How did you get your first book published? It was pretty ridiculous, actually—a combination of luck, pluck, and this maddening tendency I have to bite off more than I can comfortably chew (gets me in all kinds of trouble). I was lucky in that my mother and older brother were already established writers when I was beginning. Back in the late 1970s, they were doing a variety of novels for a book contractor who was acquiring manuscripts for a paperback publisher (Manor Books) in New York.
I was 23 at the time and, aside from some newspaper articles, had never had a thing published before. In fact, I’d never written any fiction longer than a short story before. But I really wanted to write novels. So I swallowed my nerves, called said book contractor and somehow convinced him I was worth a try. I offered him my services as a romance writer. No good. He didn’t need any romances. He asked if I could do science fiction, instead. Not realizing what I was letting myself in for, I assured him that “science fiction” was practically my middle name (well, I had read a lot of it, after all). Now this is where the trouble started, because the guy called my bluff. He told me that he just happened to need a 50,000 word space-opera—the catch being that he needed it in two weeks. Two weeks??? I was absolutely, positively, dead-sure certain that there was NO way I could pull that off. But, for some insane reason, I said yes, anyway. Then I planted myself in front of a typewriter and virtually took root. Two weeks later, like a winded relay-runner passing the baton, I handed him a 50K word manuscript. Whew. He accepted it and it was released by Manor that same year. All of which proves that miracles DO happen... if you’re willing to meet them halfway.
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February, 2007
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