Month: February 2025

Taking the cold plunge

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I belong to this fancy-schmancy health club where many patrons are attractive and fit. It’s a far cry from the other gyms I’ve roamed in my life. Not very homey. A bit too much preening. Perhaps it’s the overabundance of thong bikinis versus my royal blue Speedo that makes me feel out of place.

If you’re wondering what I’m doing in a club with access to massages, sushi bar, café, salon, and rooftop lounge pool that’s totally useless for lap swimming, note that it’s free. Medicare, concerned that I’m old and out of shape, pays my monthly dues, which is apparently cheaper than footing the bill for a trip to the hospital.

Not my health club. Not me. Still a cold plunge is a cold plunge.

The best part of the club is a prettily tiled, softly lit room with a whirlpool, sauna, steam, and cold plunge, the last of which was something I’d never tried before joining. As you might expect, I was dubious the first time I stared down into the small glittering pool. I was reminded of the two previous occasions I’d been immersed in cold water. One was when I was about 12. I was crossing a frozen stream and fell through the ice. The water was shallow, so I wasn’t in any danger, but damn it was cold. The second time I plunged into frigid water was intentional. I was in St. Petersburg Florida where I’d joined 105 men for a five week course bent on making us better baseball umpires. After a long dusty session of calling balls and strikes, safes and outs, I eyed the pool near the barracks.

“It’s too cold to swim!” One of the instructors pointed out.

I’m a Jersey girl, so the low 70s didn’t seem cold to me. I darted back to my room, donned my one-piece, and ran back to the pool, by which time a bunch of my classmates were waiting for me.

“You’re crazy!” one called out.

Some of the guys laughed. I was tempted to dip a toe into the water to see what I was getting myself into.

“Go ahead. Jump in!”

“She’ll never do it!”

There was no turning back, so I dove in. As soon as I hit the water I felt like I’d been kicked in the chest. The air burst from my lungs. I tried to calm myself, as I didn’t want to surge up gasping. I managed to smile when I surfaced, and even though I could barely feel my limbs I paddled around, acting like it was all rather refreshing. The men seemed a bit disppointed as I walked unsteadily to my room. Not surprisingly, it took a long stay in a hot shower to thaw me out.

With those memories bright in my mind, I stepped into the cold plunge.

Before I go on…note that according to Web.MD, cold plunges can be good for us. Icy baths can improve heart health, help with muscle recovery after exercise, lower stress, boost your immune system, improve your mood, and may help diabetics lower their blood sugar. Of course, cold plunges may not be good for everyone, so check with your doctor before you the dive in.

I walked down the steps quickly and gasped as I sat on the tile seat, the frigid water reaching up to my neck. Then I checked the thermometer, which appeared to be somewhere in the mid-50 degree range. In less than a minute, I bolted out.

And yet, strangely perhaps, I did it again. And again.

I can’t say I love the plunge, which I manage mostly by deep breathing. But I now stay in five minutes. My old bones seem to like it. And there’s a feeling of badassery when I walk out, sometimes to the astonishment of those bikini bods in the room. I kind of like that.

Your Forgotten Sons

Inspired by a true story

Anne Montgomery

Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to a Graves Registration Company, where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?

Release Date: June 6, 2024

Universal Buy Link

Amazon

Apple Books

Barnes & Nobel

Google Books

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Bookstores, libraries, and other booksellers can order copies directly from the Ingram Catalog.

Anne Montgomery’s novels can be found wherever books are sold.

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When should you publish your book? It’s not an exact science.

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Those unacquainted with the publishing world perhaps don’t know the vast number of decisions an author has to make. Note that I’m in the midst of remodeling my kitchen. It’s kind of like that. One has to consider plumbing and electrical, colors and texture, flooring and countertops, cabinets and appliances, and myriad other options on the road to the finished product.

Authors need to think about things like genre, characters, plot, setting, cover art, and marketing and promotional strategies, including blogs and podcasts and personal appearances.

But there’s another big decision to consider. Timing. When should authors release their baby to the public? For those who go the traditional route—meaning a publisher has acquired their book—the decision is often made for them. Since traditional publishers are paying the bills, they get to decide when to put your book on the market. Still, it never hurts to point out a specific date, if you have one in mind. My most recent book, Your Forgotten Sons—a World War II novel inspired by a true story—came out June 6, 2024 in honor of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, because I asked my publisher to hold it several months.

