I was all set to write about toilets and the pursuit of a clean shower when I realized 'Holy hot dogs! How could I write about such mundane matters when I have big news to share?' In the wake of that V-8 moment (as in a slap to the forehead) here it goes:
About two weeks ago my agent called and left a message on my voicemail stating that Silhouette Romantic Suspense offered me a two-book contract (picture me clenching my phone and trying not to squeal while I listened to the message) after the senior editor read my single book proposal (tentatively titled To Catch A Killer) and found it "riveting." That in itself was a shock to the system as that line is particularly difficult to get into as they have a stable of very talented and established authors already, not to mention the line had just undergone an overhaul and word on the street was that it was even harder to land a contract with the new guidelines. But I had a story in my head that wasn't appropriate for Superromance and I desperately wanted to write it so I crossed my fingers and hoped that it might find a home. And it did. Wow. It was a very gratifying moment. I was still floating on a cloud when my agent called last Friday (May 16) to tell me (again, I got the message via voicemail. Where the heck am I when these important phone calls come through?) that Superromance wanted to offer me a three-book contract for my ongoing Emmett's Mill series. Oh, Mylanta! That's about the moment that I started grinning like a jackal and blabbering nonsense like "...you like me, right now, you like me!" in my head a la Sally Field when she won her 1985 Oscar for 'Places In The Heart.' My coworker and roommate, accustomed to my odd and seemingly random outbursts didn't even notice that I was tap dancing in my chair until she removed her headphones and I blurted something like, "I got the contract!" and she smiled and said, "that's great!" before returning her headphones and going back to whatever she was doing before.
About two weeks ago my agent called and left a message on my voicemail stating that Silhouette Romantic Suspense offered me a two-book contract (picture me clenching my phone and trying not to squeal while I listened to the message) after the senior editor read my single book proposal (tentatively titled To Catch A Killer) and found it "riveting." That in itself was a shock to the system as that line is particularly difficult to get into as they have a stable of very talented and established authors already, not to mention the line had just undergone an overhaul and word on the street was that it was even harder to land a contract with the new guidelines. But I had a story in my head that wasn't appropriate for Superromance and I desperately wanted to write it so I crossed my fingers and hoped that it might find a home. And it did. Wow. It was a very gratifying moment. I was still floating on a cloud when my agent called last Friday (May 16) to tell me (again, I got the message via voicemail. Where the heck am I when these important phone calls come through?) that Superromance wanted to offer me a three-book contract for my ongoing Emmett's Mill series. Oh, Mylanta! That's about the moment that I started grinning like a jackal and blabbering nonsense like "...you like me, right now, you like me!" in my head a la Sally Field when she won her 1985 Oscar for 'Places In The Heart.' My coworker and roommate, accustomed to my odd and seemingly random outbursts didn't even notice that I was tap dancing in my chair until she removed her headphones and I blurted something like, "I got the contract!" and she smiled and said, "that's great!" before returning her headphones and going back to whatever she was doing before.
