St. Martin’s Press seeking “New Adult” (a bit older than YA) books

Do you have a manuscript that’s appropriate for a just-older-than-YA reader? St. Martin’s Press is seeking “New Adult” manuscripts. Nov. 20 deadline; Info and entry here:

http://georgiamcbridebooks.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/st-martins-press-new-adult-submissions-contest-sponsored-by-yalitchat/

FREE contest for YA manuscripts

Nov. 30 deadline; first 250 words of YA manuscript; Info and entry here:

http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/YAPitch.php

Question for Ask Wendy

Q: “What happens when a publisher with a submission guideline of’query only’ receives a query letter that accompanies a manuscript? I would think that way if they’re interested in reading the ms. it’s right there, and if not they can chuck it. Is it viewed as such an affront such that there are audible gasps in the room when the envelope is opened or is the envelope not even opened, based on its weight? Or could it just be that too many mss. clutter the office? Seems after reading countless times that editors just want a good manuscript, that it’s anathema to this perspective that a query letter that doesn’t dazzle can’t keep them from reading a book that does. And by not accepting mss. they are hurting the economy due to the lower cost of postage. Thanks – G”

A: From everything I’ve read, the agent’s guidelines (such as “query only”) are in place for a reason: it’s just too time-consuming to read manuscripts. I do not recommend sending a complete manuscript (or for that matter, a synopsis or proposal) if the guidelines specifically say “query only.” If anything, it will likely make the agent think that either A) you didn’t bother to read their guidelines before submitting or B) you read their guidelines and completely ignored them. If you read articles on agents’ biggest ‘pet peeves,’ almost all mention “writers not following our guidelines for submission.” My suggestion is to write a great query letter that makes them WANT to request the full manuscript. Thanks for the question!

10 QUESTIONS FOR…Marilyn Meredith -writes a mystery series & crime series!

Author interview with Marilyn Meredith

I’m the author of over 25 books, most of them mysteries. I write two series, the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series and the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series. I also do some ghost writing. I live in the foothills of the Central Coast in a town much like Bear Creek where my heroine, Tempe, lives. I belong to three chapters of Sisters in Crime and I’m on the board of the Public Safety Writers Association, and I also belong to Epic and MWA.

1. Tell us about your latest book.

In Dispel the Mist, Tempe investigates the murder of a popular county supervisor and has an encounter with the Hairy Man. The Hairy Man is similar to Big Foot, but he resides in the mountains above the Bear Creek Indian Reservation. The Hairy Man is really a Tule River Indian legend—but I borrowed him for this mystery.

2. How did you get started as a writer?

I’ve written since I was a kid. However, I didn’t get published until 1981. My first book was a historical family saga based on my own family’s genealogy.

After writing a second one based on the other side of the family, I began writing mysteries since that’s what I like most to read.

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

Usually I check my emails first—I shouldn’t, but I always want to see if there’s something important that I need to take care of. If I have a work-in-progress, that’s the next thing on my list. Right now I’m involved with promoting Dispel the Mist, so I’m doing things like making posters for my in-town personal appearances and promoting them and other physical appearances on the Internet. Because I’m doing a virtual book tour as well, I’m spending some time doing interviews like this. Actually, I enjoy them.

4. Describe your workspace.

I have a nice office with my desktop computer, two printers, two bookcases filled with books and supplies, a long table for piling things up that I’m planning to take this place or that. There is one window where I can look out at the foothills and the high mountains beyond.

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

Before I was published it was always the Writers Market. I have a lot of writing books, but my favorite book is my thesaurus to help me find descriptive action verbs.  I also have several books about Native Americans and Indian legends. I refer to them sometimes to find good quotes for book titles.

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you

My crazy days are long past. I’ve got a big family; we raised five children, now have eighteen grandchildren and eleven great grandkids.  I’ve been married to the same man for nearly 58 years and he’s still my best friend. We love to travel and have fun going to mystery conferences and conventions in new places we’ve never visited before.

7. Favorite quote

“I’m too blessed to be stressed.” And I live by that.

