Glamour on the go

Glamour, my first YA novel, has moved out of my hands to the good people at HAWK.

Glamour was a fun book to write. Remembering what it was like to be a teenager wasn't difficult because I feel like I've spent most of my life there--either as a kid or a teacher. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and editing.

The hard part was AFTER I wrote the book. Learning how to pitch it to agents and editors was mind numbing and almost enough to make me think I was content to have it just for myself thankyouverymuch. I'm glad I didn't, though. My writing group and other friends encouraged me and my own little fairy tale came true.

Once the amazing Bill Bernhardt from HAWK expressed his interest in publishing the manuscript, I felt like I was in some sort of surreal world. Maybe not Salvador Dali with all his melting clocks but more like the Willy Wonka's area with the chocolate river, edible daffodil teacups, and the Oompa Loompas. I feared I'd be like one of the naughty children in the story and mess up everything.

And there were things for me to mess up. I had to supply a photo for the book jacket. How do you decide what that should be? People might just look at the pic and think, "No WAY am I reading anything by this chica." Um, not that I've done anything so shallow before.

And then there's a bio. Seriously, I know common sense indicates that I'm the prime person to write about me, but I didn't know what to include. Did I mention that I began writing in the first grade? Did I mention that I grew up in Oklahoma in the Creek Nation Captial and my family was from the Cherokee Capital--both of which influenced the American Indian aspect of my story? Did I mention that unlike most people I loved high school--even though middle school was about as painful as the first few weeks of American Idol? Nope. I mentioned none of these things. Brevity seemed best.

And now I wait semi-patiently as some creative superhero designs the cover of what will be my first published novel. I am so excited to see how someone else interprets my story! I'll share it with you as soon as I can.