[Back]

Yesterday, I talked a bit about how I started writing fantasy romance, despite the lack of places to publish those stories, and found other people online who liked the kind of cross-genre fiction I did. With the advent of electronic publishing, however, we finally had a forum for our books.

The beginning of e-publishing was rocky. A lot of “serious” industry people didn’t consider these small presses as legitimate—being published electronically didn’t make you “published” in their eyes. Poor editing in some of the earlier works gave the industry a mixed reputation. And of course the infrastructure of buying and selling books online in digital formats was still in its infancy.

Many authors were leery of taking a chance in this new forum. But some were willing to take the risk in order to publish the books they wanted to write. When a few online friends of mine decided to open their on e-publisher specifically for publishing fantasy, science fiction and paranormal romances, I got very excited. This was it, a place were I could not only find the types of books I wanted to read, but I’d have someplace to actually submit my work.

This happened during my first year as a Ph.D. student in Dublin. I was busy, doing field work—studying deer this time instead of dolphins—catching up on my animal behavior reading, making friends and learning how to live in Ireland (which, as an aside, was brilliant fun!). I had a lot on my plate, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to submit something to this new press. The only hitch was that I didn’t want to submit one of my “babies” yet. After all the industry was new, I didn’t know what would happen, and while I was willing to take the risk of publishing electronically, I wanted to submit something I wrote specifically for this new press.

I took an idea I’d had from a dream and expanded it into my first science fiction romance novel. This was my first stab at science fiction, but I knew the story would be a good, category sized book—easier for reading electronically—and it was something I’d wanted to write for awhile.

In between field work and transcribing data, I took a month off to write the book. I finished the first draft just before I had to go back into the field. And then I was too busy to edit it for another three months. Over the next eight months, I took enough time to get in three good edits of the novel—something my work usually needs because I write by the seat of my pants (no real plan or outline to speak of). And by that time, this new press was building up a very solid reputation as a publisher of excellent work.

The name of the publisher was Dreams Unlimited. Diana Gabaldon published a short story with them, and Sherrilyn Kenyon published one of her early paranormal romances with them. A lot of authors who took a chance on Dreams Unlimited have since gone on to very successful writing careers. Even at the time, it was clear they were putting out quality work. And I wanted in—badly!

But I still had to submit, and I knew rejection was a real possibility. Still, I took the chance. Fortunately, my Ph.D. work required a lot of my attention, so I couldn’t sit around fretting about the status of my submission. And when I had time in between thesis work, a relationship with the man I ended up marrying, a pretty fun social life, and the general mayhem of being a college student, I kept writing fiction.

Three months after sending in my story, I got an email back from the editor. She loved the book, and she wanted to publish it.

I did a happy dance all around my room, squealing with excitement. But no one was home yet for me to squeal to in person! I was living in a shared house with six other people—including my boyfriend—and there was NO ONE around to get excited with! So I made a few calls to share the news. Asked the editor to send me a contract. And when everyone got home, I started to spread the news. I was about to be a published author.

Two months later, my first novel—THE PROMISE OF KIERNA’RHOAN—was released. I was in the middle of field work, knew nothing about promoting the book, and ended up just crossing my fingers that someone besides my parents would buy it. But I was officially published. And it was thrilling. It wasn’t the final step on my road to a writing career, not by a long shot, but it was the start I’d been working toward for years.

Thanks for having me here this week, everyone. I’d also like to extend a special thanks to Allie for everything! Happy Reading!