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

Best part about being a writer is letting my imagination go wild and seeing the people who live inside my mind live out their lives in the pages of the books I write. I love it when a reader tells me they loved a book of mine.  The worst part of being a writer is not having enough time to do all the things I’d like to do.

9. Advice for other writers

Never give up.  My first book was rejected nearly 30 times before it was finally accepted.  Don’t pay anyone in order to be published. If your book is good enough, you’ll find a publisher one day.  To be a writer you need to sit in front of your computer and write every day, or at least nearly every day.

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience. 

It’s a wonder I didn’t give up somewhere along the line. I’ve had two publishers die on me. I had two publishers who were crooks. One was actually put in jail and the other one took off never to be found, as far as I know. I had one publisher who never bothered to pay me my royalties even though I knew books were being bought. I’ve had two publishers who decided to quit the business. That’s why I say “never give up.” At the moment I have two very good—and honest—publishers.

Where can people buy your books?

Dispel the Mist can be purchased from the publisher http://www.mundaniapress.com as an e-book or trade paperback. It is also available from other bookstores.

You can read the first chapter of Dispel the Mist on my website: http://fictionforyou.com

My blog is http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com

Seeking romantic short stories

10,000-20,000 words; Oct. 31 deadline; no fee; Entry and info HERE:

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/submissions.html

10 QUESTIONS FOR…mystery series author Elizabeth Zelvin

Author interview with Elizabeth Zelvin

Elizabeth Zelvin is a New York City psychotherapist whose mystery series from Minotaur Books features recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler. Death Will Get You Sober appeared in 2008. Library Journal called it “a remarkable and strongly recommended first novel.” Death Will Help You Leave Him is just out. One short story was nominated for an Agatha award; another appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine; a third is included in the holiday crime anthology The Gift of Murder, to benefit Toys for Tots.

1. Tell us about your latest book.

Death Will Help You Leave Him is the second in my mystery series about recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler and his friends, computer genius Jimmy and world-class codependent Barbara. It’s all about bad relationships: domestic violence and being hooked on someone who’s in some way unavailable. When a friend’s abusive boyfriend is murdered in her apartment, she becomes the prime suspect. Bruce has to juggle the investigation, his sobriety, a crush on the bereaved girlfriend, and the lure of his compelling but destructive ex-wife, who’s on a collision course of her own. The sleuthing takes him to a funeral in Brooklyn, an Italian bakery, a lingerie boutique on Madison Avenue, and an art gallery in SoHo. In the end, he has to make some hard choices. And of course he finds the murderer.

2. How did you get started as a writer?

I’ve wanted to be a writer since the age of 7, when I read L.M. Montgomery’s Emily of New Moon. Like Montgomery’s more famous Anne of Green Gables, Emily was a little orphan girl on Prince Edward Island, but Emily had a burning desire to write and took a lot of flak about it. I worked in publishing back in the days when every woman had to start as a secretary, hoping it would help me get a novel published, but I ended up editing accounting textbooks. Then I started writing poetry. I dreamed of publishing the first novel at 24, but it didn’t happen. I didn’t get published till my late thirties, though I eventually published two books of poetry. I wrote three mysteries that were agented but didn’t sell in the Seventies. My first novel finally came out on my sixty-fourth birthday.

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

I usually spend my whole day at the computer, flipping back and forth between my professional work (more about that below), writing, and the huge amount of networking and promotion that goes with being a writer nowadays. I wish I could say that I start working on the current manuscript without opening my email first, but I can’t. I’ve recently joined Facebook, and it’s already brought me promotion opportunities and maybe some readers, but I keep an eye on the clock and don’t let myself get lost in it. At some point I go out and run for an hour—around the Central Park reservoir when I’m at home in the city, someplace beautiful, preferably near water, anywhere else.

