The Call, Part II

I wanted to share with you the second part of my “getting the call” story. You can see the first post here.

On Friday June 6th my agent, Roberta Brown, woke me up with a phone call. I was asleep because I'd worked until 11:30 p.m the previous night at my "regular" job then worked until 2:00 a.m at my "favorite" job, which is writing. She apologized and said she would call back later. I told her there was no way I was going back to bed because I knew she wasn’t calling to chat.

And I was right.

Roberta called to tell me John Scognamiglio of Kensington was offering a three-book deal for my novel, Virgin Harvest.

Now mind you, I was not fully awake yet so I had to pinch myself three times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. (I have a bruise on my butt to prove this!) I was also miffed that I had been sleeping--why couldn't I get "the call" when I was actually doing something like writing?

I wasn’t dreaming, but the enormity of everything took two days to sink in. When it did, my reaction was something like, “Oh my God! I’m finally going to be a published author!” and then I panicked, "Oh my God! I've got to write two more novels!"

Virgin Harvest will come out next summer under the Kensington Aphrodisia line. I have my deadlines for delivering the other two novels (both erotic romances). I can’t wait to see the cover art and from what I’ve heard about John, he’s going to be a wonderful editor to work with.

I found this out the morning I was leaving on a vacation to Moab, Utah, where I hang out with my dad and we go white water rafting. (The picture is me navigating Rocky Rapid, the most technical rapid on this part of the Colorado River.)

Needless to say, we had a huge celebration! My father is my biggest, best-est, cheerleader since I lost my mother three years ago. I am very, very blessed in that my entire family supports me completely. My brother called from Belize to give me a hug over the phone and my sister stalker-called until she got through to me at my father's house. All this just to say, "You go, girl!"

I've also gotten a ton of emails from supportive writer pals and I'm so overwhelmed I'm almost in tears. It's been a long road for me to get to this point. I wouldn't have made it without the support of my family, my friends, and my writing companions.

I wanted to share but I also wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who helped me along this path. I know deep down to the sticking place in my heart, I couldn't have done this without you!

Thank you so much for letting me share my news!