Finally, It's Happened To Me! I Sold A Book!

I've dreamed about writing this blog post for years. Literally. And now that the moment is here, I'm not sure where to start or what to include. So let's get the important stuff out of the way first...

I sold my manuscript,TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD,to the Entangled Publishing Indulgence line!!

jamiewebbjump

As you can see, I am beyond thrilled. I love this manuscript (almost as much as I love Reese's peanut butter cups) and as someone who has "stalked" Entangled for awhile and knows what they have accomplished, I'm happy to put it in their capable hands.

*needle scratching on the record* or *tape rewinding in the VCR* (Take your pick, although I fear both references date me).

Anywho...REWIND! Back to the beginning...

I decided to get serious about writing romance in the summer of 2009. I was unemployed and knew this was the time if I was ever going to do it. I'd actually started my first manuscript in 2002 after I graduated from college when I *sigh* found myself unemployed. But I didn't know what I was doing and I got halfway through the manuscript and realized I had no idea what happened next. I found a job and put it aside.

But I never forgot about it and whenever I got a new computer, I made sure I transferred the file.

In 2009, I figured out how to end the book. And I was off. I read blogs on writing, posts on message boards, and attended RWA  meetings and conferences. And I wrote with the goal of becoming a better writer every day.

To make this long story a little shorter, let's skip ahead, shall we?

In March 2012, I received the completely unexpected honor of being named a RWA Golden Heart® finalist. My first thought was, "Oh, my God. I don't suck!"

I started querying agents because I was having trouble getting a response from a publisher I'd submitted to and I thought having an agent on my side would help. A solid plan, but one that didn't work because the agents, one by one, rejected Tell Me.

They were nice about it, saying complimentary things about my writing and often offering feedback, but a rejection is a rejection is a rejection.

Anyway, even without an agent, I eventually heard back from said publisher and it was a "no." I was disappointed, of course, but I knew it wasn't the end of the world.

I submitted the MS to another publisher because they offered a quick turnaround with guaranteed feedback. They were true to their word. Again, it was a "no." This rejection, however, sent me into a bit of a tailspin because of the editor's promised feedback. She said I did something in the story that I would never intentionally do in a million years. I was appalled/embarrassed and immediately thought of what I needed to do to rip my book apart and start over.

Then I calmed down. I thought back to the feedback I'd received from agents, critique partners, and the other editor. No one had ever menioned this, and I realized that editor just didn't "get" my book (which is fine, BTW. Not everyone will and I'm okay with that. This really is a subjective business). It didn't make sense to make wholesale changes for someone who'd already rejected the manuscript. (And no, I don't want to be more specific about the feedback because I didn't change my MS based on what she said and I don't want to unduly influence anyone who might read the book in question in the future. And no, the feedback wasn't mean. It just happened to hit a nerve).

Okay, so I wasn't going to change my MS based on this editor's opinion. But I needed to do something. There was something holding agents and editors back from agreeing to represent/buy it. I set Tell Me aside and worked on other manuscripts while I let possible changes percolate in the back of my mind.

At the start of this year, I decided this was going to be my year. I was tired of writing and not being published. I was going to do everything in my power to make my dream come to reality. But you can't get published (with a publishing house anyway) unless you submit, and I wasn't out on submission anywhere.

So I needed to get cracking.

Although I'd been working on other manuscripts, I always intended to return to Tell Me because I adored the story and the characters and I had the confidence Golden Heart final had given me to fall back on (there's no way I would have finaled in the contest if it truly sucked). Also, don't tell anyone, but I'm kind of stubborn.

I went back to the first editor's feedback. She mentioned a lack of character development. I didn't agree with that assessment because I knew exactly how the characters changed and grew throughout the book, but I also knew there was a distinct possibility that what I knew happened might not have made it on to the page. Maybe I was being too subtle.

Game plan time!

I knew that some writers swear by story fixer Michael Hauge. I went Internet searching and found this blog post describing Hauge's method of creating inner conflict in characters. I applied his methods to my hero and heroine, Tate and Noelle. Seeing their histories/fears/desires on paper really crystallized who they were as people to me, and I went back into the manuscript and added all this stuff where I saw fit. At times, I felt like like I was being too heavy handed. But no one who's read it since I made the changes has commented on it.