4. Describe your workspace.

I have two: one in Manhattan and the other in my little house on eastern Long Island. I’m in that one right now, and it’s my laptop on a little computer table looking out at my garden and bird feeders. When I look up, I also see a sign that’s my mantra for the first draft: “Just Keep Telling the Story!” That’s to stop me from trying to edit or censor myself before I get to the end. Revision comes later. In the city, it’s a desktop computer and a lot bigger desk, and I have my back to the window. When I look up, I’m looking at a portrait of my mother that an admirer painted in her youth. Family legend claims that his wife was so jealous she insisted on being there during the sittings. My mother was a lawyer and a big role model for me. She died ten years ago at the age of 96. She would have been thrilled about my novels but baffled that I chose to write mysteries. I don’t have the luxury of a room with a door I can close in either place, but I get the alone time I need, and that works for me. I don’t understand people who write their novels in Starbucks.

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

My very favorite book is Lois McMaster Bujold’s A Civil Campaign, which is part of the Miles Vorkosigan science fiction series. It’s a brilliant, laugh-out-loud funny cross between space opera and comedy of manners with some of the most memorable and lovable characters in fiction. The author I’ve discovered recently whose work I’ve enjoyed most is Ariana Franklin, who’s written Mistress of the Art of Death and two sequels about a 12th century woman pathologist in Henry II’s England. Again, it’s the endearing characters that get me every time.

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you

1. I’m a shrink. I directed alcohol treatment programs and had a private practice in Manhattan for many years, but now, I do online therapy. I work with clients from all over the world by chat and email on my therapy website at LZcybershrink.com.

2. I’ve been to Timbuctoo. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa in the Sixties and had a short but magical visit to this city that was a cultural and commercial center 500 years ago and now looks (or did when I was there) like a bunch of sandcastles in the desert.

3. I played Nashville this summer. At the mystery conference Killer Nashville back in August, the guest of honor, J.A. Jance, was given a gorgeous black guitar at the awards dinner. I borrowed it and sang “Long Black Veil,” which is probably the best paranormal murder ballad ever written.

7. Favorite quote

E.M. Forster’s tag for Howard’s End: “Only connect.” That’s what it’s all about for me, whether it’s as a writer, a therapist, a performer, or just a person: moving people to tears or laughter, listening—really listening—sharing myself and getting intimate glimpses of others.

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

The best part is those moments when the voice is coming through you from some mysterious place and all you have to do is write it down before it disappears. “The Muse,” or “inspiration” isn’t some abstract concept. Those are names writers in different eras have given to a very particular experience, when the words kind of tug at the inside of your head and you simply must get to pen and paper or a keyboard. For me, they have a maddening way of coming when I’m out running or in the shower. It’s a challenge to get them down when you’re, um, unclothed and dripping wet without frying the keyboard.

The worst part is the first draft—no contest. I’m an into-the-mist writer, not an outliner, and when I write the first draft, I’m driven by fear that I won’t be able to get to the end of the story. Sometimes it’s torture—the exact opposite of that “I am just a channel” state that’s the best part.

9. Advice for other writers

It takes talent, persistence, and luck to get published. To encourage the talent, you have to read, read, read and write, write, write. You can’t do anything about the luck except not quit five minutes before the miracle. Beyond that, it’s persistence, persistence, persistence. And get critique. Be willing to kill your darlings.

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience. Can be funny, embarrassing, inspirational, etc.  

I wrote the first draft of my first mystery years before I finished it in 2002. It wasn’t published till 2008, and by that time it had undergone a lot of revision. In fact, I rewrote the whole thing before St. Martin’s offered me a contract. But the first scene, when Bruce wakes up in detox on the Bowery on Christmas Day and realizes he needs to change his life, struck me as just right, so I didn’t tinker with it beyond taking out an adverb or two when I realized they’re frowned on by writing mavens who think they weaken one’s prose. A lot of people, including my legendary editor, her assistant, a copy editor, and a proofreader had seen the manuscript before it was finally set in type. When I got the galleys, I knew any changes at that point would be expensive, so it would be better not to make any, except to correct any typos. When I got to page 2, I was horrified to see that the patients in the detox were smoking in bed, and the nun didn’t say a word about it. That was okay when I wrote the scene—as it was when I first worked on the Bowery—but not in 2008. I changed it.

