Welcome back, Readers! Here we are, in the fabulous fall season, officially! I hope everyone is faring well, between the changing seasons, and staying healthy! The weather here has been decent, for the North Country!
For the third installment of my Fall Blog Series, I’ll be sharing my interview with editor Vicki Lame, of Wednesday Books!
Wednesday Books is an imprint of St. Martin’s Press, which publishes a wide variety of unputdownable YA and Adult fiction. Vicki and I had a wonderful discussion about the publishing process, what her wishlist includes, and how she came to be an editor. I think you’ll agree, Vicki is an absolute rockstar, and authors would be lucky to work with her at Wednesday Books!
Vicki Lame can be found on Twitter @thedaysbetween
You can also check out @WednesdayBooks and @StMartinsPress, too!
It was so much fun to chat with editor Vicki Lame for this series! If you have any questions for us, please feel free to reach out in the comments below. I love to connect with my readers!
Welcome, Readers! I am so happy you’re here. Today I am continuing with my Fall blog series: Meet The Editors, and today I’m sharing my interview with editor Dina Davis, of Mira books.
Mira Books is an imprint of Harlequin (HarperCollins). Dina will be chatting about her background, her editorial process in acquiring authors, and what she is specifically seeking at this time. Please note: Dina accepts AGENTED SUBMISSIONS ONLY.
Without further ado, let’s learn about editor Dina Davis and Mira!
Susan Thank you for joining me on my blog today, Dina! If you don’t mind, tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into the publishing world?
Dina I went to NYU, wanting to get into writing and be a journalist. I really liked it. But I did some internships, and felt that journalism, like newspaper journalism, wasn’t my style. I always loved fiction more. And so when I graduated, the internship that I was currently at was at a magazine. They had a book department and they had an editorial assistant job opening. I applied for that and ended up getting it. That was more nonfiction, Christian books. With a little bit of fiction and stuff. It was guidepost books, and it wasn’t quite what I wanted to do. Like, those weren’t the types of books that I like to read. I always was into romance, so I was always looking at Harlequin. And when the Love Inspired imprint opened up, it’s like, well, that’s it! I’m into romance, science fiction. And I also had some connections in the inspiration world already. So I went over there. What I always really wanted to do was get into the big books on the trade side. And that’s how I moved over here in April. I’m in Mira now, and I’m carrying a bunch of different things across genres. I’ve moved outside of the inspirational Christian space. I’m doing mainstream fiction and it’s really fun to get into the very dark stuff as well as still the light hearted RomCom-y things now.
Susan Yes, that’s great. What a journey, right?
Dina Yes! I’ve been kind of all over the place. I feel like most people in publishing have that windy road.
Susan So, you’re talking about how now you acquire more of an eclectic mix of things. Tell us a little bit more about that. What kind of books do you love the most?
Dina Well, personally, I read a little bit of everything, but romance has always been like my, “if I need something that I can just forget about stuff and get into”, that is my go to, or the complete opposite; Dark Horror kind of stuff. Escapism is my big thing. But when it comes to what I’m acquiring we don’t do a ton of romance at Mira. Our focus is more about commercial fiction. We do some RomComs. But we’re not really looking specifically for romance focused stories. I love a book that has a good love story, but has more to it than just a romance plot. Also, I wouldn’t say to send me a historical romance or a contemporary romance or something that’s not in that RomCom realm. I am looking for psychological thrillers, for some horror. I like character driven, issue driven stories. The Big Book Club fiction in the upmarket realm. I do a little bit of light Sci Fi Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction. So really, like across general fiction categories, mostly leaning commercial, but also some more upmarket and book club stuff, too.
Susan Wonderful. And so, part of what I wanted to talk with the editors in this series about is, the different roles that you might have, or the hats that you wear as an editor. When we’re on the agent side, or the author side, unless we work directly with that press or that editor, we don’t really know, you know, what goes on on the other side. So, I wondered if you could kind of walk us through what it’s like to work with an editor at Mira, like yourself.
Dina Okay, I am pretty new and still kind of learning the MIRA team and stuff, but I’d say editors, we do a lot more than just editing. We are your liaison. We are the person that is in contact with all the marketing and publicity and contracts and sales teams. When we fall in love with a book and acquire it, we really want it to do as well as possible. So our job in addition to making sure the project is as strong as possible, w are going to all the different teams and fighting for the right covers for it and pushing for the right distribution and talking about what we can do on the marketing/publicity side. And we have a great team that works really well together in all of those departments. I think that we’re pretty cohesive, and if an offer comes to us with questions or issues and stuff, we are pretty responsive and able to get feedback from the different departments pretty quickly. Are there specific questions that you have?
