Signed the Contract

Today I signed the contract for JUICE AND THE HIGH SCHOOL GHOST.  It feels good to have a second book going into publication.  I feel validated that my writing has transcended the "hobby" phase of my life and entered the "possibly could be making my living for me someday" phase of my life.  I realize it won't happen overnight, but the ideas and outlines for future books are coming at me so fast, I can hardly write them down quickly enough.  I must be in my "blue" period.  Lol.

I am also only days, or possibly a couple weeks away from concluding the second book to SPELLBOUND.  I used to call it the sequel to SPELLBOUND, but more and more I can see where the story would continue to a third installment, using the developing characters and plot points from the second.  I'm not really an outliner, more of a pantser, which is the terminology for a seat-of-the-pants writer, someone who really lets her characters tell their own stories.  I have blogged before how sometimes I have felt that good writers tend to be a tad schizophrenic because their characters take over their own storylines and we, as the writers, seem only to be instruments through which the story comes out.

But as I get to the end of the second installment, the third has been shaping itself in my head, as if the characters are planting the seeds of development in my brain.  I find myself taking notes in my pad or tapping them in the tasks section of my blackberry.  I'm not entirely convinced there will be a third book yet, but they are relentlessly chipping away at my resolve.  I am out numbered and they are ganging up on me.  It is not a fair fight.  Check back and see if I cave in in the next month or so.

What a Difference a Day Makes

I started the day quite differently than it ended.  This morning, I was blow drying my hair when my hair dryer attacked.  The kids, who were eating cereal in the dining room actually called to me, asking "Mom, whats going on with the blow dryer?"  It made this cracking noise, then a guttural growl, then a snapping sound.  I threw it to the ground in terror, hoping not to rip out a large handful of my hair in the process.  A quick glance in the mirror told me my locks were intact.  But the dryer was a goner.  I ripped the plug out and hurled it across the vanity.  I never touched it again.  My 8 year old actually threw it in the trash outside.  I refused to handle the thing.

Later, I had a terrific job interview and the unemployment check finally arrived.  Two pretty good things, almost enough to cancel out the manic hair appliance.  But the best was surely yet to come.

I have blogged before about prepping another manuscript for submission.  This one is another YA paranormal romance with a ghost story twist.  The working title has always been The Girl, The Ghost and The Guys, but after polishing it up, I have retitled it JUICE AND THE HIGH SCHOOL GHOST.  I like this title because it identifies both the genre and the age group.  I submitted it to my new publisher and somewhat held my breath.  Then, the aforementioned great news....wait for it......they love it!

My publisher not only loves it, she said the same editor I was lucky to work with for SPELLBOUND really wants to work with me for this one.  And the best news of all?  It will be released tentatively in September!  The news is just sinking in and I am over the moon.   What this means to be is it not only validates that I am a good writer, it validates I am more than a one hit wonder.  I jokingly wrote on facebook that I now don't feel like a My Sharona!  (Get it?  The one song that made The Knack famous before they faded into obscurity).

I think the very most best thing about the news is that I am energized beyond comprehension and the ideas flowing through me are massive.  I can't write them down fast enough!  Thank goodness for Blackberrys and my fingers of lightning!  And also the fact that since not many people read this blog yet, being grammatically correct has never been a pressing issue!

So stay tuned, this blog will once again catalog a publishing journey, this one now for JUICE AND THE HIGH SCHOOL GHOST.  Buckle up babies, here we go again!