Death Will Help You Leave Him is available in “brick & mortar” mystery, independent, and chain bookstores as well as online bookstores starting October 13. For more information about Liz and her books, check out her author website at www.elizabethzelvin.com. Liz blogs with other mystery authors on Poe’s Deadly Daughters at www.poesdeadlydaughters.blogspot.com and can be found on Facebook and MySpace.

 

 

10 QUESTIONS FOR…Shobhan Bantwal, author of “The Sari Shop Widow”

Author interview with Shobhan Bantwal

Shobhan Bantwal calls her writing Bollywood in a Book, commercial fiction about India, women’s issues, and socio-political topics, with romantic and cultural elements. Her articles and stories have appeared in The Writer, Romantic Times, India Abroad, Little India, Desi Journal, New Woman, and India Currents. Her short fiction has won honors/awards in contests by Writer’s Digest, New York Stories & New Woman magazines. Her debut book, THE DOWRY BRIDE, won the 2008 Golden Leaf Award. Visit her website: www.shobhanbantwal.com

1. Tell us about your latest book.

THE SARI SHOP WIDOW is my third novel published by Kensington Publishing. Set on the streets of Edison, New Jersey’s Little India, it tells the story of a young businesswoman who rediscovers the magic of love, family, and her roots as she fights to save her failing sari boutique. Caught between her growing affection for the man who helps her with her financial crisis and her loyalty to her parents and her business, she is forced to make a life-altering decision.

2. How did you get started as a writer?

My writing career began as a “menopausal epiphany.” Along with hot flashes, insomnia, hair loss, and mood swings came a sudden and unexpected urge to write stories in my middle age. What started as an absorbing hobby to keep myself busy when my husband was working on a long-term out of state business project turned into a second full-time occupation. I now have a day job which is quite demanding and a writing career that is equally challenging. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to be sure I am not dreaming all this. My family keeps me grounded and supports me through the bad and good phases of being a writer.

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

I’m up at around 4:30 a.m. on weekday mornings and turn on my computer even before my eyes are fully open. I make myself a cup of tea and start working on my writing for about an hour or more. Then I walk on the treadmill for a mile before showering and getting dressed to go to my day job with the state government of New Jersey, the job that pays the bills and puts food on the table. Trying to juggle two full-time careers is overwhelming to say the least, but the love of writing is addictive.

4. Describe your workspace.

My husband (who is now retired and tends to my website and my business needs) and I share a home office, which is really an extra bedroom converted into a work space. We often sit before our individual computers at opposite ends of the room. We share two crowded bookshelves, a futon inherited from our daughter’s college days, and a coffee table piled with boxes, magazines, and a variety of junk. The one thing that keeps it cozy is the sense of togetherness, something that I cherish immensely. My husband and I do almost everything together.

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass is something I refer to every now and then. But my favorites on the bookshelf are still fiction that I have loved and re-read many times. To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and prejudice, Rebecca, The Kite Runner, and The Notebook are a few I can name.

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you

• I used to do standup comedy routines at Indian-American conventions before I decided to try my hand at creative writing. Old-fashioned Indian audiences were shocked to see a middle-aged Indian woman work up enough nerve to get up on stage to tell silly jokes to audiences of over a thousand.
• I was a tomboy in my childhood. That by itself is not all that significant unless one takes into consideration that I was born in a conservative little town in India in a Hindu Brahmin family with four sisters who were the epitome of proper behavior for girls raised in a strict atmosphere. I was the fourth of five girls, and every gray hair my parents had was probably from the grief and frustration I gave them.
• Despite my rebelliousness in my youth I settled for an arranged marriage nearly 36 years ago. I am still happily married to the same man and we are still joined at the hip, as they say. 

7. Favorite quote

This is one of my favorites and is by Aldous Huxley. “A bad book is as much of a labor to write as a good one; it comes as sincerely from the author’s soul.”

8. Best and worst part of being a writer

The kind and encouraging words from loyal readers is definitely the most uplifting part of being a writer. The creative aspect of converting an idea swirling in the mind into a full-length novel is also something I find very fulfilling. The worst part is the book marketing and promotion side of it. Not being a very marketing-savvy individual and having no interest in social networking over the Internet (MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) I find it extremely stressful to promote my books.

