Last night, a couple of friends took me to dinner to celebrate my long-awaited sale. One of them was Elana Roth from the Caren Johnson Literary Agency. We had an interesting discussion of what makes a “high concept” story. Elana works with Children’s fiction, Middle Reader’s fiction, and YA fiction. My focus is adult historical …
As a writer who has spent ten years pursuing my art, getting the call from my agent that my book sold was the highlight not only of this year, but of my life to date. It is hard to convey the significance of this. I am still trying to process the experience. Everyone has a …
When my agent called and told me that the editor we were in negotiation with wanted to meet me to talk about the book, my first question was “Really? Why?” I had never heard of such a meeting, and when I asked my other writer and agent friends, they too had never heard of a …
In my last blog, I mentioned being conflicted about absorbing serious notes on my current novel. Never before was I faced with having to completely reconceive my work, to step back from it and see it as an almost different form. I have done so now, and I am glad I did. Always before, I …
Last week I had the unusual experience of reading the comments an editor made while passing on my novel. The Queen’s Pawn is being looked at by editors in nine houses in New York. Three of these houses have passed so far, which is to be expected. I have been at this awhile, so I am never …
If anyone has glanced at my blog since February, they might have asked the question: Where did Christy go? The answer: I’ve been writing. The novel I was concerned about in February, the novel whose revision eluded me for months, finally came clear. Princess of France, now renamed Queen’s Pawn, has been revised both to …