Of course, those who choose to self-publish have more options. So, assuming you have control over the timing of your release, what should you consider? One obvious idea is to launch your book alongside a holiday, as I did with Your Forgotten Sons. Are you a romance author? The weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day would be a simple choice. If horror’s your genre, time the release around Halloween. A memoire about your mom: Mother’s Day. Note that readers aren’t the only ones thinking about these topics as the holidays approach. Bookstores, bloggers, and podcasters are looking to feature holiday-themed books as well.

November and December are also good times to get your book out there. The idea is that people are buying gifts for loved ones and books are easy choices. Still, you might be surprised to know that January and February are considered a good time for self-published books to be launched. Why? People are itching to use all those new e-readers they got as presents, as well as those gift cards. And don’t forget the spring and summer months, when people have vacations on their minds, times when they are much more likely to sit and read at their leisure. Yes, book sales do tend to slump in the summer, but with traditional publishers heavily focused on back-to-school and holiday sales, there is certainly a window for those who self-publish when people are looking for beach reads.

There are certain books—primarily non-fiction based on or related to current events—that should be published quickly, while subject is a hot news topic. Getting these books out in a timely manner is not easy, but shoot for it if you can.

Despite all of the recommendations, this is not an exact science. There is no perfect date to launch your book. In the end, authors should revel in the fact that their book is out in the world. A finished project.

I wish I could say the same about my kitchen.

“What a brilliant book! I couldn’t put this novel down…It is a solid five-star read… Your Forgotten Sons should be a must-read for all lovers of fiction, especially WWII fiction. The tale was educational, provocative, enlightening..” 

Virginia Dill  Book Sirens

Your Forgotten Sons

Inspired by a true story

Anne Montgomery

Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to a Graves Registration Company, where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?

Release Date: June 6, 2024

Universal Buy Link

Amazon

Apple Books

Barnes & Nobel

Google Books

Kobo

Bookstores, libraries, and other booksellers can order copies directly from the Ingram Catalog.

Anne Montgomery’s novels can be found wherever books are sold.

Goodreads

Amazon

Defining success: It’s personal

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I have been asked a number of times lately how I define success. I now realize my answer to that question has changed significantly over the years.

A few decades back I, like many others, may have considered my bank account first, when presented with the question. Do I have the money to do what I want? But success isn’t quantified that easily. While money can reduce financial anxiety and provides a sense of security, I don’t think wealth alone can make us feel successful. There’s simply more to it than that.

The funny thing is we often don’t grasp that we are successful. The Forbes article “Signs you’re being successful even if you don’t realize you are,” points out different ways to look at success.

For example, are you a person who can comfortably stand up and speak with authority? Studies show just 1% of employees feel confident enough to voice their views to others. This is a form of success.

Do you consider yourself happy? The vast majority of people, 90% in one study, believe that success comes from one’s sense of happiness and joy.

And what about your dreams? According to Forbes, “Successful people give themselves permission to dream as big as they want.  When you create a vision for your life that might seem wildly ambitious, but you take steps every day towards it, know you are successful.” 

And note here that you don’t necessarily have to achieve that dream to be successful. It’s the process of moving towards a goal that makes one a success. As the great Arthur Ashe once said, “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” 

And let’s not forget about failure, a frequent companion to those who are successful. Getting to the top of any mountain requires trial and error. Those who are successful pick themselves up after a disappointment, learn from their mistakes, and start climbing again. Thomas Edison famously admitted that he failed more than one thousand times while trying to invent the lightbulb. On failure in general he was quoted as saying, “I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways it will not work.”

Clearly, success comes in many forms. Some find it in the meaningful work they do. That means a job we look forward to. Not every day, perhaps, but maybe 85% of the time. And when I say job, I don’t mean only in the traditional sense. Of course, tending to one’s family would fall under the job umbrella. As would dedicated volunteer work. Success then might be attained by the contributions we make that impact our family and community.

The more I think about it, the more I realize success is personal. There is no one-size-fits-all. I suppose the ultimate test will come at the end of our lives. Can we look back and say, “Yes! I’m proud of what I did.” I do know that for me the answer will be simple. Success is dying with few regrets and good stories.