9. Advice for other writers

If it is your dream to be a published writer, then never give up on that dream. The world of creative writing, especially fiction, is a hard nut to crack, so you need to grow a very thick skin when it comes to rejections and bad reviews, but achieving that dream is well worth weathering the negative aspects. I would say keep on plugging away till you succeed.

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience. Can be funny, embarrassing, inspirational, etc. 

I am the proverbial square peg in a round hole because my books do not fit into any genre. My fiction is “Bollywood in a Book,” commercial fiction — stories with romance, drama, high emotions, and a great degree of cultural detail. When I started querying literary agents some four years ago, I often got back responses like, “So, what exactly can your manuscript be labeled, chick-lit, women’s fiction, romance, mystery?” I had no precise answer for them, so I rarely wrote back to them for fear of sounding like an idiot. I am lucky that a highly reputable literary agent (the same agent who represents Khaled Hosseini of The Kite Runner fame) never asked me such a question. She liked my unusual stories and the fact that they were so refreshingly diverse from the usual somber literary fiction by other South Asian authors.

For a preview of the book, visit – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9uRlbkxxes

 

Order Your Copy at Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Sari-Shop-Widow-Shobhan-Bantwal/dp/0758232020 

For more information on Shobhan Bantwal’s new and other books and to enter a drawing to win a number of prizes, please go to her website’s “Contests” page and sign up between Sept 1 and Sept 30, 2009 at www.shobhanbantwal.com

Full September Virtual Tour Details – http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2009/07/sari-shop-widow-by-shobhan-bantwal.html 

 

About The Sari Shop Widow

Pungent curry, sweet fried onions, incense, colorful beads, and lush fabrics – THE SARI SHOP WIDOW is a novel set on the streets of Edison, New Jersey’s Little India, where a young businesswoman rediscovers the magic of love and family. When Anjali Kapadia’s posh sari boutique in New Jersey is on the verge of financial ruin, her wealthy uncle from India comes to her rescue. 

But the wily, dictatorial uncle arrives with some unpleasant surprises—a young Indo-British partner named Rishi Shah for one—and a startling secret that disturbs Anjali.

Falling in love with the mysterious Shah only adds to Anjali’s burgeoning list of complications. Torn between her loyalty to her family and her business on the one hand and her growing attraction for a man who could never fit into her life on the other, Anjali turns to her family and cultural roots to make a life-altering decision.

About Shobhan Banwal

Shobhan Bantwal calls her writing “Bollywood in a Book,” romantic, colorful, action-packed tales, rich with elements of her own Indian culture — stories that entertain and educate. She is an award-winning women’s fiction author of three published novels and has contributed to an anthology of short stories. Shobhan writes for a variety of publications including The Writer magazine, India Abroad, Little India, U.S. 1, Desi Journal, India Currents, Overseas Indian, and New Woman India. Her short stories have won honors/awards in contests sponsored by Writer’s Digest, New York Stories and New Woman magazines.

Paying market for those who read/write multi-cultural romance & fiction

Guidelines: http://www.sormag.com/guide.html

Novel pitch & first five pages

NOVEL PITCH and 1st FIVE (5) PAGES of a NOVEL CONTEST

http://www.janicewiley-dorn.com/smokecitynarrators/pitch1st5contest.html

 

$8 ENTRY FEE — DEADLINE: Sept. 9, 2009

1st – $150 | 2nd – $75 | 3rd – $40 | 6 Honorable Mentions.

 

Sponsored by Smoke City Narrators. Open to USA residents. Entries must be original & unpublished (includes Internet). Novel need not be complete.

Multiple entries OK but only 1 prize awarded to any winner. Submit 2 copies of the first 5 pages of a novel, 1,500 words max. & a one-sentence pitch (mini-synopsis), 20 words max.

 

Optional: The 9 finalists will have their pitch and website link posted on SCN’s website & blog.

 

Novel pages not published. Authors retain all rights. See website for complete rules. 

