“Yesterday” – June 15, 2012
“Today” - JUNE 25, 2012
Such JOY and ANTICIPATION,
and I could not even TELL why! I have wanted to shout the news OUT LOUD.
Instead, I had to be content with *whispering* to a few
friends and family with a promise to KILL if they told anyone else.
All these emotions link to Part 1 of my post, A Day in the Life Of on June 15, 2012,
and to my daughter, Courtney Potter). In January of 2012, she posted the story
on blog of her author journey. I was
privileged to tag along with her then and for the thrill ride it has been to
date; for that is what the journey has become. It has felt like a long one in
some ways, but actually has been a relatively short one in others. We have
arrived at the first destination - a mere stop along the way in her ‘dreams
come true’ desire to become a career author - but a very important milestone
(in many future ones to come)!
AND I AM SO EXCITED and CRAZY-HAPPY for Courtney!
BECAUSE …
HARPER
COLLINS just bought Courtney’s contemporary young adult novel, Faking Normal. They made the final
offer (and Courtney’s agent accepted the contract on her behalf) on June 15. It
was Courtney’s 33rd birthday. What a wonderful, AMAZING present!
Especially since it was a Very Nice Contract!
How beautiful is that!
And today,
June 25 – a mere week later – Harper Collins announced the acquisition of Court’s
manuscript in Publishers Weekly. So
now, NOW, we can TALK about it! Shew. Thought I’d NEVER get to shout it out!
And so it begins. The life of an author. Writer. Wordsmith.
Creator of memorable characters and purposeful plots.
The deal validates all the long solitary hours of penning
words on a legal pad or committing them to a laptop. It makes worthwhile the
‘nice’ rejections (though very encouraging, they were still read ‘no’) from
agents and then a few editors. Writing is a business of rejections. Writers
have to develop thick skins. (So do mamas).
I always wanted to write. I’ve scribbled stories and dreamed
up characters all my life. I am a voracious reader, who secretly dreamed that
*one day* I’d write a novel, too. I even took a short story writing class in
2003 and enjoyed every minute of it. In
the course of the class, I realized that I don’t really have what it takes to
sustain a book-length plot, but I enjoyed the creative endeavor, and I learned
a lot.
The desire to write runs in our family.
My dad told me he always wanted to write a book. He
‘settled’ for writing his Army memoir (and let me edit the draft), which was
published by the county historical society as a tribute to veterans. In 2001, Courtney and my sister and I put
together an anthology of family anecdotes for my dad. The three of us enjoyed
the process so much! When Daddy died in January of 2002, he had only had time
to read one section, but it was clearly something he treasured.
As I did, my mother scribbled stories when she was young.
And she liked to illustrate stories that her best friend wrote, too. My son
remains fascinated with graphic novels and comic books. He keeps plots in his
head and shares them with two friends who have the same interests. My sister
has kept an extensive journal for many years; she has a story to tell as well;
and one day, I believe she will. I also have
a cousin who is the author of three books.
We are a family of readers and writers.
Courtney is the only one of us who actually got down to it and DID IT! Writing is hard work. It
requires consistent, persistent effort. It requires learning ‘the business’ and
how to grow as a writer and how to polish your craft. The rest of us yearn, but
Courtney did it!
And me? Court asked if I would help (would I?). She wanted grammar/English advice and someone to ‘talk’
the book with her. And that’s the way my
part in this adventure began. Courtney excelled at writing non-fiction. She
easily wrote reports and research papers and sermons (i.e. ‘talks’), even poems
and skits as a part of college classes and then in her job as youth pastor.
Though she’d written something all her life, had had a distinguished writing
portfolio in high school, and had won a national short story contest, it had
been years since she’d written something that required dialogue. Therefore,
there was a slight learning curve for her when she began. I helped with
punctuation and phrasing. I thought she had a GREAT plot outline for a YA fantasy
novel, a genre that she loves to read. She wrote, then emailed me a chapter at
a time; and I proofed it and emailed it back. And so on, again and … again. We worked on and revised that book
three times, shortening it, changing perspective and point of view, and even
the plot … over time. That first
full-length novel was a great learning tool. And I still believe it has
redeeming value, but for now, it resides in a folder on the desktop! Neither of
us is ready to re-vise it again … yet! Meanwhile, Courtney joined a writing
guild, The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and
attended her first Mid-South conference. She
attended one session by Kelly Sonnack of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency in
San Diego, CA, and told me that Kelly was her ‘dream agent.’ She just couldn’t
believe she would ever be ‘good enough’ to attract representation by such an
amazing agent!
Later that year, Court revealed a new plot idea she’d had.
It took a year of writing, revising and proofing to get it to publishable
standard. But in this one, a contemporary teen romance, Courtney found her
writing style and her unique voice, and her
genre. The words, the characters, the setting, all just flowed. I was amazed at
the quantum leap in quality, in the depth of her writing with this book. When she
submitted it to the fiction contest at SCBWI that fall,
judges awarded it an Honorable Mention. We finished the book and began to
submit it to agents for representation. There were many encouraging rejections!
Last fall, Courtney attended the national conference of
SCBWI in Los Angeles. An editor at the conference gave her the best advice of
her writing career. “Go home and write the book you HAVE to write!” That night
in the CA hotel, Courtney began the first chapter of that book. And it is the one that got her three offers of
representation by top agents in January of 2012 – a late Christmas present!
Courtney realized one part of her dream when she accepted Kelly Sonnack of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency AS HER very own
AGENT! It is the book that Harper Collins will publish (possibly 2014).
Courtney does the hard work, and all I do is move commas
around and act the part of a watchdog for over-used words and phrases. IT IS
SO MUCH FUN! I get to enjoy the pleasure of creation and suffer none of the
birthing pains.
It is the fulfillment of one of my dreams.
Thank you, Courtney, for allowing me a part in your journey.
Thank you, Kelly Sonnack, for believing. Thank you, Rosemary Brosnan of Harper Collins,
for sharing the vision.
Today, on June 25, 2012, Courtney’s
deal is in Publisher’s Weekly!
Wow. That takes my
breath away. (so thankful!)
I CAN’T WAIT!!!!
