May 8, 2022
Ten years ago today, I got The Call from Harlequin, offering to buy No Longer Forbidden. (It was actually a two-book contract that later included Proof of Their Sin.)
I really didn’t know how to take this exciting news or what was in store for me. All I knew was that, after more than two decades of trying to publish, I wanted to ‘make it’ as an author.
I didn’t know what that would look like, but here’s what I now know about ‘making it’: it’s not a moment or a call. It’s a journey. It’s persevering through the rough stuff. If you want a career as an author, you write a book, then you write another one. Then you write another one. Lather, rinse, repeat and hopefully you sell a few to publishers and especially to readers along the way.
After ten years go by, if you’re very lucky (as I am) you can look back and say, Wow, I made a nice little career for myself. Then, if you still want a career as a published author, as I do, you write another book. And another one.
Sometimes it’s hard and I have days where I think I should get a job in a winery, as if dealing with drunk tourists all day is a picnic. Sometimes I’m on deadline and I force the words out and think the whole time, Good grief I suck. My career is definitely over.
Most of the time I’m in awe that I get to do this job. How is it even a job? I b.s. all day, making up completely untrue stories and, a year or three later, some money goes into the bank.
You’re allowed to scoff that it can’t be that easy. It isn’t. After I do all the b.s. of revisions and copy edits and maybe some promo and write a newsletter and beg readers to buy my books, then (hopefully) some money goes into the bank. But after the book is done and dusted, I forget all the sweat and tears that went into it. I’m just happy readers are reading it.
I didn’t know what my life would look like ten minutes or ten months after The Call. I certainly didn’t imagine that ten years would flash by and I would have seventy books behind me (and roughly six ahead of me, that I know of.)
Was The Call life changing? Sure was! In all the best ways. I am so grateful that Harlequin called me on this day in 2012. I’m grateful for Tule Publishing providing me so many amazing opportunities. I’m grateful that indie publishing became a thing so I could publish my homeless manuscripts and I’m very grateful that Entangled is giving me a new opportunity to branch into Western Historical romance.
Most of all, I’m grateful to you, my dearest fans and friends. You are the enablers of this kooky career of mine. I always say I wouldn’t be here without you. I hope you know it’s not hyperbole. (Look at me, throwing around words that I have to look up to be sure I’m using them correctly.) I literally owe this career to you, so thank you.
Fun fact: If you’re in North America, you can get No Longer Forbidden as a two-in-one with More Than a Convenient Marriage.
