Ladies and gentlemen of the imaginary audience, I have signed a contract. I have. Now this isn't a contract I made up in my room to play "Let's sign a contract" that wonderful game of make believe. No this is a real live contract with . . . a real live publisher.
Ooh! What's this, you gasp. Since when is our lovely temp and/or actress also an authoress? Kinda snuck up on you didn't it? Well to be honest I have been writing ever since I was very little (you must somewhat sense I like to write silly poems). And heck, this is a blog people! And a blog is a form of writing. So really the question should be, "How come it took so long?" To which I stick out my tongue at you!
Right now I am being very tentative as to the sort of information to release, as I don't know if it is my place. So I am not going to go into specifics yet (though when I need you all in all your invisible glory to buy my book, then I will give you all the information you could possibly handle. Maybe even the colour of my socks on Wednesdays - ah Wednesday socks. You know I just imagined this second a whole slew of invisible people going into book stores and taking my book off the shelves and people gasping in horror as dozens of books seemingly of their own volition fly towards the cash register. And this is an extremely long aside. Which I will finish . . .now).
However I did want to start writing down the process from submission to publication, just because I am utterly fascinated by it myself.
First I should share the story of the story. Which fits nicely in with The Temp and The Actress.
I have always had something on the go writing wise. Usually it is some manifestation of my comedy detective novel which is always such fun to write until I remember I have to include a plot. Occasionally it is a play (the most recent a modern Jacobean tragedy, the act of writing it became a bit of a Jacobean tragedy in and of itself). But never, not ever, a children's novel.
So what made me do it? Well first off I LOVE children's lit. I do. I am a Harry Potterphile (omg! How amazing was the reading in New York! And she was introduced by . . . Jon Stewart!! Who, if you read earlier along in my blog - http://ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com/2006/02/revelation.html, is the sole reason I write this blog at all. Anyway, so great and if you care and want to check out the whole reading - that included Stephen King and an absolutely sensational reading by John Irving check out www.the-leaky-cauldron.org) Second I was in Bath. Not the bath. Bath. In England. Where Jane Austen wrote and was miserable.
I went to Bath February of 2005 for a weekend getaway from the hustle and bustle of London town. I brought my laptop so I could watch the extended Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. And also a couple of 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' to read in the plethora of tea shops around the town (shout out to Sally Lunn's and her buns). Well after the first day I had exhausted all tourist sights as well as seen 'The Life Aquatic' at a cute little movie theatre. It was cold and wet and as I wandered around the lovely town aimlessly I started thinking about writing a book (as one does). Since I was reading children's lit at the time, and felt quite well versed in the area, I thought, what if I wrote a children's book? I bet I could do that.
Well what would it be about? I asked myself. I answered. What else would it be about? I answered that too. And as I asked myself questions, I passed sights and shops that found their way into my story and finally when my stomach was fluttering about with butterflies of inspiration (not the deadly butterflies of inspiration!! Run, run for your life!) so much that I couldn't sit still (also it was really cold out and not much fun sitting still for that long), I went back to my B & B and started to write. I wrote around 20 pages that weekend, nothing too significant, but enough to convince me that I wasn't going to give up any time soon.
For the rest of the year I wrote. I wrote at home in front of the tv and various reality tv shows (which are excellent for white noise). I wrote at work (but only after I had of course done my work - I am a very good girl). And once August rolled around suddenly the thought struck me that maybe I should try to get published. The idea seemed absurd and impossible, but I am an actor and used to impossible dreams. And if there is one thing actors are familiar with it's rejection. So it didn't seem a big risk.
But, and this was the big problem, how to do it?
Dum dum dum!!!!!!
(Always end on a cliff hanger - author advice #264)
NEXT TIME: The Agent Acquisition
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