I have a broom. Her name is Sally.
Why?
Well, why not. LOL
All witches need transportation and I love to fly. Plus, Sally is gorgeous.
Writing is magical. The way I started my book career was filled with dumb luck, lies and magic. I should sweep this story under the rug, but Sally insists I share. Side note… Sally is in my office and I talk to her when I’m stuck on a story. She’s become my magical muse. What she says goes.
So here’s the scary truth…
I’ve been asked how I got published. The answer is simple…I lied. That’s right, I lied.
I wouldn’t recommend it, although it worked for me. It certainly could have blown up in my face, but whether it was sheer will and determination or dumb luck, I’ll never know.
I pitched a very unfinished novel (as in it didn’t actually exist) to major NY publishers and agents at a writers conference in Chicago. I was shocked, delighted and appalled that everyone I pitched to asked for a full manuscript. After a brief and hopefully unnoticeable panic attack, I very logically explained to them that I needed to get the book professionally edited (real meaning–write it) and would have it to them in three weeks. What the hell did I have to lose except my sanity and sleep?
The next part of the story goes like this…I went home and wrote a 95K novel. I didn’t sleep for three weeks, my family ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly, and no one in the house had any clean underpants. I loved every minute of it. I ended up with a three book deal with Kensington Publishing and the shingles.
I’m now a proud indie, but have fond memories of my days with Kensington. The experience was terrific. The money… not so much. LOL
Sally thinks the story is hilarious. I do too except for the shingles part.
So that’s my story. I’m not sure how good the lesson is, but the ending is happy. I love happy endings and I will always follow the lead of my beautiful muse. Every witch needs a Sally and I’m so blessed to have my own.
Have a wonderful and witchy Halloween!
xoxo Robyn and Sally (Pics of Sally are below!)
Comments
Love your stories. You are my fave author by far. Mike, my wifey, always knows when I get a new book, beccause Im laughing so loud. I called my dog a weasle headed fart nugget ( thanks Martha and Jane) he fell over laughing and loved it so much he wrote it on our mirror with dry erase markers. So every time I went bathroom it was on there and made me smile lol. You are someone I would love to hang out with because your sense of humor and mine would a perfect match. If you ever do a book event in Phoenix Im there! Keep writing and I’ll keep reading!
ROFL…I lied to get into publishing too! I pitched a nonfiction books of meditations on the Sabbats to the publisher when all I had written were two of them. This was back in the days before email was a major thing, and when everything in publishing was hard copy. They responded the next week saying they wanted to see it. I told them my printer was broken and wrote like hell for six weeks, then turned in the manuscript, and BOOM, the rest is history.