Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky: A Dream within a Dream
Last week I had the exciting, and overwhelming, opportunity to visit the Sourcebooks Sales Meeting. I was invited by my editor, Aubrey Poole, to spend a few minutes presenting my new middle grade novel, Always, Abigail, due out in October 2014. I prepared and practiced a short PowerPoint to present to about 50 Sourcebooks folks: the editorial staff, the design team, the sales/marketing people, etc. Basically all the people who were responsible for making This Journal Belongs to Ratchet into the beautiful book that it is. Even Dominique Raccah, the publisher herself, was there. Nervous doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt standing in front of all those people. I had worked on my writing for eighteen years, dreaming of one day having a children’s book, and there I stood in front of all the people who had not only believed in my story about Ratchet, but they had taken that story, turned it into a beautiful book, and then sent it out into the world with great enthusiasm. As if that wasn’t enough, they now wanted to take another one of my stories and turn it into a second book.
ALWAYS, ABIGAIL is told in lists, letters, and writing assignments, in which a girl named Abigail uses her language arts class’s Friendly Letter Project to cope with the worst school year ever – and in the process turns it into the best year ever.
That’s why this post is called “A Dream within a Dream.” In 2013, I am living out my dream of becoming a children’s book author, but I can’t help but feel that as I live out that dream, I’m living out even more dreams. For me, being published by Sourcebooks is that kind of dream. As nervous as I was standing in front of all those wonderful Sourcebooks folks, they couldn’t have been more warm and friendly, not to mention more enthusiastic about Ratchet and Abigail. I feel so thankful and happy to be part of such a fantastic group of people!
As a small token of thanks, I passed out treat bags tied with pom poms to all the Sourcebooks folks at the meeting.
Another dream for me was finally getting to meet my editor, Aubrey Poole, in person. Aubrey and I have worked together for about eighteen months now, and I have enjoyed her patience, kindness, and thoughtfulness, not to mention her wonderful insight and exceptional talent. Finally getting to meet her in person after all of our hard work was such a treat! Another dream within the dream.
The fabulous Aubrey Poole and Me.
Stayed tuned for more “Dreams within a Dream.” My lucky year of 2013 isn’t over yet.
Happy Reading,
