Christmas in July: The First Success Story!

Yep, it's time for the first official success story from this year's Christmas in July pitch contest! Which means a guest post from the lovely N. K. Traver, whose entry DUPLICITY caught some serious agent eye last month. Over to you, Natalie!

"The Whole Agent Story"

Almost three years ago, I decided to write a book. Just like that. Just one afternoon, I thought to myself that the one thing I consistently loved to do was write, so I should get serious about it. I had an idea floating around in my head that had been there forever (really), and I'd seen the trash reality shows on TV. How hard could it be?

So I set about writing this book. First a few hours a week, then a few hours a day. Soon I had 40,000 words. Then 50k. Then 60! Around 75k I'd told the whole story, and voila, I had a book.

Once I learned a sliver about how the publishing world worked, I obviously had to send my ms off to agents as quickly as possible. Someone could steal my idea and then what would I do? But I'd read agents don't like first drafts, so I had my mother read it, my mother-in-law read it, and another close friend. After a few changes, I started querying.

Yes. It was a disaster.

Note that the following unconventional storytelling items are not popular amongst agents (or readers, for that matter): 1) Switching POV between paragraphs, for only 5 paragraphs every few random chapters; 2) Describing every single rule of your fantasy world in the second chapter like a textbook; 3) Not including the MC in the climax. I did much worse than that too. After all, I hadn't read a novel for four years.

Four YEARS.

To say the least, I had a lot of learning to do. After my query and sample pages failed to catch the eye of any of the sixty agents I queried - and it hit me that I wasn't a writing prodigy - I signed up for both local and online writing classes. I registered for a writer's conference. I found a wonderful community at AgentQueryConnect to help me with my query letter. I bought books on craft and plot and hired a freelance editor to help me. I also made silly vows to myself like, if I didn't get an agent in the next six months (because, c'mon, that is a REALLY LONG TIME), then I'd take the hint and stop.

Three months passed. Six. Eight. I went to the writer's conference and met some really cool local writers, reset my expectations of how fast the publishing world works, and read as many interesting YA books as I could get my hands on (The most consistent piece of advice published authors give aspiring ones? Read, read, read). I revised my novel a billion times. My editor taught me a LOT about characterization, point of view, and a million other things you never think about when you're reading, but must consider when you're writing. Ten months passed, then eleven.

At exactly twelve months from when I'd finished my first book, I had a brand-new, editor-polished version of the novel to re-query. It had been a year, and I had a fresh pitch letter and much stronger sample pages to wow agents with. I was sure my time had come. So sure that while querying, I drafted a sequel. And I did get a few requests ... but not an overwhelming amount. Maybe one or two partials from fifteen letters sent. Overall I was thrilled to get anything besides a "no thanks," but as the rejections piled up, I felt like I was still missing something. So I broke another of those silly vows I'd made to myself, and shelved the project.

I'd started another manuscript during this process, something totally off-the-wall and unrelated to my first series. Something I was just playing around with, not even intending to query, really. But I'd had so much fun writing it, I went back and finished it. Polished it up, made sure it made sense, and sent it off to my critique partners (sorry, Mom - by this time I'd accumulated some fellow writer friends, so they were my first sets of eyes).

Bless my CPs; they are godsends. One of them emailed me at 3 AM because she hadn't put it down since I'd sent it to her. Another told me I should definitely send it to her agent because it would be right up his alley. The third said I should start entering it in writing contests like NOW.

At this point I was a bit skeptical of contests, since I'd never had much success with them (though, to be fair, writing contests are how I met my fabulous CPs). Their confidence in my work led me to enter Xmas In July, and I bit my nails the whole week while Ruth and Michelle combed through entries, over-analyzing Tweets and bracing myself for the day they'd announce the winners. I was sure I would not be on that list. When Michelle tweeted that the winners were up, I clicked into her blog, heart a-pounding, saying oh please oh please oh please as I browsed the entries and ... did not see my name. "Okay," I thought. "There were a lot of entries. Chances were slim. It's okay, you can try again next time." But I still hadn't clicked the link to Ruth's blog, so I did, expecting more of the same.

Except OMG, it was NOT more of the same, because a few lines down on Ruth's list, right there, right THERE, was the name of my manuscript. My name and my manuscript. I couldn't believe it. I cheered in Forever 21 whilst buying shirts and gushed my life story to the poor cashier, who I'm hoping I paid for said shirts. When the entries went live, I braced myself again that I may not get requests, but it would be okay. I made it into the contest and that was a huge step, so it would be okay.

I got seven requests. In the 100+ queries I sent out for my first book, I never had that many. And I still received a few rejections off the bat, but the rejections were different this time. Personalized. One agent loved my writing but didn't click with my main character. Another said she liked the voice and concept, but wasn't sure about the pacing. And then one said she hadn't finished reading yet, but could she call me this weekend?

Yes. Yes please call me!

After an amazing week of phone calls and emails, I somehow wrangled in three offers. And on August 12th, three weeks after the contest (there are a lot of threes in this story...), I signed with Brianne Johnson of Writers House.

If you're in the query trenches: Keep going. Every day you're a step closer. Find fellow writers to support you, do things you're afraid to do, shelve a project that's not working. Writing is not an easy journey, but oh my gosh it's worth it.

The How I Got My Agent series: This week's guest post by Nick Cook.

It's time for the next installment of How I Got My Agent. This one's a little bit different, which I like. You know I'm a big advocate of the slush pile, but as Amy showed us earlier this month, it's not the only way to get an agent. I'll hand over to my Twitter friend Nick, to tell you how he did things a little bit differently, but got the result he wanted. Over to you, Nick!