Susan A lot of times my authors and other agents wonder about what the behind-the-scenes process is. What does it look like? Is it a team approach? Obviously, it sounds like it’s a team approach at Mira. And another aspect of it that always comes up, at least with some of my authors is, what about the final product, like the cover? Does the author have any input? Is it a collaborative process with the author?
Dina We do run covers past authors, and take feedback from the authors. Like, back-cover copy; I see it, and I send it to the author before I send it to my boss to get approval, because the author is going to have the closest relationship with the material and will be able to say, “Oh, well, that thing isn’t quite accurate,” or “I don’t want to give that much away,” and stuff like that. We try to loop in the authors early on in the design process, asking if there certain poses you want to see if there are characters in the cover? Or what kind of settings and scenes and stuff would you like here? So we try to work very, very much with the authors to get to their sense of it. But it also comes down to, when we’re all debating on different little pieces of it, what’s going to sell. You have to ask if this cover is going to be eye catching, versus a different one and stuff. So we know that a lot of people on our team, the sales people, the marketing people, the publicity people, really know what’s going to stand out on both social media and on that shelf, and what we’re going to push. So yeah, we try to work as a team with everybody and try to make everybody as happy as possible when it comes to those things.
Susan That’s really neat. It’s such a process, right? So many different steps and different avenues that have to be followed before it’s done. So, from the time a book is acquired to the time that it gets onto the bookshelves, what kind of a timeframe is that? I know that in some cases, it’s years. Right? You’re looking at years down the road.
Dina Yeah, I think that that’s going to really depend on the book and what our schedule looks like at the time. And if they’re like spots that we have to fill right away, like, did we just buy a psychological thriller, and next summer, we don’t have a psychological thriller in a specific month, we can fill that hole with it. It is so it’s hard to give a general sense of that. I can say, I’ve acquired two new authors for the line since April, and one of them isn’t going to be published until 2024. And the other one is going to be published next June. It also depends on if we are buying a full manuscript or proposal? We rarely buy on proposal, but it depends on how well the author is established, and if there’s somebody who has worked on different imprints internally or something like that. And if it’s on a proposal, we have to wait for a book to be written. That pushes things out further too. I think we tend to try to publish everything within 18 months. But it all comes down to schedules.
Susan So, I guess it all depends. That’s the side of publishing that agents and authors aren’t always privy to. That’s really good info. So from an agent perspective, when we send things to editors for consideration, do you prefer that the agent send a proposal and sample chapters or a proposal and the manuscript? How do you like to receive materials?
Dina I know that this varies for every editor to but I definitely prefer to just have the full manuscript because if I start reading, and I really liked it, I don’t have to get back to you and be like, is this full? Is there more to this manuscript? Can you send it to me? And then I have to wait for it. What if you’re on vacation, and I really want to keep reading or something like that. I do like to have a synopsis, if it’s available. If it’s not, that’s fine too. It also depends on what the genre is. If it is like, a psychological suspense, I don’t think that I would want to know all those twists and turns that happen at the end. So I’d rather read the book and be drawn in and keep going. But it can be helpful. There have been a couple of books lately that I’ve been like, I’m interested in this, but I’m not sure if the ending is gonna hold up. If I could take a peek at the synopsis, that could save me time. It helps. But I’m definitely someone who prefers to have a full manuscript. I know, there are a lot of people who are like, just send me three chapters. It saves us an email, because I can read the first three chapters and make a decision based on that, but I can also just keep going.
Susan Okay, excellent. What do you feel is the best part of your job? What do you like the most about what you do?
Dina Well, I love the editing, and working with the authors. If I can get on a brainstorming phone call, and hash out all the little details. I did that with an author recently. We were on the phone for two hours, figuring out plot points, and, and it was really fun. It can be really engaging to get into the nitty gritty of that. And that’s one of the things that I also had loved about the journalism route that I was on, because it was kind of like the interview process of trying to pull information out of people. You can do that even more creatively in a fiction brainstorming session. So I like doing that. And then just also getting into the stories and really reading them and figuring out how to make them as strong as possible. I think that’s the most fun part of the job.