 

Thanks,

Janice Wiley-Dorn

Smoke City Narrators Contest Director

scnarrators@janicewiley-dorn.com

http://www.janicewiley-dorn.com

http://www.southernartistry.org/Janice_WileyDorn

http://www.published-novelist.blogspot.com/

10 QUESTIONS FOR…NY Times bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch

Author interview with Allison Winn Scotch

I’m the New York Times bestselling author of Time of My Life and The Deparement of Lost and Found. I also write for a slew of magazines, these days primarily focusing on celebrity interviews. I live in NYC with my husband, two kids and our dog.

1. Tell us about your latest book. Time of My Life is the story of Jillian Westfield, a contented but not truly fulfilled, stay-at-home mom who has lingering “what ifs” about her past and her happiness. She wakes up one day seven years in her past and has the opportunity, should she so choose it, to rewrite her future.

2. How did you get started as a writer?

Well, I wasn’t always determined to be a writer. I was always good at it, and people always told me I should pursue it, but to be honest, when I graduated from college, it simply didn’t seem viable. I mean, how does someone make money as a writer? It seemed ludicrous. I tried on a few different career hats, and one – doing an internet start-up – led to a bunch of freelance writing gigs (I was doing the web copy for the site, as well as the press releases, which led to being hired by a bunch of the site’s partners). From there, I was retained by a leading PR company to ghost-write for celebrities, and from there, on a total fluke, I was hired to ghost-write a wedding book for The Knot. With that under my belt, I landed some national magazine articles, and one thing led to another. (Though I don’t mean to make this sound easy. It was feast or famine for a while, and I worked MY BUTT off to establish myself.) Eventually, I wanted to try my hand at something other than service pieces for mags, so I wrote a novel that landed me an agent but didn’t sell. So then I wrote another novel, which I loved, but said agent did not. We parted ways, I found my current (and fabulous) agent, who sold that book – my debut, The Department of Lost and Found – in a four-way auction.

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

It really all depends on where I am in the cycle of a book. Writing, promotion, edits, hanging out and doing nothing… But generally, I take my son to school around 8:30, get home, have breakfast, catch up on my internet surfing and then get writing for a few hours. I’ve found, especially with fiction, if I don’t tackle it first thing in the morning, I’ll procrastinate it all day and won’t get it done at all. So better to get it out of the way right away! From there, I usually break for a workout/lunch/errand running, and then get back to my desk for more writing/emails/whatever other work needs to be done before walking the dog in the late afternoon. My sitter leaves at 6pm, so I shut down, make dinner for my kids, put them to bed, eat dinner with my husband and then try to vegetate in front of the TV/computer/a good book.

4. Describe your workspace.

I’m lucky enough to be able to work out of a home office in NYC, which is a real luxury, I know! My desk is up against a wall with three big windows overlooking the trees on our street. On the wall to my right is a huge painting of an Underwood typewriter, which we bought when I first flirted with success, and I love it even to this day. Behind me is a Precor elliptical, which I hop on – as I said above – to blow off some steam or just give my body a break from sitting and staring at the screen all day! And also to my right, just beneath the Underwood painting, is a daybed, which primarily serves as my dog’s hang-out spot during the day. 

5. Favorite books (especially for writers)

Gosh, well, when I’m asked this, I always say it is IMPOSSIBLE to choose because a) a lot of my friends are writers (hee) and b) a lot of different books have affected me in different ways. But that said, I’d say that the book that really blew me away was Joshua Ferris’s Then We Came to The End. It was one of those books that I just could have NEVER written, never. Which might sound like a weird reason to be enamored with it, but I think that when you’re a writer, you start evaluating books differently than the average reader. You pick them apart, assess whether or not, if given the same idea, you could write a similar book on your best day. But even on my very, very best day, I could have never written this book. I thought it was whimsical, surprising and really, just genius. Not everyone agreed, but that’s why there are so many options out there to choose from!

6. Tell us 3 interesting/crazy things about you

I used to want to be an actress. That’s probably not so crazy, but I DID appear nude in my college’s production of Hair. Ha! Post-college, I actually shot some commercials and got my SAG card until I switched gears, and as I mentioned above, things fell into place for me as a writer.

