Getting The Call

The moment I've waited for my entire writing career finally arrived.

I'd always envisioned getting the call from an agent who gushed over my book, while I, cool as a cucumber said, "Why thank you, I'm so pleased you enjoyed it." Somehow a purple plumed pen was worked in the scenario, I don't know where or when, but believe me, it was there. I would waft across the house to find my husband doing manly things of some sort. He'd glance at me with one of 'those' looks. "Not now, my dear, I got the call. I have an agent." Oh yes, this is where the purple plumed pen comes into play.

Life is nothing like my fantasy world.

I was sitting in a crowded shuttle bus full of Polar Bear Plungers when my new IPhone rang. The number of Jewelann Cone,the agent that I'd submitted my big opus to, showed up on caller I.D. I frantically tried to answer the call. Nothing happened. I think my phone smirked. What did I do wrong? The whole time I'm juggling my phone, I'm being bumped by clowns who are buried up to their ears in parkas and giant Smurfs. I'm nose to crotch with a guy whose duffle bag comes close to clobbering me upside the head with every bump of the shuttle bus. Fairy princess wings flutter around me until I wanted to swat them away like gnats.

I looked to the back of the bus for my husband. Maybe he could help. He works in It and is my techie guru--without him, my ability to write would be nil. I'm one of these people who walks into a computer store with a glazed look on my face while he's like a kid in a candy store. He once tried to explain the binary system to me. It stripped the insulation on my brain.

Back to the 'Big Moment'.

My husband, he's the crazy one who planned to plunge into the icy waters of Longview Lake, chatted away to his sister, who is equally nuts. No amount of arm waving got his attention. It's time to go for broke. Surely I can be smarter than a phone. Don't make any bets. Anyway, I pulled off my gloves to get a better grip on the slippery sucker and low and behold, the darn thing likes 'skin to skin'. Who knew?

A bit of pained, logical thinking and I was able to call Jewelann back. Then she said the magical words I'd longed for, "I'd like to represent you."

I screamed back over the noise of the crowd. "What?"

"I'd like to represent you."

A couple of minutes of trying to talk and I gave up. I told her I'd call her back when I got settled. The noise grew worse. There were over 1100 crazy people who decided to take the plunge for Special Olympics. It's a great cause but I'm a big believer in pancake breakfasts as a fundraiser.

I finally found a quiet spot, if you can call trying to compete with the Allman Brothers Band's 'Ramblin' Man' quiet. My husband is running around in a diaper and top hat as the New Year's Baby. I'm talking to Jewelann when I hear the announcer for the Polar Bear Plunge say the Plunge is now complete because she saw a dude in a diaper. The 'Dude' won first place in the costume contest.

Okay, so the Big Moment didn't go like I'd always thought it would, but nothing can take away the thrill I felt when I got the call. Thank you, Jewelann, for being the one part of my fantasy that was true.

The Scary Stuff

I thought writing the book was the scary part. Then it was the submission process. Even though I'm published, I'm still beating the bushes for an agent. The last three books I've submitted have netted about 150 rejections so far. Does that make me want to stop, give up, and curl myself into a fetal position under my desk? Hell, no! My agent is out there, waiting, but she or he doesn't know it yet.
That's only the beginning of the scary stuff.
The next item on my list is marketing. No one really explained the whole concept of getting your name out there. Every time I see a blogger begging to interview a new author, I jump on it. I can't really say I'm struggling alone in this. There are several gracious women I can go to for help if I get to the point of tearing my hair out. Shannon K. Butcher, my former critique partner, is always there to answer my questions, as is Claire Ashgrove, Alicia Dean, and a other published authors in my local RWA chapter. Word to the newbies out there--bookmarks are a great tool to have. Keep them in your purse to pass out. You never know when you might hit the reader jackpot.
Now on to the next scary thing. Reviews. The Wild Rose Press does a great job of sending books out to different reviewers. I can't believe how afraid I was of reading that first review. Four out of five stars excited me so much that I had tears in my eyes. The next review didn't get any easier to read, a 4.5 out of five. My last review had my hands shaking as I opened the site--a five out of five. Granted, this was only three reviewers but they've been consistent in their praise, and I'm over the moon. The next reviewer might say it sucks. You can't please everyone. I can live with that.
Yesterday a friend gave me two books to autograph. Now that's a thrill I never thought would happen. That made everything tangible and over the top real.
So I guess what I'm trying to say in my ramblings is to keep trying for your dreams. Not everyone will agree with you, you may hit a few stumbling blocks, but don't let them slow you down.
The scary stuff helps you grow as an author and than you find out it's not so scary after-all.