Susan I know that from the agent side, I’m more of an editorial agent, because I love digging in, too. Ironing out as much as we can together with the author. I love that aspect of it as well. So that’s really cool. Let’s see…What are some things that you’re most excited about seeing currently? Where would you see the most interest in your inbox?
Dina I’ve been trying to really find a great horror, but it has to be something that is an “at the moment” issue kind of book. I feel like it has to be something that has wider appeal, because we don’t get very deep into the horror or fantasy or science fiction genre at Mira. So it needs to have that emotional human element that drives it. And then, I am always going to be looking for character driven psychological thrillers slow burn kind of books, I am looking for rom coms, but they have to be a really fresh spin on tropes. And they really have to make me laugh; that’s the main thing that I’m looking for in that realm. That can be really tough to pull off sometimes, because it still has to have all that conflict and heavy parts to it, too. Yeah, I am interested in some historicals that are more in the commercial space. Recent historicals, but I’m not interested in World War Two. But I’d love to see things like like a story that’s own voices that takes place in New Orleans and is based around the Voodoo queen, something like that would be really fun. Something that is different from what we see every day. And then, in general, I’m just looking for things by marginalized creators who are writing in those spaces too, and books that are just outside of the bounds of what publishing has been kind of narrowly focused on for so long. So I’d really like to expand that especially within the Mira line and get more voices in.
Susan Thank you. And so just for the very end, I just wanted to find out some fun things: So what is your favorite color?
Dina Anything on the blue spectrum really kind of?
Susan Nice. And do you have a favorite musician, band type of music? What do you listen to?
Dina I’m a little all over the place and that like, I think that a lot of it kind of got stuck when I was in high school. So if you look at like the hip-hop, rap, emo stuff, punk stuff, that came out in like 2008. But I also like the stuff that my parents listened to. I grew up with my parents listening to Tom Petty, Alannis Morrisette, Metallica. I’m kind of all over the place.
Susan It’s a nice eclectic collection! Do you have a favorite place that you visited?
Dina I studied abroad for eight months in Florence, Italy, and it’s my absolute favorite place in the world. I’d love to have a vacation home there one day.
Susan That’s great. I think for myself, when I was finished with college, a friend of mine and I did a tour through Europe, and it’s just so amazing. You know, we spent a month there and it was just so inspiring. I’d love to go back.
Dina Yeah, it’s so great.
Susan Do you have a favorite food?
Dina Anything potatoes? Like, I’m an Irish girl. We make something called potato candies?
Susan Well, what’s that?
Dina It’s literally a pound of powdered sugar mixed with a mashed boiled potato and then you roll it out and put peanut butter on it and roll it up like a dessert roll, and then put it in the fridge until it hardens. It’s very, very sweet.
Susan Oh my gosh, I guess so! Lastly, just do you have a favorite book of your lifetime?
Dina Oh, man. It’s so hard to choose. Well, I guess the book that really got me into, well, okay, there are two that really got me into reading when I was a kid. So, the first book I ever read on my own was called Purple, Green and Yellow, and it was literally about a girl who would color herself with markers until she got “super indelible, never come off until you die or maybe even later markers.” Like, that’s literally a line in the book! And that’s always stuck with me because it was the first book I was able to read by myself. And then, The Giver was something that I read in middle school that has always stuck with me. It was when I was first getting into audiobooks, and wasn’t sure if I could handle listening to a book. I was like, “Oh, well, I’ve read that enough, and it’s something that would be an easy way to introduce myself to it.” That’s what I would go back to, and stuff. So that was kind of a big book for me throughout my life.
Susan That’s cool. Well, I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much for participating in my blog series!
Dina Thank you for including me, and it was great to talk to you.
Thank you for stopping by today. I’d love to connect! Do you have an editing or other writerly question? Drop it below in the comments and I will be happy to get back to you!
Welcome Readers! I am so happy you’re here for the launch of my Fall Blog Series, which will focus on the editorial side of the publishing world. Today I am so excited to share my conversation with Tina Moss, co-owner of City Owl Press. Tina and her co-owner, Yelena Casale, started this press from the ground up several years ago, and their press has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception a decade ago.
In today’s interview, Tina shares with us a little bit of the background behind City Owl Press, as well as the process of publishing itself. Have you ever wondered what the query process is like, or what happens after you sign a publishing contract? Now’s your chance to find out!