I cannot live without Fresca, Orbit bubblement gum and Napster. Like, seriously. I get withdrawal symptoms from them.

I have a numerical near-photographic memory. I still remember phone numbers from random people years ago. My husband used to not believe this but now, he tells me a phone number or some important stat, and just says, “Got it?” And I do! My son is the same way, and I have to say, seeing it in someone else is a little freaky.

7. Favorite quote

“If you asked me what I came into this world to do, I will tell you, I came to live out loud.” – Emile Zola

8. Best and worst part of being a writer:

The best part is the freedom, which encompasses a lot of things, that this job provides me. The freedom to create my own schedule, the freedom to both work and hang with my kids, the freedom to expand my imagination, the freedom to know that my career feels pretty limitless. I truly feel so, so blessed to be able to do what I do and get paid for it.

The worst part? Well, a lot of it, even though, yes, it does feel limitless, is out of my control. Time of My Life did really well, in no small part due to the press it received, and if it hadn’t received such press, it wouldn’t have become a best-seller. Does that make it any less good of a book? Of course not. But there are a lot of great books out there that go unnoticed…and unfortunately, that’s just how this business works. So many things are out of your hands: marketing, PR, reviews, co-op, etc, that you sort of just have to accept it and do your best with what you can. But that can be tough, especially for someone like me who is Type-Z in everything non-career related but Type-A with her career.

9. Advice for other writers

Be open to criticism. I say this all the time, but it’s just so imperative. I think one of the biggest mistakes that aspiring (and established) writers can make is assuming that they’re as good as they think they are. I should know: I thought that initial manuscript that never sold was GENIUS. When I went back and reread it several years later, it was HORRID. Just horrid. Thank goodness it never sold! I’ve been fortunate enough along the way in my career to glean some truly constructive criticism, and if I’d never listened to it, I’d never have grown as a writer. Take your ego OUT of the equation, and try to improve yourself with every opportunity.

10. Tell us a story about your writing experience. 

Sure, well, as I mentioned above, before I wrote The Department of Lost and Found, I wrote another manuscript, which landed me an agent but didn’t get me a book deal. I got enough positive feedback from editors, though, that I was certain that this fiction thing COULD happen for me, even as demoralizing as it was to get so close and NOT get that offer. So I buckled down, put my disappointment aside, and wrote the first draft to what is now The Department in about three months. My agent hemmed and hawed, helped me through some revisions, but it was pretty obvious that she had lost faith in me. I was freaking out – I couldn’t get her to return my emails, my phone calls, and finally, several months after I handed in my last draft, I got her on the phone, and she said, “I feel like going out with this book will do more harm than good for your career.” I remember the quote very succinctly. She gave me the offer to go back to that first book and revise it (NO INTEREST – it sucked!), write an entire DIFFERENT book, or…part ways.

Well, obviously, you can guess the one that I did. I told her I’d get back to her in a few days but knew as soon as I hung up the phone what I was going to do…and think I emailed her the next morning. Because I knew – and I say this A LOT on my blog – that I could write the best book in the world, and she wouldn’t believe in me. She’d lost faith in me as a writer but also as an asset, and this is the most damaging thing ever. Your agent HAS to have your back, HAS to be your advocate or else you are dead in the water. If I’d stayed with her, I’d never have published that book, much less gotten FOUR offers for it within weeks of signing with my new (and current and FABULOUS ) agent.

Look, it was a leap of faith, but I had faith in MYSELF and my book. I trusted my gut, and while it was ridiculously terrifying to leave my agent – everyone knows how hard they are to get – I had to believe that I had something great to offer. My now-agent believed that, and here I am today.

Where can people buy your book(s)?

Time of My Life is available pretty much everywhere: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Indie stores, and is also a Target breakout book, so will be featured in stores from 8/9 through 10/11. I’d be indebted if you’d pick up a copy! And writers, feel free to swing by my blog and post a question! http://www.allisonwinn.com/ask-allison/