s answer was: About a month ago. My dad had been trying to
talk me into self-publishing for some time, but I was hesitant. One night, I
sat down and ran a Google search. I discovered Amanda Hocking, JA Konrath,
Victorine Lieski; but it was Cheryl Shireman that convinced me. This is the
field to be in. I was shocked (Astonished! Flabbergasted!). I had no idea
that I had ever inspired anyone! To be honest, it was a bit humbling. And,okay,
yes - it made me cry. So, of course, I had to invite Heather to be a part of
the anthology. Heather not only said yes, but she also volunteered to format
the project - a task I was dreading.
As Heather and I exchanged
emails, I told her about how I had been similarly inspired to become an indie
writer by Karen McQuestion. My husband bought me a Kindle for Christmas of
2010. Honestly, the present angered me. I didn’t want a Kindle. I wanted
nothing to do with reading a book on an electronic device! I love books; the
feel of them, the smell of them. But, very quickly, I started filling up that
Kindle with novels.
One day, while looking for a new
book on Amazon, I came across a title by Karen McQuestion. I learned that
McQuestion had published her novels through Amazon straight to Kindle.
Immediately, I began doing research on her and how to publish through Kindle. I
had just completed a novel and was ready to submit it through traditional
routes. Within 48 hours of first reading about McQuestion, I submitted my novel,
Life Is But A Dream: On The Lake. Twenty four hours later, it was published as
an eBook on Amazon. Within another couple of weeks it was available as a
paperback and through Nook. Did I jump into this venture fearlessly? No! I was
scared to death, and I almost talked myself out of it. Almost. The novel went
on to sell over 10,000 copies within the first seven months of release.
As I shared that story with
Heather, another crazy notion whispered in my ear - Ask Karen McQuestion to
write the foreword for Indie Chicks. Of course, I dismissed it. We had
exchanged a couple of tweets on Twitter, but other than that, I had never
corresponded with McQuestion. It was nonsense to think she would write the
foreword. I was embarrassed to even ask her. Surely, she would think I was some
sort of nut. But, the idea kept whispering to me and, with great trepidation, I
emailed her. She said yes! Kindly, enthusiastically, and whole-heartedly, she
said yes. Karen McQuestion had inspired me to try indie publishing. I had inspired
Heather Adkins. And now the three of us were participating in Indie Chicks,
that crazy whisper I had been unable to dismiss.
The book began to develop, and as
it did, a theme began to form. This was to be a book full of personal stories
from women. As women, one of our most powerful gifts is our ability to
encourage one another. This book became our effort to encourage women across
the world. Twenty-five women sharing stories that will make you laugh, inspire
you, and maybe even make you cry. We began to dream that these stories would
inspire other women to live the life they were meant to live.
From the beginning, I knew I
wanted the proceeds of this charity to go to some sort of charity that would
benefit other women. While we were in the process of compiling the anthology,
the mother of one of the women was diagnosed with breast cancer. Almost
immediately upon learning that, Michelle Muto sent me an email. Hey, in light of *****’s mother having an
aggressive form of breast cancer, can I nominate The Susan G. Komen foundation
for breast cancer? I mean, one of our own is affected here, and other than
heart disease (which took my own mother’s life), I can’t think of anything more
worthy than to honor our sister in words and what she’s going through. A
daughter’s love knows no bounds for her mother. Trust me. I know it’s a charity
that already gets attention on its own. But, that’s not the point, is it? The
point is there are 25 ‘sisters’ sticking together and supporting each other for
this anthology. I say we put the money where the heart is. We had our
inspiration. All proceeds would go to the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast
cancer research.
The stories started coming in.
Some were light hearted and fun to read. But others were gut-wrenching and inspiring
- stories of how women dealt with physical abuse, overwhelming grief, and a
host of bad choices. It was clear; these women were not just sharing a story,
but a piece of their heart. I felt as if I were no longer “organizing” this
anthology, but just getting out of the way so that it could morph and evolve
into its truest form.
Fast forward to just a few days
before publication. Heather was almost done with the enormous task of
formatting a book with twenty-five authors. We were very close to publishing
and were on the homestretch. That’s when I received an email. An unlikely email
from someone I didn’t really know. Beth Elisa Harris and I were involved in
another indie project and Beth sent an email to all of the authors in that
project, including me. She attached a journal to that email. For whatever
reason, Beth had been inspired to share a journal she wrote a few years ago.
She cautioned us to keep her confidence and not share the journal with anyone
else. I tend toward privacy and don't
tend to trust easily. This is a HUGE step for me. I've only read it once since
I wrote it. Intrigued, I opened the journal and began reading. It dealt
with her diagnosis, a few years back, with breast cancer! Before I was even one
third of the way through the journal, I felt I should ask Beth to include this
journal in the Indie Chicks anthology. It was a crazy notion, especially when
considering her words about privacy and trust. We didn’t even know each other,
how could I ask her to go public with something so personal? I tried to dismiss
the notion (are you noticing a pattern here?), but could not. I wrote the
email, took a deep breath, and hit send. She answered immediately. Yes. Most
definitely, yes.
Indie Chicks: 25 Women 25
Personal Stories, with foreword by Karen McQuestion and afterword by Beth Elise
Harris, is now available through Barnes and Noble and Amazon. The book includes
personal stories from each of the women, as well as excerpts from our novels.
And it began as a whisper. A whisper I did my best to ignore.
What whisper are you ignoring?
What crazy notion haunts you? What dream merely awaits your response? I urge
you, say Yes. Live the life you were meant to live. Say yes today.
Stories
included in Indie Chicks:
Foreword
by Karen McQuestion
Knight in
Shining Armor by Shea MacLeod
Latchkey
Kid by Heather Marie Adkins
Write or
Die by Danielle Blanchard
The
Phoenix and The Darkness by Lizzy Ford
Never Too
Late by Linda Welch
Stepping
Into the Light by Donna Fasano
One
Fictionista’s Literary Bliss by Katherine Owen
I Burned
My Bra For This? by Cheryl Shireman
Mrs. So
Got It Wrong Agent by Prue Battten
Holes by
Suzanne Tyrpak
Turning
Medieval by Sarah Woodbury
A Kinky
Adventure in Anglophilia by Anne R. Allen
Writing
From a Flour Sack by Dani Amore
Just Me
and James Dean by Cheryl Bradshaw
How a Big
Yellow Truck Changed My Life by Christine DeMaio-Rice
From 200
Rejections to Amazon Top 200! by Sibel Hodge
Have You
Ever Lost a Hat? by Barbara Silkstone
French
Fancies! by Mel Comley
Life’s
Little Gifts by Melissa Foster
Never
Give Up On Your Dream by Christine Kersey
Self-taught
Late Bloomer by Carol Davis Luce
Moving to
The Middle East by Julia Crane
Paper,
Pen, and Chocolate by Talia Jager
The Magic
Within and The Little Book That Could by Michelle Muto
Write Out
of Grief by Melissa Smith
Afterword
by Beth Elisa Harris
Indie
Chicks is available for your Kindle on Amazon and your Nook on Barnes and
Noble. You may also read it on your computer or most mobile devices by
downloading a free reader from those sites.
Stop by
our Facebook page -
http://www.facebook.com/IndieChicksAnthology
Follow
our Indie Chicks hash tag on Twitter!
#IndieChicksAnthology
