So here I am. On my thirty-*coff*something*coff* birthday staring in awe at my book cover.
I still can’t believe in a few short months I’ll be published. And by an amazing publisher to boot.
A lot of people have these crazy stories about their path to publication. Mine is fairly simple. I started, like most of us, jotting down stories as a child. Letting my imagination run wild with tales filled with fantastical creatures and faraway places. Hoping that one day I could make up stories for a living.
Fast forward a… few years. I’d explored the fanfic world and sent out a few queries for a couple of YA novels that didn’t seem to want to find a home anywhere. And then I had an idea for a character. Her name came first and stuck with me for about a year before I wrote the first chapter. Unfortunately, it got put aside while I dealt with life but the story was always percolating in the back of my mind. Then one day I found out Carina Press was calling for submissions for their Christmas Steampunk Anthology.
A week and a half before the deadline.
Did I think I could do it? Not really. Did I go for it? Absolutely.
And thus Aurelia Popkiss and her crew took over my imagination with a vengeance. After nearly a week straight of no sleep, fevered panic writing (which I discovered at university was when I did my best work) and pestering my sainted friends to do a quick read over, I closed my eyes and hit send.
To be honest, I didn’t expect much. At worst, a form rejection. At best, a rejection with a few notes a kind editor might throw my way.
Then one morning I found an email from Angela James, Executive Editor with Carina Press, in my inbox. It took me a couple of reads to comprehend what it said. The story wasn’t right for the anthology HOWEVER she did like it enough for her to request a rewrite and resubmit.
So I did.
And now LIAR’S GAME will be out July 2.
Moral of the story:
- Don’t give up
- If you see an opportunity, seize it
- If you work for it, you will get there
- Childhood dreams can come true