It's Here! It's Here!

No, I'm not announcing the birth of a grand-baby, although that would be wonderful. My book, A Perfect Bride for Christmas, was released November 12th. It might as well have been a birth because I was in labor for a long time, but the finished product was worth every little bit of effort.

The best thing I've discovered is that my work has merit . I've received two wonderful reviews so far. The Romance Reviews gave it a four out of five stars and the Long and Short of It Reviews gave it five out of five. Not too bad for my first step into the world of being a published author.
The business end of writing is a revelation as well. Promotion, working on different marketing strategies, not to mention, I'm writing a paranormal, and getting it ready for submissions. Now I know how a juggler really feels.

This blog is a lot shorter than usual, but I'm up to my eyeballs in interviews and doing NaNoWriMo. I'm so behind my all NaNo writing buddies. Don't worry, I'll keep plugging away until the end of the month. No excuses allowed. Here's a question. Why can't the organizers of NaNoWriMo do it in January when nothing happens? Okay, New Year's Day, but it's only one day out of the entire month.
The rant is over and now, it's off to work.
I hope everyone takes the time to go to my website and check out A Perfect Bride for Christmas. It's available at The Wild Rose Press, Amazon.com, and my husband informs me he saw it on Barnes & Noble's website. I loved writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Look at Me!
I'm blogging on Dreamweavers! This blog was created by my critique partners and myself to give the reader a look inside world ofwriting. Romance, paranormal, fantasy, science fiction, mainstream-- we do it all. Drop by and check us out. Learn about the writing process from those who are published, working to become published. Our contributors are e-published, those with agents and the rest of us on the hunt for the elusive creatures. Agents, we know you're out there. Dreamweavers is on the move and searching for you.
Learn as we learn the wild, rocky and yet surprising road to fulfilling our dreams-- one story at a time.

I bet you thought I fell off the face of the earth. No, it's been an incredibly busy few months. My first book is coming out November 12th and it's still hard to believe. Check out the Wild Rose Press.com or Amazon.com for A Perfect Bride for Christmas.
The experience of writing this book was exciting and scary at the same time. Two other authors approached me with an idea for a Christmas series. We decided on three brothers, the Kings, who really aren't wise in the ways of love. It was up to us to teach them a bit of wisdom.
My book deals with what is on the outside isn't always an indication of what's on the inside. Real love comes from within.
Zoe Hillman hates herself for making the same mistake as the heroines in the romance novels she devours. She's overweight, plain, and has the fashion sense of a slug. Why would Alex King,her boss and best friend, ever see her as the woman who loves him with all her heart.
The perfect wife will launch Alex King to junior partner in his law firm. He thinks he's found her until he's jilted at the alter. A drunken bet with his best man lands him in hot water when he wakes up the next morning married to Zoe. So begins the shortest marriage in Vegas.
Five years later, Alex decides to take the plunge again. This time he's sure he's chosen the perfect bride-- until Zoe reenters the picture with a new look and a set of triplets in tow.
Claire Ashgrove and Alicia Dean were jewels to work with on this project. It was amazing to watch the three books, each as different as could be, come together. The internet is a wonderful tool that we used to the max.
Please check out A Christmas to believe in by Claire Ashgrove and A Knight Before Christmas by Alicia Dean.

And The Beat Goes On.

Two books and eighty-four rejections later, I'm still without an agent. Now I'm getting ready to shop around A TASTE OF LOVE. Am I reluctant to put myself through all the waiting and nail biting? You betcha. But it's the only way to sell my work. Will I feel like slashing my wrists if no one picks up the phone or emails me with the news that I'm the next Lori Foster or Sherrilyn Kenyon? Nope.