Fall is on the horizon, folks, and I have been pretty busy planning something AWESOME! A Fall blog series is in the works, and you’re not going to want to miss it! First, a few questions for you:
Are you a writer?
Are you curious about the editorial process, from the perspective of the publishing house?
Have you ever wondered how editors choose which projects they accept for their publishing houses?
If you answered “YES!” to any or all of these questions, you’re in luck! I will be meeting with some amazing editors soon, and sharing our conversations with you. In the process, we will discuss these topics and many more.
I am lining up interviews now, and when I have a schedule for posts nailed down, I will share that here as well. I hope you’ll join me!
You’re Turn! If you have any questions for the editors that you are dying to know the answers to, drop them into the comments, and I will do my best to include them when I interview the editors.
If you could meet any character in the world, who would it be? Have they been written yet? Are you the one to write that character and introduce them to the world? This post is about meeting up with characters, old friends, and new amazing acquaintances.
As a teacher in the northeast, we are fortunate to have a week-long winter break. We are nearing the end of that break. There have been many years when we have taken family vacations to warm destinations with friends, but this is not one of those years. Even though we stayed home in the freezing cold temperatures, this was a wonderful week! A week to recharge, a week to relax, and a week to connect with old friends and new ones!
As an agent, this week, I was introduced to some amazing new characters written by some amazing new authors. New character friends, who I look forward to getting close to in the coming months. Strong characters, funny characters, troubled characters…they are all new and in my life for the long haul. These are new friends that I can’t wait to visit again and again.
Additionally, as an author, this week afforded me time to spend with old character friends as well. I went back and edited through some drafts of my own work. It was delightful! I missed Hans, Abigail, Tessa and Will. They are the very best type of bookish friends…the type of friends that you can pick up with, right where you left off last time. Fun trips down memory lane abound, which can be relived again and again.
It’s my absolute favorite part of being a writer. I get to spend time with amazing people and places, over and over again. Vacations are the very best times for that, and I am grateful for every one.
Question for you: Do you have any character friends that you can’t wait to spend time with during vacations? Are they your characters, or other author’s?
Chime in with your response below! I love to connect with my readers!
Wow! I can’t believe it’s the end of August already. As a teacher, my life is scheduled based on a calendar that has very little fluctuation each year, and my writing life fits within that calendar as well. As the month of June ticks by, I make plans for what my writing goals will be. I sketch out a schedule, (which I follow pretty well), which includes writing time to reach those goals as well as other goals.
This Summer, my goals were lofty and numerous, but I am happy to say that I feel as though I was successful reaching those goals and more.
In June, I completed my draft of Misty Dawn and Violet, which had been in a state of “partially done” for a really long time. Long story short, when I get an idea for a story, I stop everything to get it started. Needless to say, I had a number of partially finished at the start of this Summer. In June, Misty Dawn and Violet made it to completion in June, and is in the hands of my agent! It is a humorous romp of a story, and I can’t wait to share it with you!
July brought with it several new experiences for me and my family. My daughter, who is ten, got involved with a local theater group. For two weeks, she rehearsed for three hours a day, and at the end of that they performed Cinderella Kids. Fantabulous!!!
Additionally, the month of July provided me the opportunity of a lifetime. As you may know, I had been working on a novel inspired by the prison break that happened in 2015. It was a very scary time, and even though I knew I had to write because of the event, it actually took a while for me to get to a place within myself to get it all out. That novel had been sitting in the “partially done” pile. On July 22, I had the opportunity to audition for Ben Stiller’s Showtime Mini-Series, Escape From Dannemora! So that was awesome… Auditioning for the mini-series was a highlight of my life, and it was just the inspiration I needed to jump back into writing #PrisonBreakADK.
August came, and my son was preparing to head off to his freshman year of college…away from home. Before moving him onto his campus, we took a family vacation to NYC, which exceeded all of our expectations. Central Park, Times Square, The Zoo, Stomp, 5th Avenue…there was inspiration around every corner.
It was during that trip that I discovered the magic of train travel. With #PrisonBreakADK nearly complete, I was able to work comfortably on the train as we chugged down the tracks to Penn Station. I don’t know how to explain it, but there is something romantic about train travel, and the process of writing, in itself, was such a beautiful experience. I highly recommend it. I am happy to report that #PrisonBreakADK has moved from the “partially done” pile and into my agent’s hands.
