My Wonderful Readers in the Wild

Who reads cross-genre indie upmarket fiction, anyway? Who wants a gothic medieval fairy tale stuffed with smut, archaic poetry, and murky magic? Who would read a coming-of-age thriller set in the 11th century Byzantine backwoods barbarian wilderness? And who is buying such books from me, a hermetic suburban mom unknown in academic circles and without any kind of celebrity?

I have been wonderfully surprised.

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Cat the tea-drinking dragon is reading my kids-run-away-to-become-pirates tale Leirah and the Wild Man, yet the only dragons in this book are carvings on Viking longships. I would have expected Cat to choose my fantasy novel, The Grove of Thorismud, featuring the *real* live dragon Kashenkashast, Eater of Souls. But my readers keep on surprising me!

For example, one of my earliest critique circle comments on The Grove was, "Men aren't going to want to read this" in response to a raw, visceral description of a woman's labor pain. The comment surprised me because it had never occurred to me to write for male readers at all. I had taken it for granted that men don't read books by women, and certainly not fairy tale-based or romance novels. I was so wrong.

Within our local writing community in Lansing, Michigan, I met authors who blew up the notion that men don't read (or write!) books by or about women. I traded manuscripts with author Lawrence Hogue, a respectable and intelligent man who takes pleasure in writing smart novels and stories with female protagonists, some of them lesbian.

Another prolific local male writer, Mickey Hadick, has warmly supported my work with purchases and showing up for events.

And Lansing-area big-deal author Lyssa Kay Adams of the warm, hilarious, and clever Bromance Book Club series, actually created a groundbreaking new reality out of her own romantic fantasy--oh, the awesome power of her pen! Her popular rom-com books with a twist of social satire literally has a male fan club like the fictional book club in her series, and it's helping heterosexual men who are interested in understanding women's pleasure and perspectives and in openly discussing their interest in the feelings of human beings of all genders.

My own novels are gritty, yet fun and feminine coming-of-age adventures with teen girl protagonists, and my guess is that about half of my readers so far are highly educated older men. I have sold books to all sorts of women, young and mature, queer and straight, academically-oriented and pulp fiction-relishing. But it keeps blowing my mind how many boomer men come to my signings, purchase my books at local shops, and order them online. 

OK indeed! I learned to never let anyone convince me that there is any such thing as a whole demographic of literate people who would not read my books.

The post above is by reader Bob's wife.

I have received unexpected responses from men, expressing simple delight in my work and none of it inappropriate, creepy, or trolling. (Many romance authors deal with harassment and inappropriate comments.) I only received a little heckling about my work-in-progress once, in a medievalists' forum, by a man who wished to warn me of the impossibility of a woman writing good historical fiction. I politely (and publicly, mmm) buried him under the weight of my detailed knowledge and nuanced depth of intercultural research, and he vanished into the floor like Rumpelstiltskin. Weirdly, before he capitulated he kept going on about how I'd need to be an expert in African agriculture in order to understand medieval societies well enough to write a medieval novel. I did not tell him (because his premise was stupid), but laughed to myself, that my backyard neighbor/family grilling buddy of several years was actually one of the world's leading experts in African agriculture, and I had been following his academic lectures with casual interest. Although important, my neighbor's scholarly work was not particularly relevant to a novel about petty thieves and murderers terrorizing a river in Europe, but, fun fact, I did include in my novel a mention of an African medicinal plant that my neighbor once brought home from a family visit to Ghana and shared with my husband. So there, lame forum guy!

The only person who has ever bashed my finished work thus far was a woman in a historical fiction forum who accused Leirah and the Wild Man of indoctrinating people into socialism by calling a band of thieves "seductive" on the back cover. Ooh, naughty! Adorably, so many people in the forum were so offended at the woman's toothless tirade that I received a bump in sales. To my relief and amusement, all "controversies" over my work have been tiny, silly, and ultimately beneficial to me.

Some of my greatest outright champions and supporters are men. Scott Harris, owner of iconic local bookstore Everybody Reads, the location of my official launch, has prominently displayed and proudly pitched my hardcovers to walk-in customers for months. 

The young and stylish Dylan Rogers, owner of The Robin Books in Lansing's artsy REO Town, honored me with the opportunity to give his shop's first author book talk, and he stocks both of my novels in his small, exclusive collection of new books. He read Leirah himself and recommends it to customers.

And my husband Justin, a big-beard-and-stout-beer-bro fueled by testosterone, and the only person in the world who fully shares my fiery and forceful obsession with Rammstein (O most metal of old men), was my most thorough and insightful critique partner for Leirah and the Wild Man and continues to be a passionate promoter of my girly work.

Speaking of fire and wildness, I love seeing readers take my books on outdoor adventures, from Lake Michigan to the Maine woods and beyond. Thanks to reader Molly for this cozy tea-by-the-campfire shot!

And I love not seeing one of my books on a library shelf because someone has taken it home!

Where in the world is The Grove of Thorismud? 

One answer to that question is Florida, where my colorful and creative mother-in-law has expressed awe at its "literate and sexy" prose studded with erotic Biblical passages and even more ancient sources of pagan poetry celebrating sacred sexual rituals to resurrect dead gods and create new earthly life. She is now spreading the word, and copies of my books, like a missionary to all kinds of people she meets in her part of Florida, where my books would surely constitute a felony if they ended up in a school.

 

Another answer is California, where I have personally shipped multiple books. One of my West Coast readers made my heart explode with joy by finishing Leirah in a single week and raving to me on the phone about what it meant to her. Her family is from the Black Sea region, and her uncle is a Turkish Pulitzer Prize winner (for translating one of my all-time favorite books, set in Istanbul), so I was floored by her ecstatic response.

It feels like real magic to have created works of entertaining art that have the power to transform minds and hearts at a neurological level, my own included. I love it when readers are surprised at how much they enjoy my novels and at how well I have crafted them without having earned an MFA or enjoyed the multidisciplinary support of a large publishing house.

And although it takes time as word of mouth spreads and my readers savor pages slowly, I love it when readers keep the magic alive by posting ratings, reviews, and other responses on Goodreads, bookseller websites, and their own social media platforms, and by gifting or lending out my books to personal friends and acquaintances. Because I am not a celebrity or an independently wealthy marketing maven, readers sharing their love for my books with others is the only way that new readers can find out about my novels. Readers, I deeply appreciate when you take the time to share! 

Although self-publishing literary novels printed in high quality hardcover editions is not generally a profit-making venture (though I am humbly proud to report that I have earned back all my publication and promotion costs plus a little more), I am constantly reaping the spiritual rewards of having created something beautiful and transformative. My wild, wonderful readers have made the process of writing and publishing my novels worthwhile, and every little thing that comes to me in the future because of them will be another wonderful surprise.

If you'd like to support my work, you can maximize the benefits to me and local bricks-and-mortar bookshops at the same time by using and sharing my Magic Nutshell Bookshop link on Bookshop.org. Happy reading!