The process of querying a book is a bit strange. I've received a rejection less than two minutes after I've sent it out via email. Did they take time to read it? It's a mystery. Some have been curt and to the point. "Sorry, not for me." Others have been encouraging even though they are form letters.

Don't get me wrong, I wonder about each rejection. What was it that made them say no. A bad query letter? Was the writing weak or my voice not strong or unique enough for their particular line? All these factor in and you never know when you get a form letter without any clue to their reason for the rejection. So you keep on going.

There are moments of giddiness when an agent asks to read more of your work. Some will give you a bit of insight if they reject you, again, others just say it wasn't for them. It does'nt matter. You keep sending out your work.

Each rejection is a stepping stone to the future and I have to look at it that way. One of these days I'll have the right book at the right time and then the business of writing will take a different road. I'm looking forward to traveling along that particular path.

And so it begins...

And so it begins.

For years I've dabbled in writing, not taking it seriously, just enough that I could tell my friends that I write romance novels. It had a nice cache. However, there comes a time where you have to pony up and submit your work. That's when you truly become a writer.

So let's back up and start from the beginning. Like I said, I dabbled and that's all it could really be called, until I joined a chapter of Romance Writers of America. Actually, I was one of the first members of Heartland Romance Authors, aka HeRA, and helped found the charter of the chapter. But that didn't really make me a writer. I served as the first Vice President and held several board positions, including President. I still wasn't a writer.

I toiled over a book for several years, yes, I said years. Nope, I hadn't earned my bona fides yet.

No matter how much I wrote, I didn't have the discipline or the craft to do justice to my stories. If you write, you know those annoying, yet exciting flashes that whiz around in your brain, the ones that refuse to quiet until they are down in black and white. They deserve the best opportunity to live and breathe in a book. However, it's important to do it right.

The first thing you have to do is to make a commitment to write. Sit down in front of the computer each day, for as long as it takes, and work. Learn how to construct a good sentence, grammar, and most of all, how to plot. Find a good critique group to help keep you accountable, one that will tell you if your story stinks, lacks a plot point, or is amazing. Learn the craft of writing - I can't tell you how important this is. Read, read, read.

The next step in my journey was to enter a contest. I submitted WAGES OF CYN, under protest, to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest for 2009. My friend and critique partner Julie, who entered in Young Adults, threatened to park her six kids on my doorstep if I didn't. It worked. Still, I waited until the last minute of the last day to hit the send button.

Then I forgot about it. I mean, a one in ten thousand chance of winning? Not likely. Then, several weeks later, I was at another critique partner's house and in the middle of a cream puff orgy, Shannon says, "How does it feel to be in the top five hundred?" I looked at her like a dog who doesn't understand English, cocked my head to the side while I licked the Bavarian goodness off my fingers and said, "Huh?" "The quarter finals of the ABNA." It took a few seconds to register what she'd said. I managed to place in the contest. I couldn't believe it. I'd like to say I went on to make the next cut; I didn't, but what it did give me was a kick in the butt. I got totally serious.

I sat down each day and wrote, kept a log of my word count, set aside time for research, and did critiques. In other words, this was my job and I had to treat it as such. And that leads to queries. The first one was the hardest. My heart froze when it came time to email my newest novel, SHADOWMAN. The next was easier. Then came the rejections, one after another, and I felt like my world was over. But you know, after a while you realize it's all a part of the business. Nothing personal, just business. Julie told me it was like ice cream. You're selling chocolate and they want strawberry. Go on to the next book.

I sent out queries for WAGES OF CYN with much the same results. Except the day I got an email from an agent asking for a partial. That's when I felt giddy and unable to think for a few minutes. My legs were too wobbly for a victory dance. Then another asked for a full and then several other agents asked to see more of my work. At that point, it becomes business again. You still get a thrill when you're asked for your work but you send it out knowing that the process is far from over. You may get more rejections, asked to change things and so on.

You have to work at writing. An agent isn't going to miraculously send you an email or call saying you're the next best thing since peanut butter and jelly sandwiches unless you query. Send out your work and maybe you might be the next best thing.

So far, I'm still without an agent but that won't stop me. I'll keep writing and sending out those queries. I might look at e-publishing as an alternative. This time I can really say I am a writer, my stories are solid and worthy of a chance to share with others.