More anniversary fun!

As the newest member of the Teen Fiction Cafe (and the only one still waiting for her debut!), this was a funny thing to go back and look at. Especially after reading everyone else's posts!

Three years ago, in March of 2007, I was an unagented, unpublished writer wondering if I would ever actually sell a book. I was still trying to find my voice, putting off writing a book called The Cinderella Society because I was afraid I didn't have the skills to pull off a book bigger than I'd ever tried before.

Every published author I know has been at that point. Wondering, worrying, comparing themselves to other authors and fearing they'll never measure up. That was me three years ago.

But it was the summer of 2007 when I finally decided that worrying was never going to get me where I wanted to go. And when I acknowledged that my writing improvements were coming more incrementally than in the huge leaps they'd come in at the beginning, I knew it was now or never. It was time for me to write The Cinderella Society.

So I did. I shredded everything I'd written on it up to that point, made the idea as big as I could, and started over with my fears banished to the closet while I hammered out a first draft. I finished the book in fall 2007 and entered it in the Golden Heart. And then came the agent search. I queried the amazing/funny/talented woman who would become my agent at the end of January 2008 and signed with her in early March. Three weeks later, I found out The Cinderella Society was a finalist in the Golden Heart.

Fast forward a few months... MANY revisions to The Cinderella Society (including the famous "Do you think you can make the climax of the book the midpoint?" which nearly made me faint but made the book TONS better)... and it went out on submission in June 2008. The summer was crazy and then on August 2, 2008, The Cinderella Society won the Golden Heart. I remember standing on the stage at the awards ceremony in San Francisco thinking I couldn't believe this was happening.

Flying high from the win, I went home and regrouped with my agent. Three houses still had the book, including one that had been championing it for two solid months in-house trying to buy it. Everything was fabulous...

And then I got an email from my agent saying the editor who had been such a supporter of it had to pass. It was a Monday, two weeks after getting home from San Francisco, and I was devasted. If she couldn't sell her publisher on it after two months, what were the odds *anyone* was going to want it? I spent Monday in deep despair, thinking for sure this was the end of the road.

And then Tuesday arrived.

With an offer from one of the remaining two publishers.

And then Friday arrived with an offer from the other remaining publisher.

It's truly amazing how your writing life can completely change in a span of just four days. I never would've imagined on Monday that things would turn around so completely. I signed with Egmont in August 2008 and never looked back.

It hasn't been easy, by any means. There have been many days I've fallen apart, swearing that I'm a terrible writer and this was all somehow a fluke. But it's made me stronger as a person and I'm grateful for that. And it's helped me remember what's really important in life too - my health, my family, my friends. Those are the things that make life really spectacular. :-)

So, fast forward 18 months and we arrive... here! Today! Celebrating three years of TFC goodness! The Cinderella Society hits shelves next month (April 13th - the same day Glee returns!) and the second book of the series, Cindy on a Mission, is slated for Spring 2011.

I feel so incredibly blessed. I get paid to make stuff up in my pajamas and get to hang out in the Cafe with some amazing, wonderful, funny authors. If this is a dream, please don't wake me! I'm going to sleep in a while longer. :-)

GIVEAWAY TIME!

To celebrate our 3-year blogoversary, I'm giving away a Cinderella Society "glass slipper" bookmark! Simply comment below for your chance to win. It's open to US/Canada residents and the winner will be announced in our grand finale on March 15th.

Happy anniversary, Teen Fiction Cafe!

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