The CALL story!

So, I'd been checking my email fairly regularly since early October when I sent 'Feral' to Jackie Moore, an editor for Breathless Press. (Jackie gave me third place in a 'Pitch Your First Page' contest run by the Let's Talk Romance blog.) After almost four weeks (BP has a two-four week response time for normal submissions, this is EXTREMELY quick!), I contacted Jackie. It turned out she was 'tantalised' by my story but she needed to show it to her senior editor. More waiting. I emailed again, the lovely Jackie informed me it didn't fall into her department, but under her recommendation was passed onto the paranormal senior editor.

As the Christmas buzz settled in, I resigned myself to not hearing about the fate of 'Feral' until after the holiday season. Hey it was okay if they didn't want it, just getting this far was such a huge accomplishment for my first little story. So imagine my surprise when I awoke to an email Christmas Eve morning from Deadra Kreiger, asking if 'Feral' was a one off or part of a series. Umm, whatever you want it to be?! After some toing and froing of emails, I informed Deadra that I would relish the opportunity of making 'Feral' a series.

Nothing. (I know now that it was some ridiculous hour where Deadra lives and she would have gone to bed.)

So I waited, checking my phone for emails almost constantly. Then early evening, whilst sitting in the bathroom while my kids had a bath, I checked my phone again. And there it was "Thank you for choosing Breathless Press as a potential publisher for Feral." OH BUGGER IT'S A REJECTION. Wait read a bit more. Blah, blah, blah. "We're pleased to inform you that BP would like to offer a contract." Cue running around the house screaming for joy, my bewildered children sitting in the bath, my lovely husband dropping the dishes he's doing to give me a cuddle and tell me how proud he is of me.

So there you have it! I'll be entering the editing process soon, wish me luck, and THANK YOU Breathless Press for seeing some potential in me and my story!

Kia ora and Welcome

Hi, I've decided to bite the bullet and attempt to write a blog.  For a person who wants to write I'm completely crap at this kind of thing.  I could never keep a diary as a kid, I don't tweet very well, and my social networking is passable.  But here I am to give this a go.

A bit about me.  I'm a Kiwi (New Zealander) living in the UK with my husband and two young children.  I decided at the end of last year that I'd like to give writing a go.  I made a half-arsed attempt many years ago, but like I say it was half-arsed!  I grew up reading my Mum's Agatha Christie's though I wouldn't call myself an avid reader, even though I enjoy it very much.  

I was a TV addict growing up, it was mysteries and action shows when I was a kid, Hart to Hart, The A-Team, Knightrider, that kind of thing.  As a teen I loved vampire things, read Dracula, loved The Lost Boys, watched Fright Night a few times, though I in no way was a fan of horror!  In my early twenties Buffy the Vampire Slayer arrived (on tv) and I LOVED it.

Thirteen years down the line, married, two kids and I decide to write a story, 'but what about?' I ask myself.  Hmm 'paranormal romance' I answer.  I've always had a thing for vamps, but damn they've been done to death, so for a first attempt I decided on shape-shifters, everyone makes up their own rules/lore these days anyway, why don't I.

I then found (stalked) a wonderful author, Serenity Woods, who offered to look at my story.  She gave me some great constructive criticism and kept me in fits of laughter with her comments like 'Yum' about my hero.  So thanks to Serenity's influence and the other wonderful women I've met via her at TMAS, I am hopefully learning to be a better writer.  If you'd like to see a snippet of my work check out my website by clicking on the picture of me with two wonderful Buffy (amongst many other things) actors, Brian Thompson and James Marsters.