Panhandling for Change or How I sold my first Blaze!
Posted by Blaze Author in Bonnie Edwards
Air travel has changed a lot and my recent trip to NYC and Toronto proved it. I had a lot of obstacles to getting where I wanted to be, which was home.
At the airport, I was told that since I hadn’t paid for seat selection, (huh?) I may not get on my over-sold flight. (Nowhere in all the information was this explained.) But after stressing for 90 minutes, I got on and had a great seat!
When we landed high winds buffeted the plane. Which meant that the seaplane I’d booked wasn’t likely to take off. Indeed, I called and found flights had been cancelled.
Determined to get home that night, I rushed through the airport and booked the next hotel shuttle to downtown, was told I had five minutes to get my luggage and be outside for the next one. It happened! The shuttle driver ran behind by a few minutes, so I jumped on just before he pulled away.
Downtown, I dashed across the street to wait for a city bus to the ferry terminal. (I still had water to cross!) The very first bus that showed up was the Express! Yay! Had I considered that I’d need coin for this bus? Of course not…I’d booked a seaplane flight, no need for exact change, right? Right.
I asked the driver if he’d please just take a bill. No! I sagged, defeated and knew I’d miss my ferry connection. But wait! He said to jump aboard because there were lots of people who would give me change for my bill…he waved to indicate the nearly full bus.
So, I hauled my luggage train, (yes, a train, they hook together now!) laptop and oversized purse up onto the bus. By the time I’d arranged all my gear, there were hands outstretched under my face offering me coins, coins and more coins! Flabbergasted, I gathered them all, gushing my thanks and dropped the exact change into the fare box. When I finally looked up to see my benefactors, they’d all taken their seats and I didn’t have a clue who’d helped me. Again, I gave them my thanks and settled into a seat…made my ferry (which pitched and rolled all the way home) and figured that maybe, just maybe, all those times I’d dropped coins into expired parking meters for strangers had come back to me.
What does this have to do with my first Blaze sale? It parallels my journey to Blaze.
I got my first rejection from Harlequin 23 years ago now. (It actually read: don’t call, we won’t discuss it) After some hard work and much time and many many more words written, I began to get personalized rejections. You know the kind, the ones that give the impression that you’re close, AKA good rejections.
I so badly wanted to write for Temptation! Meantime, I’m racking up more “close this time, but sorry” letters. Eventually, I get one that reads, “Bonnie, the sex is great but there’s just so much of it.” (Buffeted plane…seaplane cancelled.)
But buried in my rejections is a clue! (Round about now, you’re seeing the parallel with me catching that shuttle bus, yes?) And wouldn’t you know, there’s a short 4 book promotion launched called Temptation Blaze…hotter than your regular Temptations. (This is me at the bus stop…without the correct change.)
Ah, yes, but the winds of change were blowing and I stepped up, took a chance that someone would lend a hand. And voila! The market heated up to boiling and the sub-genre of erotic romance appeared. I threw myself onto the bus and rode!
Once I was on the bus…I made it to the ferry terminal…jumped on the boat and sailed home…just where I wanted to be.
And here I am, waiting for my first Blaze release, Possessing Morgan (if all things go smoothly from here on out), which should be out in March, 2010.
It’s been a long trip to get here, and I had many obstacles in the path, but that just makes being here that much sweeter.
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“Bonnie, the sex is great but there’s just so much of it.”
This line MUST appear in your bio and promo material! It’s gold!
WOW Bonnis sounds like you had a TRIP home.
I have been writing off and on since I was in high school. A LOT more bad than good back in the day! LOL I can admit it now the stuff I wrote in high school, CRAP! LOL
I hope that someday I will be published (I’ve never submited anything)
My biggest hurdle is going to be the synopsis (The short one and then the long one…UGH!) That though scares the hebbie jeebies out of me! LOL You laugh now, but it makes me worry! I mean what if you have a great story but your synopsis stinks?!? ;-( Then what do you do? LOL
I am glad you finally found your nitch, Bonnie. I hope that I can find the right combination myself!
Heather…you’re right! I’ll include it in the bio I send to HQ…with my thanks to Malle Vallik.
Patsy, that’s the attitude that’ll see you through.
And I tend to think it’s *way* better to write a strong powerful story with interesting characters than a strong synopsis. After all, readers don’t see the synopsis…they start on Chapter One. So focus on your writing first…no stress over the synopsis.
And now to enjoy my coffee! (C)
Bonnie, that’s a great story. I love hearing how other authors sold to the line, and I especially admire your perseverance and dedication! We talked about this at my chapter meeting this weekend, how it’s crucial to not give up after the first rejection, or the tenth, or the thirtieth. It’s so easy to get discouraged…and so important to be patient, keep writing and never give up!
Dedication? More like pitbull jaws. (and I know, I had one for over 12 years…and he had nothing on me in the persistence department) (&)
Bonnie, welcome to Blaze and congratulations! You and I have something in common, sort of. I was also first rejected way back when, by Desire, for a manuscript I submitted in 1989, also because it had too much sex in it.
At the time, I just said “well, okay, that was worth a shot” and put it up in the closet and continued on through college as an adult student and finished my degrees, ended up teaching writing instead of doing it for several years, but SO happy I eventually found my way back.