I’m working on it.

Your Forgotten Sons

Inspired by a true story

Anne Montgomery

Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to a Graves Registration Company, where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?

Release Date: June 6, 2024

Universal Buy Link

Amazon

Apple Books

Barnes & Nobel

Google Books

Kobo

Bookstores, libraries, and other booksellers can order copies directly from the Ingram Catalog.

Anne Montgomery’s novels can be found wherever books are sold.

Goodreads

Amazon

A publishing do-over: The tale of an orphan book

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We don’t often get do-overs in life. But I’ve just gotten one and I couldn’t be happier. Now let me back up a little.

This past September I received word that one of my publishers was shutting down. I’d like to say this was the first time I’ve faced such a closure, but it’s not. Since I became an author 30 years ago, I’ve had three publishers call it quits. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone considering the crazy state of the industry.

According to the 2023 Brett-Koehler Publishing article “10 Awful Truths about Book Publishing,” “The book publishing world is in a never-ending state of change. The thin margins in the industry, high complexities of the business, intense competition, severe supply-chain disruptions, churning of new technologies, and rapid growth of other media lead to constant turmoil in bookselling and publishing, including the closure and sale of many publishing companies and publication programs each year.”

What does this mean to an author? Orphan books. When a publisher closes, book rights generally revert to the author. But what happens then? When you consider that approximately three million books are published annually in the U.S. alone—two million of which are self-published—it would seem unlikely that orphan books would make it back into circulation, unless an author wanted to foot the bill.

But I am delighted to say that I am getting a do-over courtesy of Next Chapter Publishing, where two of my novels—Your Forgotten Sons and Wild Horses on the Salt—currently have a home.

The book in question is called Wolf Catcher, a work of historical fiction that takes place in the American Southwest both in modern times and in the 11th century. Of all my books, this one is the most personal. One of the protagonists is a reporter tasked with ferreting out the identity of a man buried outside of Flagstaff, Arizona almost 900 years earlier. A man whose mummified remains looked different from the people who occupied the area at the time, one who was buried with 600 exquisite funerary objects, identifying him as a man of power and prestige.

The story of the man they call The Magician was my assignment when I worked as a reporter for Arizona Highways Magazine. That the reporter’s name in the book is Kate Butler might be a tipoff that she and I traveled the same path in search of the story. With the exception of the time when bullets are flying, everything that happened to Kate also happened to me.

Note that as a girl who grew up in New Jersey with little knowledge of Native Americans, the investigation was a long learning curve. I charged into my research with little understanding of the cultural traditions I might be trampling and, like Kate, changed a lot along the way.

I’m also happy to have a do-over on Wolf Catcher for another reason. In 2021, before the book was scheduled to launch, I contracted Covid, passed out, and suffered a severely broken leg that had to be surgically repaired. I carry a titanium plate and eleven screws as a reminder. Subsequently, there was no book launch and little marketing, as I spent eight months learning to walk again. As you can imagine, few people ever read the book. I’m hoping to change that this time around.

So my thanks to Next Chapter Publishing for taking Wolf Catcher on. I’m not yet sure of the timeline, but I’ll let you know when the mysterious story of The Magician is back.

Your Forgotten Sons

Inspired by a true story

Anne Montgomery

Bud Richardville is inducted into the Army as the United States prepares for the invasion of Europe in 1943. A chance comment has Bud assigned to a Graves Registration Company, where his unit is tasked with locating, identifying, and burying the dead. Bud ships out, leaving behind his new wife, Lorraine, a mysterious woman who has stolen his heart but whose secretive nature and shadowy past leave many unanswered questions. When Bud and his men hit the beach at Normandy, they are immediately thrust into the horrors of what working in a graves unit entails. Bud is beaten down by the gruesome demands of his job and losses in his personal life, but then he meets Eva, an optimistic soul who despite the war can see a positive future. Will Eva’s love be enough to save him?

Release Date: June 6, 2024

Universal Buy Link

Amazon

Apple Books

Barnes & Nobel

Google Books

Kobo

Bookstores, libraries, and other booksellers can order copies directly from the Ingram Catalog.

Anne Montgomery’s novels can be found wherever books are sold.

Goodreads

Amazon