A Bit About Me... Part One
My path to publication has been, to borrow a favorite lyric, a "long and winding road." I used to be an attorney and, as I quip on my website, "would write long briefs, making other people wrong on a part-time basis." I enjoyed law school because I'm crazy about ideas, and I love to get to the bottom of things. But I didn't like the practice of law, and deep down, I'd always wanted to write novels.
When I was pregnant with my first kid, Jacob, I took the plunge. I wrote Mab's Gate straight through, front to back, and said to myself -- ta da! Watch out world! Watch out, indeed. This was back in the days when you generally queried agents by snail mail with the help of the S.A.S.E. Did I mention that my son is now almost seventeen? Yeah, that long ago. I would occasionally get back nice handwritten notes from agents, even if they were taking a pass, which they invariably were. And for the next decade or so, when I wasn't practicing law part-time, homeschooling my kids, or chasing chickens and goats around our acreage, I was learning how to write good books.
I revised Mab's Gate more times that I can recall. In fact, I wrote two totally different versions -- with unique voices, plot points and everything -- and revised each of those many times. Kind of like Groundhog's Day on steroids. Then I had a brilliant idea. I could write a different book! So, I wrote Arcana, my homage to Something Wicked This Way Comes. I got very close to securing some excellent agents -- close, but no cigar (there's a nice 20th century idiom for you.) Then I had another brilliant idea. I could write a different book EVERY YEAR. That's when Vasilisa was born.
Vasilisa finally got me my top-notch agent, and phase two of my adventure was begun. Tune in soon for the next installment, but in the meantime, meet my chief editorial assistant.
Rosie is an avid hengi collector (that's how she says tennis ball, go figure). Her second favorite past-time is eating kibble and her third is chasing dabbits (again, sorry, she has something of a lisp).
When I was pregnant with my first kid, Jacob, I took the plunge. I wrote Mab's Gate straight through, front to back, and said to myself -- ta da! Watch out world! Watch out, indeed. This was back in the days when you generally queried agents by snail mail with the help of the S.A.S.E. Did I mention that my son is now almost seventeen? Yeah, that long ago. I would occasionally get back nice handwritten notes from agents, even if they were taking a pass, which they invariably were. And for the next decade or so, when I wasn't practicing law part-time, homeschooling my kids, or chasing chickens and goats around our acreage, I was learning how to write good books.
I revised Mab's Gate more times that I can recall. In fact, I wrote two totally different versions -- with unique voices, plot points and everything -- and revised each of those many times. Kind of like Groundhog's Day on steroids. Then I had a brilliant idea. I could write a different book! So, I wrote Arcana, my homage to Something Wicked This Way Comes. I got very close to securing some excellent agents -- close, but no cigar (there's a nice 20th century idiom for you.) Then I had another brilliant idea. I could write a different book EVERY YEAR. That's when Vasilisa was born.
Vasilisa finally got me my top-notch agent, and phase two of my adventure was begun. Tune in soon for the next installment, but in the meantime, meet my chief editorial assistant.
Rosie is an avid hengi collector (that's how she says tennis ball, go figure). Her second favorite past-time is eating kibble and her third is chasing dabbits (again, sorry, she has something of a lisp).
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Mary
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Oct 13, 2020 11:29PM
Delightful! I'm looking forward to your next posting. Really love your chief editorial assistant.
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Rosie sends her regards!
