Finishing Follow the Southern Cross

JJay Ross

Author of Circle the Moon and Follow the Southern Cross

The end of January brings to end the final touches of my second book, Follow the Southern Cross. When February begins the second chapter in my publishing career will begin, with the release of Follow-and the hard earned reviews of Circle the Moon coming in from Sacramento Book Review Magazine. Optomism flows from me for both, I do believe (as most authors do, all eight thousand of us each month who make submissions) that Follow the Southern Cross is my best published work yet. Except for my next novel, which is halfway done with the first stages of writing; truly this one might be the catalyst that puts me in the mainstream and the bookstores.

I don't mind at all independantly publishing, it keeps my fans (yes I actually have fans) happy that they are intimate with one of their favorite authors, and that they have a little influence on my stories and characters. This intimacy is imortant-some try to guess if their personality is used as a character in a story, others try to guess the outcome of a plot, much to their chagrine, I change it at the last minute to surprise them.

Of course my first of two dreams is to see my the colorful covers of my books on the shelf at Walmart next to Sparks, Macomber, Picoult, and others. Of course I would also love to see at least on book made into a Lifetime movie...

As I submit to agencies as I still have a great desire to leave my material untouched for those who love it-the little errors and timeline gaffs that make independant work seem realistic. But I realize in this fast-paced world of live on the edge of your seat, kill or be killed, blah blah blah of greedy publishers and even greedier fans-I must keep the faith of others in mind, keep the interest of novelists guarded and keep trying till I succeed.