I just completed my first round of edits for my YA novel, The Brothers Finn, and shipped them off to my publisher. Needless to say, it's been an interesting year. My debut novel, Stratagem, comes out in May and my editor has it for the final round of edits. Lately, I've been doing so much editing that I'm sure I've forgotten how to write. Well, probably not, but it feels like it.
The road to publication started in December, and it seems like it's all happening so fast. (I mean, I've been writing for 20 years, so I guess not that fast.) It wasn't until I started following the #writingcommunity on Twitter that things really started to gain momentum. Through Twitter, I learned about #Pitmad and that was how I found my 2nd publisher, RhetAskew Publishing. Here was the pitch for The Brothers Finn that got some interest from publishers and agents:
Two brothers walk into a bar, but this ain't no joke. Gage and Cooper Finn are on the hunt for the man who framed them for the murder of their parents. As they get closer to the truth, they realize nothing is as it seems. And monsters are real.
And now here I am! Editing two novels at once and eagerly awaiting the release of both. Small publishers have been a blessing to me. I once thought the big traditional publishers were a way to validate myself as a writer. I guess with age comes wisdom. The true validation will come at the hands of my readers, and these books have been so fun to write that I can't wait for people to read them!