Stop #5
Dana Mentink
Things I didn't know before I became a published author...
#1: How long it took to be published / how many rejections... There was a long time in my career when my stack of rejections was taller than my published works. I started on the journey about 24 years ago and my first cozy mystery series was accepted fairly quickly by Barbour. Once I started writing for Harlequin, it was a pretty steady publishing schedule. They still reject my ideas sometimes though. Can you imagine? ☺
#2. How much input authors have in their book titles / covers... That is a funny question because it reminds me of my third graders. (I retired from teaching elementary school in 2020.) The kids would eagerly ask, “How did you make the cover?” and I would have to confess that I didn’t! I can make general comments about the graphics to the art department, but they politely ask me to stay in my lane. The Harlequin peeps are very good at designing covers so that’s a fortunate thing! We’ve only disagreed a few times.
#3: What my family / strangers say when they find out I'm an author... Mostly they look at me suspiciously like I’m making it up or something. They also assume I write for children, since I am a retired teacher. I find people generally don’t know what to ask about this strange profession so they usually change the subject which is fine because I don’t really love talking about myself.
#4. How it felt to go from being an anonymous person to having fans... Oh, I still feel anonymous! So many of my readers are spread all over the globe that if we ran into each other, it would probably feel like meeting for the first time. In the cyberworld, I have a tight knit, lovely family, but in my northern, California area I am completely unknown unless I’m speaking at an event or something like that.
#5: Strangest historical fact / interesting thing I've discovered in research...Reindeers eyes change colors depending on the season. I am not making this up. Maybe everyone else already knew about this but I was flabbergasted.
#6: How my own reading habits have changed... I’m just a horribly selective reader now. If the writing is slow or there’s nothing redeeming about the hero/heroine, I’m going to put that book down and not pick it up again. I don’t have the slightest bit of guilt about not finishing a book anymore.
#3: What my family / strangers say when they find out I'm an author... Mostly they look at me suspiciously like I’m making it up or something. They also assume I write for children, since I am a retired teacher. I find people generally don’t know what to ask about this strange profession so they usually change the subject which is fine because I don’t really love talking about myself.
#4. How it felt to go from being an anonymous person to having fans... Oh, I still feel anonymous! So many of my readers are spread all over the globe that if we ran into each other, it would probably feel like meeting for the first time. In the cyberworld, I have a tight knit, lovely family, but in my northern, California area I am completely unknown unless I’m speaking at an event or something like that.
#5: Strangest historical fact / interesting thing I've discovered in research...Reindeers eyes change colors depending on the season. I am not making this up. Maybe everyone else already knew about this but I was flabbergasted.
#6: How my own reading habits have changed... I’m just a horribly selective reader now. If the writing is slow or there’s nothing redeeming about the hero/heroine, I’m going to put that book down and not pick it up again. I don’t have the slightest bit of guilt about not finishing a book anymore.
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