Now, Summer is nearly over. My son is all settled into his college life, and all is well. I will be welcoming a new crew of band students soon, and I will create a new schedule for my writing life that will fit into my teaching life. Little by little, I’ll whittle away at the next project on my “partially done” pile, The First Harbor Bell. If all goes well, I will be able to send it to my agent by Christmas.
Let’s connect! How was your Summer? Did you meet any writing goals? Please share them in the comments below!
Here in the Northeast, we still have school for another week and a half before kids are released for Summer vacation. But, Summer vacation is upon us! What does that mean for the writer in me?
Well, I no longer have to get up at 5:00 a.m…though I probably will anyway, so I can get my writing on! It also means, that I can finally get to finishing up some writerly projects. Some of you may have seen that I was recently able to finish up my latest draft of Misty Dawn and Violet, and it is now in the hands of my agent! That is a great feeling!!!
This Summer, I plan to finish up another. Just one. Not sure which manuscript it’ll be, yet, but no matter which of my projects I choose to delve into, I can tell you that I am giddy with anticipation.
I have had several unfinished projects hanging over my head for quite a while, and I need to complete one of them. Again, just one. It may sound like my hovering projects are actually chores. They aren’t. I know this, because recently I took one out to take stock of where I last was at with it. I can tell you that when I read through my work, I got chills. Not chills up my spine because I had written a thriller, but the warm kind of chills, from getting to spend time with the people and places I had begun writing about quite a while back. My characters. My storylines.
I love them. I miss them, and it’s time for them to come back into my life.
The saying, “Write what you love, love what you write,” has never meant more to me. Those unwritten stories and characters came to me back then, because I wanted to read about them, and they didn’t exist elsewhere. And it excites me knowing that Summer vacation is just around the corner, affording me the opportunity to vacation with ALL of my loved ones; friends and family, and literary loved ones, too. I already feel rejuvenated and inspired to turn my mere words into prose. I’ll be sharing updates along the way, too, so you can follow along this journey with me.
How do you plan to spend your Summer? Any writerly things on the horizon for you? Connect with me in the comments below!
About a year ago, I posted about my BEST BIRTHDAY MONTH…EVER! Today, I feel s though I have come full circle in some ways. This has been the Best Summer Vacation…Ever!
As you know, I teach music to Middle Schoolers, and summer vacations afford me the time to delve even more into my writing endeavors than I can during the school months. This Summer vacation started off with a bang with my press release from REUTS Publications. That day, My novel, WORDS IN THE WINDOWSILL, was announced along with author Katie Hamstead’s latest book as well. Not only did my press release show up on REUTS’ own blog, but it was listed in Publisher’s Marketplace as well. That was a huge feeling!!!
A month later, almost to the day, I received another message that every author dreams about: Agent Jessica Schmeidler, of Golden Wheat Literary, sent me an offer of representation. Jessica is amazing, and it is a privilege to be able to call her my agent.
The reason I feel like I have come full circle, is that back about a year ago, during my amazing birthday month, I actually met my agent for the first time. She had requested to read one of my manuscripts based on a Twitter pitch I had made. I am fortunate in so many ways.
So, this has been an incredible Summer! In the span of a month, two of my writing dreams have come true, and I know this is just the beginning. Thank you all for coming along with me as I sail into these new waters. It is clear to me that I am in the best of company, with the most fabulous of followers. I am filled with gratitude.
If you have any comments, please share them below.
Thank you for stopping by my Writer’s Block! A few years ago, I posted on the topic of the writer’s roller coaster ride. I had just entered a contest, and earned a spot in the mentor and agent rounds. It was HUGE!!! Today, I write about this topic again, this time through the lens of an author with a book deal. The emotions I go through are detailed below, on this Writer’s Roller Coaster Ride I am currently on. I love it, and I wouldn’t want it any other way! Maybe you have experienced some of these on your own writing journey.
DISBELIEF: As many of you know, the process of submitting a book to agents and publishers is filled with twists and turns, and a lot of disappointment. When I received the offer of publication from REUTS, I almost could not believe it. I had gotten to know the team a bit through the years, and I hoped deep down that my book would find its home with them. When it finally happened, it took a while for it to sink in.
PRIDE: This really speaks for itself. When a writer gets positive feedback of any kind, be it from a critique partner, a literary agent, or a publisher, the pride swells. And that’s okay! Enjoy it! Revel in it! Get ready for the next steps in your writer’s journey. The day I saw the official press release about my novel in Publisher’s Marketplace and on the REUTS blog, I knew it was really happening! My heart swelled! I love my publishing team at REUTS, and know that my book baby is in the best of hands.
