How

 did you get published?
How did you get published?

In contrast to what most people seem to expect, my path to publication was pretty straightforward. I wrote a book. Then I wrote another book. Then I wrote a third book. I thought the third one (Stray) was good enough to be published. I was wrong. With the help of a great mentor, I rewrote it. Then I polished it. Then I rewrote it some more, and polished it some more. Then I edited it. Then I started the process all over again. Finally, after five major rewrites, I began querying agents. Several expressed interest. I signed with my wonderful, amazing agent, Miriam Kriss. She made a couple of minor requests, and I made the adjustments. Then she took over. She sent my book out during the first week of January, 2006.

On Friday the 13th (no kidding), we got an offer. Another week and a half later, we had three more. Miriam negotiated, and I consumed large amounts of caffeine and chocolate. Then, on January 30th, almost two weeks after the first offer, we had a deal. Stray had sold, along with two sequels. Of course, there's lots more work to do after the sale, but that's truly another story.


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How did you get an agent?

This is the question I hear most often, and no one seems to believe me when I say that there is no mysterious secret. I wasn't recommended to my agent by another client. I didn't use any special gimmicks or attention-getting techniques to catch her eye. I didn't enter or win any contests. I didn't even meet my agent at a conference. I am truly a slush pile survivor.

After writing Stray, I reworked it for a long time--off and on for about eight months. When I thought it was ready, I sent out queries to well-researched agents with good sales records, whose websites said they represented (or even specialized in) books in my genre. I got a few rejections and a few requests for more material. I got rejections from requested material. Then I got a rejection containing suggestions. I evaluated the suggestions, made the changes I decided I liked, and sent out more queries. I got more requests and more rejections. Then I got an offer from my agent. I knew immediately that Miriam was the agent for me. She's smart, and confident, and reads faster than anyone I've ever met. I accepted the offer without hesitation. That's it. It was that simple.


Random related comment:

Make no mistake, rejections will come. They're part of the business. They come before you're published. They come after you're published. Serious writers learn to take criticism and rejection. Then they learn to write through them both.


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How long did it take you to sell a book?

This question (posed to any writer) has no good answer. It took a very long time, if you start counting up the years since I wrote my first story, at age six. Even if you don't start counting until I finished my first novel, the answer is meaningless. It takes a different amount of time for every writer, and that amount of time isn't really important. It takes as long as it takes. The key to passing the time easily and quickly is to keep writing. When you finish one book, write another one while the first one "ages." Always have something in progress, and finish what you start. Even if the product isn't publishable, the experience you gain from writing it is immeasurably valuable. Most writers have one or more unpublished "practice novels." I have two. I love them both, and maybe someday I'll have the time to go back and rework them. But I learned more than I can ever explain from writing them.

But, if you're still interested in numbers, the true answer to this question is that it usually takes several years and more than one manuscript before an author sells his or her first book. Expect it to take time. If you don't enjoy the process before you're selling, you won't enjoy it afterward either.


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Why cats?

Finally, an easy one! The simple answer is that I love cats. When I was eight, my first and only puppy broke into our shed and chewed up the Nativity Set in storage. I've been a cat person ever since. I have a lot in common with cats, really. We're both cuddly, and friendly, and generally spoiled. But cats can also be fierce, even when confronted with much bigger creatures. Cats are slinky and sensual in a natural, unconscious way. They seem lazy and arrogant, and invariably have an attitude of one sort or another, which lends itself to interesting fictional characters.

And there are already lots of werewolf stories out there, most of them fantastic. But I didn't have anything new to add to werewolf lore, so I wrote about what I know: cats.


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What else do you have planned?

Well, on the immediate horizon are five contracted sequels to Stray. Rogue will be out in April 2008, and Pride will hit the shelves in March 2009, to be followed by three more over the next few years. Also, I'm very excited about a couple of new, unrelated projects I have in the works. But that's all I'm saying for now. ;-)


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Why Urban Fantasy?

Another easy one. I love urban fantasy (also known as contemporary fantasy, dark fantasy and dark modern fantasy). I read several fiction genres, but urban fantasy is my favorite for both reading and writing. It gives me the freedom to write about magic and creatures usually found in the sword-and-sorcery worlds of traditional fantasy, but lets me set my stories on modern-day earth, with all its social quirks and technological wonders. What could be better?

However, I should probably point out that Stray and its sequels aren't technically urban fantasy, because most of the action takes place in small towns and large forests, rather than in the concrete jungle. Some might classify the series as contemporary or modern fantasy, instead. But I'll leave the labels up to you.

Werecats with cell phones and internet access? Absolutely. Why not?


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What is Urban Fantasy?

I've found lots of good answers to this question in several surprising places, but my favorite so far is found here, courtesy of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency's Live from NY blog, and guest blogger Liz Sheier.


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Why don't you make your books into a movie?

Unfortunately, whether or not a book gets made into a movie usually has little to do with the author, and this is certainly true in my case. I'm not in the film industry, and have no idea how most of that works. What I do know, though, is that first the film rights must be sold, and that has not happened for Stray. So, for now you'll have to keep picturing Faythe and crew however they look in your head. And really, sometimes that's the best part. ;-)

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How did you pick the model on your cover/s?

Actually, I didn't. Authors typically have nothing to do with their cover art, and my only input was a physical description of Faythe. However, I've been very pleased with both of my covers so far, and the response to them from readers has been overwhelmingly positive, and with that in mind, I can't wait to see what the art department has cooked up for Pride!

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