Lesson learned: Screw subtlety. Also, my additions probably aren't that heavy handed, but I was being too subtle.

The other area that needed improving based on agent feedback: Pacing. I could work with this, so I  moved some things around and deleted some others to speed up the action.

When I thought the manuscript was worthy of being seen by outside eyes, I sent it to my friend and fellow writer, Dawn Alexander, who'd generously offered to critique it for me. She did an amazing job, pointing out my weak spots. I made (most of) her changes. Then I read it a million times because I am a perfectionist and I really, really wanted this to be my year.

When I was so sick of Noelle and Tate (though I love them dearly) that I couldn't bear reading about them any more, I submitted the manuscript to Entangled Publishing on June 17. On June 22, I received an email from editor Gwen Hayes saying she was interested in publishing Tell Me.

grease

But the book still had to go to acquisitions, so there was a chance that it could still be rejected. I was hoping to get everything wrapped up by RWA Nationals, so I could shout out it from the rooftops, but that didn't happen. I talked to Entangled authors, Nicole Helm and Jackie Ashenden, who talked me down from the ledge and told me acquisitions wasn't a scary place to be.

Still! I was so freaking close to that Reese's peanut butter cup I could almost taste that perfect mixture of chocolate and peanut butter, but it was just out of my reach.

Finally, late last week, I saw this Gwen Hayes tweet.

gwennew2

I raced to my email and there was the golden ticket email. The acquisitions board said YES!

*press play for Cece Peniston's Finally* (Yes, I'm aging myself again, but I don't care!)

Lessons learned 1. Dream.

2. Do the work to make the dream come true.

3. Strive to be better every day.

4. Trust yourself. Consider ALL the feedback you receive, incorporate the parts that resonate, and discard the rest. YOU know your story best, but others can see things that you are blind to.

By the way, the story really hasn't changed much. I tweaked and improved some things, but the story is the same story I came up with way back when.

Oh, the story, you say. What's it about? It's funny and sexy and sweet and modern. IMHO. And totally me. Here's the (unofficial) blurb for TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD (to be published in 2014).

Tate Dr. Noelle Butler, the host of the radio show Noelle Knows, is an uptight psychologist who needs to chill out. She knows nothing about sports, but she’s talking about them anyway. So what if I called in to her show to set her straight?

Noelle Sports radio talk show host Tate Grayson is a playboy trust fund baby who wouldn’t know hard work if it bit him in the butt. So what if I phoned in and told him to stick to sports and to leave the relationship advice to me?

Here’s what. The station’s listeners loved our “discussions” and now we’ve been tasked to do a show together. Unbelievable.

But, hey, it’s only for a few weeks. What’s the worst that could happen? Besides killing each other? How about falling for each other?

The end. Almost. There are A LOT of people I need to thank, but this post is already obnoxiously long, so I'll save that for another post. Probably tomorrow.

Right now, I'm off to celebrate!

P.S. How many pop culture references can you spot in this post?

Pink: A Sorta Kinda Review

Last Friday, I saw Pink in concert. I was beyond excited. In 2010, on my old blog, I wrote about how upset I was in 2009 that I couldn't see Pink or Kelly Clarkson in concert because I was unemployed and broke. But three and half years make a difference, and I'm in a much better financial position, so I was able to shell out the money to see Pink, who I've been a fan of since her first CD way back when.

Here are some random thoughts...

1. Her abs are ridiculous. Actually, she's in amazing shape period. But her abs...OMG. I was sitting close enough to the stage that I could make out the delineation with my eyes and didn't need the screen to point it out.

As the above picture shows, when she came over to my side of the stage, I was close enough to touch her, but I thought that would be kinda creepy, so I didn't. Instead, I did my best to blind her with the flash of my camera. Good Times.

2. She did A LOT of acrobatics during the show, but I was like, "I've seen this before." In my head, she'd done a lot of this in the 2009 concert, so it wasn't fresh. Been there, done that. However, as luck would have it, Palladia (a TV show I adore and blogged about) aired that 2009 concert Saturday, so I was able to compare. Woo hoo! She did a little bit of flying back then, but she amped it up big time this time around. I guess she was testing the waters back then. I saw her do the acrobatic stuff on a couple of award shows and wrongly assumed that was her old show, but it wasn't.