I don’t have that old ms anymore (I wish I did! LOL). Best of luck to you, and I can’t wait to see the book. Also love the image of all the hands reaching out to you with quarters… people can be so generous.
Sam
We’re happy you found your way back, too!
I can’t tell you how wide my grin was on that bus… the weariness of the whole journey washed away as I sat there musing about the absolute kindness of strangers.
And I will continue to use my coins for expired parking meters. It’s the least I can do!
Well, at least you were making forward progress the whole time!! Refusing to fail seems to be the biggest secret to success. Congrats on the sale and cheers to you on your journey!
Bonnie, Big contrats on your lst sale! I’ll be looking for your Blaze in 3/10. IA with others: to never give up seems to be most of the riters’ road to publishing. Even for us readers (rather than writers) it’s a great lesson.
Oh, Bonnie, what a ride! My own trip home from the PASIC conference in NYC was similar. The flight was delayed so I had to stand in line so the one person on duty could change my connection. Then the flight was cancelled and the entire flightload of people had to stand in line in front of that one guy. I ended up in a fleabag UNLICENSED hotel in Newark, which the airline didn’t pay for.
My lesson learned: Attitude counts for a lot. The airline’s attitude sucked – they obviously didn’t care about their passengers, and many of those passengers will never fly that airline again. As for the passengers, some were furious and you could feel the tension level rising. But others of us took the approach that being angry only made the situation worse, so we shrugged, commiserated, laughed, shared stories – and not only did we make the time pass relatively pleasantly, we also managed to mellow out a lot of the angry folks. One of my favorite moments was when an older woman who’d been bitter and furious ended up smiling and joking and saying the worst thing about this was that her hubby was going to say “I told you so” because he’d said they should drive rather than fly.
Anyhow, I think the lesson about attitude applies in all areas of life, publishing included. We can let the bad stuff (like the rejections) get to us and make us bitter, or we can shrug, smile, and make the best of it. I know you’re a “make the best of it” person too, and I’m so pleased that you’re finally being published by Harlequin.
Congratulations!!
By unlicensed I presume you mean you couldn’t get a glass of wine? Poor you! Especially after such a rough day. Last time I saw you was in the NYC hotel lobby and I directed you to a deli for breakfast.
The dh and I have to make a short trip via another airline at the end of May…we’ve been told the return flight’s been changed and we’ll need to change planes.
The dh, a nervous flyer’s decided to stay another 2 days just to avoid those extra landings and take-offs. I said fine: as long as you know I’m taking my laptop to work on. :-S (yep, I guess I do make the best of things (H) )
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Bonnie
Congrats on your first Blaze release. I’ll look forward to it in Mar 2010!
Bonnie, my journey to Blaze was kind of the opposite of yours. I wrote a Love and Laughter, and half way through revisions the line folded. So, I was given a choice – to revise and target Blaze or Temptation. I went Blaze, and over two lots of revisions my editor nudged me toward having more sex in the book…then more….then more again. I still laugh when I think of how diplomatically she did it. It sounds like you have found your home with Blaze. Look forward to reading your debut.
Bonnie–
What a great story! All the talent in the world won’t get you published without the persistence to go along with it. I’m so proud of your success!
Alexis
Thanks everyone! Sarah, I think that I was ahead of the market, heat-wise. Like Samantha with her Desire submission.
And Alexis…you always give me the warm fuzzies! Thanks for clicking on over here,
Bonnie
Congratsulations Bonnie on your first Blaze book I’m looking forward to it.
Penney (F)
Congrats on the your first Blaze, Bonnie! Your story is an inspiration and I’m sucking it right up! And I’ll definitely be buying your book, too, to hopefully mine a few nuggets of newbie knowledge from it. :P
Thanks a ton for the congrats, Penney and Sally. I’m so excited about this book!
When I was in Toronto, I got to visit the Harlequin offices. I met with my editor, the marketing and the art dept folks who will work on packaging the book. What a thrill! We got to discuss the cover art…play around with what it will look like.
It was wonderful to see their excitement and made me realize how much pride they all take in their work, the books, and the Blaze line.
Really, it was inspiring and I came away with a great feeling of anticipation for a book that’s very special to me.
I hope you enjoy it!
Bonnie
**stumbles in** You didn’t think I would miss this, did you? Great post! Loved the trip home. I can’t tell you how many of those I’ve had and they’ve all shown me one way or another that yes, people are still good, and still help, and don’t ask anything in return. I’m just glad you made it home safe and sound.
And the first Blaze sale? I love the ‘too much sex’ line too! Blaze obviously didn’t think so and I’m glad. You write so well, I would expect you to be a good fit with them.
And I’m glad you persevered too! I’m sure your pitbull was very proud of you (L)
Can’t wait for the release.
Oh theo…thanks so much…and my Beau was very proud of me. Told me so all the time.
As did my dh and children.
(H) off to ponder characters, plot and conflict in the sunshine!
Woot!
LOL! That’s a terrific story, Bonnie! I’m so glad you’re part of the Blaze gang now! How lovely to have found your niche, so to speak
Yay!
What a great story!!!! Love it.