So I'm in the middle of a great writing session on Friday when the phone rings. I almost, almost ignore it. After all, who in their right mind would call smack dab in the middle of a demon invasion?
Luckily, I answered because it was my agent with great news - The Accidental Demon Slayer is #34 on the NY Times Bestseller list! Blew my mind. Heck, I'd just wanted readers to like the series enough to keep me up to my eyeballs in demon slayers, biker witches and talking dogs.
A year ago this week, I was still polishing up the last chapter of the book. I'd entered the first 50 pages in an RWA unpublished contest, just to see if the manuscript was too out there. I love Demon Slayer, but it is, erm...different. Anyhow, it ended up winning and an editor at Dorchester was interested in the full manuscript. Problem was, I didn't have a full manuscript. I still had eight chapters to go.
The only time I have that's truly my own is the two to three hours in the afternoon when my small kids are napping. So I added a 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. session in order to take advantage of the time before they woke up. I finished the book in about six weeks, sent it off on a Thursday, my editor read it over the weekend and made an offer. Now it's a NY Times Bestseller.
I'm still not sure how that happened, but I do know it never hurts to work hard, believe in your story and - oh yeah - answer the phone.
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12 comments:
Yay Angie!
Congratulations, Angie! This is still on my tbr list - I WILL get it soon, I promise.
Congratulations! YAY for The Accidental Demon Slayer!
Can we just come over and rub your face or something just so the NYT magic gets passed around? I think it's well deserved and lucky it wasn't a telemarketer hey? Then you would have been shirty....
Congrats!!!!
Congratulations, Angie!
I posted the news at Win a Book, where I was posting an awful lot of contests involving your books. I'm glad that the buzz is paying off for you.
LOL Thanks!
And Natalie, you have to tell us what shirty means. How Aussie.
I actually did get pulled out of a writing session today by a woman calling to ask if I'd like to vote for Obama. I told her not right now, thanks.
And, Susan, I appreciate you spreading the word about the contests and now the list.
Thats terrific !! I have this on my mountain of a TBR, but will get to it very soon! WOOHOO !!
Ah Angie, when you're in a bad mood and things are getting you down, that's shirty. lose the r and you've got it.. we just don't use the other word. It also comes from people having their shirts untucked last century, it was a fopar!! a big no no, so when you said someone was shirty, it meant they were going against the norm, rebelling. Untuck those shirts right now!!!
Thanks, Wendy!
And Natalie, you never cease to amuse me. Now I have to work a slime monster and the word shirty into some future book.
Well done Angie!!! Keep up the great work ;)
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