So I was being a little harder than I should have been. Acrobatic, flying around stuff was supercool while singing and sounding great at the same time. Thumbs up!

3. I laughed in the middle of the show when they played a video about how she won a talent contest when she was 13 and released her first CD in 2000 back when she was pop/R&B Pink instead of the pop/Rock Pink we all know and love today. It was a big flashing light that "these next songs are going to be weird and different from my recent stuff." She performed a melody of the singles from that CD, including "There You Go." I was obsessed with this song when I was in college. I don't know why, but I was.

I was glad she did them, especially when I watched the 2009 tour and she did not.

4. I don't like looking up setlists before going to shows. I like it to be a surprise. Which is why as the concert neared its end, I kept thinking, "Surely she's not going to do this concert and not perform True Love, my favorite song on her latest CD."

But that's exactly what she did. I never even contemplated that she wouldn't do the song because she's performed it before. She did it during her VH-1 Storytellers (which I saw on Palladia - told ya I love that channel!). I was going to link to a Youtube video of the video, but it appears not to exist - lol. Luckily, I found the entire Storytellers episode on VH1's website. I thought it was a really good episode and highly recommend it. It was way better than someone else's episode. I won't names, but she felt the need to go into character for each song. *cue eyeroll*

Anyway, back to the point. Here's the video of True Love if you don't want to watch the entire episode for some crazy, ridiculous reason. I love this song because it's sweet and funny and true. So upset she didn't do it during the concert.

Oh, wait. She did show a video at the end of the concert of some behind the scenes stuff that used True Love as the background music, but that didn't count! If I wanted to hear a recorded version of the song, I could have popped in my CD.

Overall thoughts - Pink put on a fun, funny, sometimes risque, entertaining show. She sounded great. It's always fun to be in the company of thousands who enjoy the same thing you do. Glad I went. Thumbs up.

Up next: Kelly Clarkson this Friday. Can't wait.

Dallas: Back to the Future

Last year, when I heard that TNT was rebooting the iconic TV series, Dallas, I got excited. Although I don't remember a lot of details, I do remember watching it when I was a kid. I always love a good soap opera. And I'm from Dallas. I finally got to watch it, and I wasn't disappointed. I squeed a little at the opening montage with the familiar theme song and the even more familiar city landmarks. The show itself more than lived up to its promise of soapy goodness. I'll definitely be watching again.

And yet...the show is called Dallas. It's not called Rich People Backstabbing Each Other. Although that would be an apropos title, as well. So because it is called Dallas, the city is another character that is showcased. I appreciated that the producers want the show to be as authentic as possible. If for no other reason, shooting here puts money into the local economy yada yada yada.

But I did scratch my head a few times, notably in a few scenes with John Ross, JR's son. John Ross had a few clandestine meetings, one in the middle of Cowboys Stadium. Yeah, that's not the place I'd have a clandestine meeting. Maybe in the parking lot, but they're not just going to waltz on to the field. The stadium isn't open to any old body, not even the filthy rich. And if you do want to go in, someone is going to ask why.

The second secret meeting took place on some tram thing, and I was really confused. I was thinking that they must have shot that scene in LA, and then I saw the ferris wheel in the background, and I knew where they were - the fairgrounds. But the fair is only here for a month. Maybe the tram is in use other times, but I doubt it. The fairgrounds probably are a good clandestine meeting place, but the tram? Um, OK.

Now, I'm sure I only noticed these things because I'm a Dallasite, and that if the show took place elsewhere, I never would have noticed the odd location choices.

But I chuckled. And scratched my head.

I can't wait for the next episode and see what other local hotspots I notice.

My New Favorite Commercial

With the Super Bowl coming up this Sunday, it got me thinking about commercials. My last favorite commercial was the AT&T flash mob commercial, but they've retired that one, I guess. Now I have a new favorite.

It cracks me up. Every. Time.

I love how Jack tries to "sell it" at the meeting with his dancing. And Little Jack's devastation sends me right over the edge.

Love!

