The Covenant of My ARC

Today was supposed to be a massive writing day. I have a project due at the end of the week. No problem. Except I was distracted all day by a friggin’ package. And I couldn’t be happier about it!

I recently turned in major revisions on my third McCauley Brothers book–Ruining Mr. Perfect–for Sourcebooks. It was a tough round, but I weathered it okay, I think.( I’ll find out when I get edits #2.) So imagine my surprise today when I received copies of The Troublemaker Next Door (book 1), in paperback!

I’ve been reading romances for over twenty years. My dream has always been to be published. In 2004 I got my wish, yet the old school mentality back then stole a little of he joy, because my first book was an ebook. Mind you, that was back in the day before Kindle and Nook existed. But still, my book was a book, just an electronic version. Unfortunately, the writing groups and many of my peers didn’t understand my accomplishment counted.

I didn’t let their attitudes stop me. I kept writing, appreciating my monthly royalties while the masses crowed about advances and print book contracts–which pay out over years. It’s tempting to say, “Who’s laughing now?” at the many converts to hybrid and electronic publishing, but I’ll refrain. (Because yeah, I just said it without saying it. LOL)

Fast forward ten years, and I’m staring at a mass market copy of a title I wrote three years ago, back when a big name agent contacted me to write something. Seriously. I had an ebook with Samhain that had been killing on Amazon and got noticed. Kind of. Well, after eight months of going back and forth with said agent (read: agent’s assistant) who was supposedly interested but apparently too busy to get back to me, I said screw it and went it alone. I submitted everywhere.

To which I heard crickets. Bummer. No one wanted the story that had taken me two weeks. to write. Yeah, 90000+ words in two weeks because I was so excited about the story and the characters. It all flowed. Like buttah. And then…nothing.

So I tucked the story away and continued to write. Yet I never forgot about it, because I had three more brothers to give their happily-ever-afters. Then, in late 2012, nearly a year after my submission, out of the blue, Sourcebooks answered. I’ve wanted to publish something with them for years, because I liked what I’d heard and seen of them at conferences and on the loops, but my projects never seemed to hit. But the stars must have aligned, because one of their editors read this book and loved it enough to put it in front of their editorial board. And then, even more amazing, I was offered a contract on it and the subsequent unwritten books rounding out the series. Yep, they were going to offer me a three-book deal.

Except my McCauleys were a four book series. Thinking I’d probably jammed myself out of a contract but determined to write the four I’d intended, I told the editor. And wonder of wonders, she said okay!

So exciting. Then my editor left. The horror… I was fortunate to keep the person who’d spent the most time with my book, and she became my “forever” editor. God willing she won’t leave. I seem to have that effect on my editors. (Ask me about Samhain sometime…)

So here I am, 5 months out from the release date of book 1, and I’m staring at a print version of a dream. Come what may, I love the stories. I’m glad I wrote them. And I sure the heck hope they resonate with readers. But most importantly, they resonate with me.