I’ve always been a writer. I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t scribbling down stories. Six years ago, I decided to reach for the impossible and pursue writing as a career. I was not an English major. I did not have an M.F.A. I was a Biology teacher with a Biology major, and I’d minored in Theatre. However, like a lot of advice tells you, you do not need an English degree to be a writer. I learned how to tell compelling stories by being an avid reader all my life. I learned the craft behind narrative writing through trial and error, generous critique partners and mentors, writing workshops, and tons of craft books. I wrote three books and three novellas (Gah! They were horrible!) before I wrote and queried A Dark and Shadowed Destiny (ADASD). I wrote and revised the novel in about five months. It was a Young Adult Fantasy that I pitched as a Persephone and Hades reimagining, and it was the first book that I confidently felt could stand up under the scrutiny of publishing gatekeepers.
Three months into querying it, I received a revise and resubmit offer (an R&R) from my now awesome agent, Caitie Flum of Liza Dawson Associates. After I received the R&R offer, I worked with a freelance editor and critique partners to replot and revise ADASD from beginning to end. I sent ADASD back to Caitie four months after her R&R offer. Two months after that, I returned to my desk at work after lunch to an email waiting for me that was from her. She was asking to set up a phone call! We chatted on the phone about how much she loved my writing, the story I’d queried, and what her vision for the manuscript and my career was. We also talked about my goals and my visions for the story and my career. We aligned perfectly, and I knew at once that we would make a stellar team!