Tale of Woe: My First Trip to Aldi's

I love Walt Disney World. Very, very much. I am not alone. The reason I know I’m not alone is because there is a very popular message board called DISBoards. It’s where all the Disney freaks hang out and talk about how much they love Disney and what their favorite Disney attraction, hotel, restaurant, etc. etc. is. I used to hang out there all the time (not as much now because I’m busy) because yes, I love Disney, but also because people there talk about anything and everything under the sun. Well, except for politics and religion. Those two topics got banned. People may share a love of Disney, but often that’s where the common interests ended. Some of the stuff that was posted during the 2008 election – yeah, not good. But I’m digressing.

As for me? I’m a nerd and I’ll read pretty much anything even if it has absolutely nothing to do with me. A post about a colonoscopy? Sure, why not? A post about how some woman’s husband is cheating on her? Yep.

Anyway, there’s a Budget Board on the DIS. People talk about ways to save money. And being the cheapinista I am, you know I’m all over that.

A couple of years ago, I noticed that people kept mentioning Aldi’s. Aldi’s? What the heck is that, I thought.  I was nosy, so I read. Apparently, it’s a grocery store that specializes in generic items and it’s CHEAP.

I had to leave it at that because I’m in Texas and Aldi’s appeared to be a North thing.

But Aldi’s came to town last year. *Cue the happy dance music*

Last night, I made my first (of many) visits. However, things didn’t go quite as planned.

I walk into the place and look around. Um, where are the grocery carts? I turn in a circle. No carts. Other patrons are walking around pushing them, so I know they have them. Do they not have enough? It is a pretty small place. But there aren’t that many people in there. Are they stored somewhere else in the store?

I can’t ask somebody because it’s probably a stupid question, and I don’t like looking stupid.

I figure I’ll stumble on to them at some point, so I venture farther into the store. And yep, there’s the generic, cheap stuff I was promised. I like cheap. So I wander around the store looking at everything.

At some point, it dawns on me that the grocery carts are probably outside and I just missed them. I also remember reading on the DIS that they “rent” the carts for a quarter, so employees don’t have to waste time wandering the parking lot gathering scattered carts. You get the quarter back when you return the cart.

I have no problem with this EXCEPT I rarely pay cash. I charge everything to a credit card and pay it off at the end of the month, so I can rack up the air miles, Disney points, cash back or whatever. But there are also some items I want to get, too many for me to carry in my hands. So I go outside and look around. Yep, there the carts are – to the left of the door. I’d entered from the right and completely missed them.

I open my wallet, praying I have a quarter inside. And that would be a no. Maybe I have one in my car? I head that way and a lady calls out from her car that you need a quarter to get a cart. I answer sheepishly, “I know, but I don’t have one.” She very generously gives me a quarter. Yay for human kindness!

I’m back in business! I get the cart, head back inside, load up my cart and head to the checkout counter. Um, yeah, they charge $.10 for bags. Didn’t know that. This is when I notice other people walking around with their own bags. Alrighty, then.

I figure the cashier is going to ask me if I want to purchase bags, but she doesn’t. She just loads the cart. And, not wanting to risk embarrassment, you know I wasn't going to ask.

I go to pay and whip out the credit card. She asks if I want cash back. I say no. I swipe my credit card. It asks for a pin number. I look at her and say I have a credit card.

Her response? "We don’t accept credit cards. Cash or debit only."

Er, um, what?

Remember how I said I rarely have cash? Yeah, that’s still true. I also don’t keep much cash in my checking account because I don’t need to because I DON'T PAY FOR THINGS IN CASH. Bills that can go on the credit card and I pay everything else online at the beginning of the month when I get paid. Most of what’s left over goes to the savings account.

I quickly wrack my brain to remember how much I have in checking and breathe a sigh of relief. I should have enough to cover it. I whip out the debit card and slide it through the machine.

Pin number? After a momentary blank, I punch it in. The card is declined. Did I not remember how much was in the checking account? But the cashier says I entered the wrong pin. Oh, thank God. Let’s try this again. Success!

I wheel the cart out to my car, praying that I have a bag amongst all the junk in the back seat. And I do. I put as much as I can into it and throw the rest in the backseat. I return the cart and get the quarter back.

I leave and head straight to McDonald’s for some comfort food and a desperately needed frozen strawberry lemonade.

And thus concludes Jamie’s embarrassing tale of the day.