A newly published author shares details of her impressive juggling act.
BY MELISSA MOORMAN
MARCH 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
Just imagine you were looking for a creative outlet for yourself and you sat down at your computer and tapped
away on a story. You didn’t think much about it, but you let your spouse read it and he enjoyed it. Fast forward
a year and you have sold well over 5,000 copies of your book with two more in the series to write. All the while
you’re juggling three kids and teaching six dance and acting classes a week. Just a day in the life of C.M. Frank, the
author of The Inspiring Mind of a Quixotic Girl, now out in hardback, paperback and as an eBook.
Frank and her husband moved to Weatherford from the west side of Fort Worth six years ago and have recently
moved again to Aledo. She is the owner and sole teacher at the Elite Performing Arts Conservatory located at 124
York Avenue in Weatherford. The story is true that she never meant to write a book, but a short year later she’s now
a published author planning the second book in the Quixotic Girl series.
The books are set in New Orleans, a city that Frank loves. “It’s my favorite city. I love it so much. I like the culture. It’s got this quirkiness and a kind of mysticism. All that’s in the book,” said the author. The books begin with
the main character, Bliss Fontane, at 17 and will mature with her as the series continues. “Chick lit is what I call it.
It’s about women’s empowerment,” said Frank.
Her background is colorful and even includes a stint on a sitcom as a child. She grew up as an actress and
model, and started dance at age 2. She missed so many days of school every year that her parents considered
homeschooling her while she was making the rounds auditioning in Austin, Dallas and Los Angeles. “The film and
TV was really my thing. I majored in dance and also took advertising and marketing so I would know how to run a
dance studio,” Frank said. She started her business three years ago. “I love teaching the kids. For me it’s all about
inspiring them and being a positive influence in their lives,” she said. Frank teaches ballet, tap, jazz and hip hop
along with acting.
The book really began as something just for fun. “I’m a very creative artsy-type person. I said I’m just going
to write this for myself,” Frank said. After reading what she had written, her husband Chris encouraged her to do
something with it. She admits that she’s a person that worries about putting herself out there, so next she contacted
literary agents and publishers with her work. “I got a lot of ’no’s’ and a handful of ‘yeses.’ I researched each one of
the publishers that said yes and looked at what they do marketing and PR-wise as well as their percentages,” she
shared. They asked her how long it would take to
finish the book and she told them six weeks. She
made herself stick with the six-week timeline to
finish the book and it was published on May 14 of
last year.
Frank has started writing the second book and
hopes to have it written by the end of the year.
The first book was written with her daughter sitting in her lap at the computer so Frank is looking
forward to her starting school in the fall. “Really,
that will free up a lot more time for me to write,”
she said. “I’m taking my time on this one. I started
the first book in February and I finished in May,
so it was like a whirlwind,” she added. She’s currently focusing on local book signings and appearances, as well as marketing on social media
to increase her social media presence.
Her next signing will be at Weatherford Comic
Con on April 2 at the Pythian Home. She can also
be found on social media at @cmfrankauthor, on
Twitter and Instagram, or on Facebook at facebook.com/cmfrankauthor. Her book is available on
Amazon as well as in independent bookstores.
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