Endings and new beginnings

Sunset is the end of a day, but the start of the evening. (This is a particularly optimistic sunset. Since I was on a jazz cruise in New Orleans when I took this shot, it was a fine evening indeed.)

It finally happened. Late last week, Samhain Publishing–my publisher for ten titles– announced it was closing its doors forever as of February 28.

This isn’t out of the blue. Samhain almost closed last year, but then announced it had pulled itself back from the brink. I wasn’t sanguine the company would manage to muddle along long-term, but I hoped it would. Kind of had no option about that. My books were still under contract and there wasn’t much I could do but wait and hope it could either survive or go out gracefully. (Note to self: Don’t sign such a long contract again. No matter how stable a company appears, the industry is always changing. So, for that matter, are my own needs as an author.)

Now it’s over, or soon to be, and it’s a bittersweet feeling.

Bitter because I’ve enjoyed a great relationship with Samhain since 2009, when they accepted Lions’ Pride. Until last year, they were always a pleasure to work with. The past year had its share of chaos and poorly handled crisis communication, which is likely to happen when a company is pared down to a few core employees, all horribly stressed. But they’ve continued to pay royalties on time and are going out in a way that avoids bankruptcy and makes sure we all get our rights back. I won’t mention names here, but that hasn’t always been the case when publishers go out of business.

Sweet because getting all the rights back means I can make changes I’ve wanted to make. New covers for some of them. Tweaks and updates that I’ve longing to make to some of them. Repackaging Drive and rebranding the series as Kinky Cougars, not Cougars, Cars and Kink. (The Mustang in Drive isn’t going anywhere, don’t worry–but some of the characters in upcoming books flat-out refused to be that obsessed with cars.)

Also sweet because frankly, I’ve been feeling stuck in limbo. Knowing where my books and I stand already feels better for my brain. There may have been a bit of bourbon and a lot of chocolate on the night I found out (and by “may” I mean “was”) but now I can make a plan instead of dithering. And feeling unstuck will make it easier to write new words. It’s been hard to continue working on my ongoing series, especially the Kinky Cougars.

It’s going to take work to get ten books republished. All of the books I had with Samhain will be back, but it’s going to be a gradual process. If you’ve wish-listed one of my titles or have been putting off buying something that intrigued you, do it now. And if you’ve ordered books–mine or anyone else’s–directly from Samhain, make sure they’re downloaded and backed up before February 28.

Here’s a list of the titles that will be disappearing temporarily.

Duals and Donovans series: Lions’ Pride, Foxes’ Den, Fox’s Folly, Cougar’s Courage, Witches’ Waves

Chronicles of the Malcolm series: Thrill-Kinky, Bad Kitty

Kinky contemporaries: Out of Control, Knowing the Ropes, Drive

Au revoir, Samhain. It was great while it lasted.

Now it’s time for the next adventure.

The sun will rise and give us a new day and new opportunities.