SELF-DOUBT: I think as writers, we are very comfortable with self-doubt. We know it well, and consider ourselves friends. I say that in a jokingly sort of way, but truthfully, writers see so much in the way of “N0-thank-you’s” that we sometimes wonder if we are up to the tasks in front of us. Eventually we do grow more comfortable with self doubt. Now, as an author with REUTS, I still have my own doubts. I think about upcoming revisions and marketing my book, and wonder what those processes will be like. But through all of the wondering, I know I have an amazing support system in place; my family, friends, and my publisher are all part of my cheering section.
TRUST: Trust can be tricky for writers. We spend so much with our stories and characters while we write them. It can be tough to see their world as anything different than what we envision in our own minds. But part of the writing process includes trusting people with our book babies. It’s through the eyes of others that writers can create a more complete, fulfilling novel for our readers. Through the years, I have grown more and more comfortable asking for criticism and critique from people. I write about that topic a little bit here. I also get more comfortable with trust by helping others sculpt their own novels. There is something empowering about that. (see below)
EMPOWERMENT: The feeling of empowerment is also a tough thing for a writer, or any creative artist, to feel. We are always looking for what’s wrong with our work so we can fix it. Sometimes we can’t ever get to the point where we believe it’s any good. When writers learn to trust themselves with the writing process, and others with advice as they help you sculpt your book into a work of art, that’s when the magic happens. Your book takes on a life of its own. With that magic, comes empowerment. It took me a while to understand this, but it’s okay to step back, look at your novel, and pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
PEACE: Peace for me as a writer comes and goes. Self doubt rears it’s ugly head from time to time, but then fades away as my novel writing progresses. Peace with the writing process comes and goes. I need to remember to embrace it when it comes, and get excited when I meet little goals!
ANXIOUSNESS: This is where I am currently at on this roller coaster ride toward publication. As I write this post, I am super anxious and excited at what lies ahead for my book baby. I appreciative the incredible support system of my family, friends, and publisher, REUTS. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
I love comments! Please feel free to comment below, or share your experiences with your own writer’s roller coaster ride.
Today I have the privilege to announce a new adventure: My novel, WORDS IN THE WINDOWSILL, has been acquired by REUTS Publications, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Read the official announcement here!
This book and I have quite a little history! Here’s how our adventure began.
In 1994, a friend and I went on an adventure of our own; a month-long trip through several countries in Europe. As classically trained musicians, we were quite interested in the histories and world that Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and other master composers lived in, and that trip afforded us an opportunity to see much of it first hand. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but on that trip, the seeds of WORDS IN THE WINDOWSILL were planted. During the years (10+!) that followed, I revisited those memories through the photos and journals that I kept during the trip, and as time went on, I knew I had to continue the adventure, in the form of a novel.
2012 brought another stop on WINDOWSILL’s adventure: I decided to use NaNoWriMo as the launching pad for writing it. By the end of the November, I had the first draft nearly completed, and it was clear what a special story it was to me. Its plot continues to hold a unique connection to me and my musical life, as do its characters. But I wondered: Would anyone else feel similarly?
I beta’d it. I revised it. I modified and added parts to it. I removed parts of it. I freaked out a little bit when I realized that I still needed those discarded parts, so I sifted through older drafts to put them back in. (It’s true what they say about keeping all of your early drafts… ) I continued to believe in it, and I never gave up hope. Now, several drafts, edits, contests and queries later, the reality is finally sinking in. My novel, set partially in the 21st century and partially in the 1800’s, has found its home, and a new adventure is about to begin.
Along this journey, I have met some amazing writerly people, who guided and encouraged me. New friends, professionals in the business. I never met a contest or Twitter pitch party I didn’t like. At one point, I posted about how even though the art of writing seems like a lonely, solitary endeavor, it really isn’t (at least not for me!) We learn from each other in so many ways.
Thank you, so much, to everyone who supported me on this incredible journey thus far. It means a lot!
So now, WORDS IN THE WINDOWSILL and I embark on another part of this publishing adventure together. I look forward to posting updates on the process from acquisition to publication as we go, and I hope you’ll share the ride with me!
S.M. Nystoriak's Writer's Block 