My route to securing an agent was some time in the making and maybe not the standard journey (if there is such a thing) that most experience who succeed. 

In my former life I was the art director at a very successful games studio. The best thing about that job was working with such a talented creative team, but there was also a little voice inside me telling it was time to start getting serious about my writing. Eventually it got so loud there was no ignoring it any longer and one bright sunny autumn day in 2006, I walked out of my studio for the last time ready to pursue a full time writing career. I was fortunate that I had sufficient funds to finance that creative itch for some time without starving. So I started working in earnest.

A couple of drafts into my first book, like many who've been there in those early days, I was convinced my work was a masterpiece. I also happened to have a contact at Chicken House and within a short space of time became the proud recipient of a personal reject email (albeit a very nice and encouraging one) from Barry Cunningham no less. This was one of the best wake up calls I could have had... I realised I was just one of hundreds of manuscripts that had probably landed on his desk that week and had I really fully learned the craft to start putting my work out there yet? This needed a rethink on my part. 

I looked seriously at taking an MA in creative writing, even had an interview and was shortlisted but had left it too late for that academic year. So I sat down and considered what the priorities were for me... that mental conversation with myself took about a minute. What I obviously needed was an agent, but not just any agent, but a great agent of course. So the small matter of how that could become a reality started to occupy my mind... there had to be a way to avoid getting lost in the slush pile?

Having rifled through the Writers and Artists Yearbook a number of times and having filled it with coloured post-its identifying agents I would have sold a kidney to work with, I noticed one name appearing a number of time. It was a company that some agents took referrals from for new authors. That company was called Cornerstones. 

Cornerstones are a manuscript agency who will, for a fee, provide a detailed report on your manuscript. They also act as talents scouts for agents. This sounded perfect to me and so started a very rewarding collaboration with them. I paid for a report on my first book and it was a real eye opener, so much useful feedback identifying both strengths and weaknesses in my work. I was instantly hooked. I continued to work with Cornerstones and eventually although we both felt my first book showed real promise, the senior editor there, the wonderful Kathryn Price, told me she wasn't sure that it was necessarily the right book to launch my career with. This is where Cornerstones are brilliant. They look at your work holistically and in terms of whether a book is really the right one to establish you. Consequently, I took the tough decision to park the first book (actually three in the series by that point) with a mind to returning to it later on. In the meantime I had this new concept bubbling away and when I sent the first three chapters into Cornerstones, they were immediately excited by it. I was too. I could feel it was the right book, the one that would grab people's attention. It was at this point Cornerstones signed me, a real boost to my self confidence at the time (doubts inevitably start to creep in over a prolonged period). So began a period of intense writing and Kathryn pushing me to deliver my very best work. By December of 2011 we both agreed we had a draft ready to send out to agents. One month later I was signed with the totally wonderful Eve White... I couldn't have asked for a better agent. 

So there you have it. Lots of writing, false dawns and perseverance, combined with the guiding light to develop my writing that a manuscript agency can provide. I certainly feel I served a very rewarding writing apprenticeship working with Cornerstones. It's an alternative route to an agent, but a great one even if you just decide to get a report from them and nothing more. As a signed author Cornerstones take ten percent of my first advance as a fee. But for me this been earned times over. As you can probably tell, I can't recommend their services highly enough.

 You can follow Nick on Twitter and via his blog.

The How I Got My Agent series: This week's guest post by Natalie Parker.

This week's post is from a fellow Greenhouser from across the pond, one of Sarah Davies' clients : ) Over to you, Natalie!

I began my pursuit of the elusive agent in high school. Only, it wasn’t much of a pursuit. It was more like a half-hearted gesture in their general direction.

It went like this:

I wrote something.

I called it a book.

So did my mother.

And so I printed it out and mailed it off to one or two agents (I honestly don’t remember how many) along with my Hopes and Dreams of becoming an Author. It didn’t take long to receive rejections (I only clearly remember one) and that was the end of that. I set novel-writing aside and instead went to college, which later became grad school, which then became a career.

Basically, my creative self was off sitting in a corner tapping her toe, occasionally calling me names and making frustrated gestures (possibly, some of them were obscene).

So! I decided she needed some exercise and with the support of my partner, I began to carve out time here and there for things like writing and playing my cello and hoarding nail polish. Each of these was satisfying to Creative Natalie P, but writing quickly rose to the surface taking precedence over all other endeavors.

By the early months of 2010, I’d written something that was vaguely book-shaped. It had all the right pieces in all the right places and I was resoundingly proud of it. I handed it over to a few readers (oblivious to the duct tape holding key pieces together, the persistent droop in the narrative arc – it was positively replete with mediocrity) and felt relatively sure it would blow their minds. 

It did not.

They both returned the vaguely book-shaped manuscript to me with the same words: “This is really good, but you can do better. Put it down and write another.”

I never queried that project. Not even once.

In an instant, I went from Ready to Query to Starting from Scratch. And that very day, I started brainstorming a very different project. Creative Natalie P wasn’t feeling defeated, as I’d expected she would, but anxious and inspired. In fact, there was a certain amount of glee involved in shutting the drawer on that novel and opening a blank document. Much as I loved that first novel, I knew my next one would only be better, and I wanted to be better just as much as I wanted an agent.

The new project took a fair bit of time – nearly a year. I was still balancing full-time work with learning this craft and other daily adventure sorts of affairs. I drafted and redrafted and re-redrafted until once again I was certain I had something that would blow minds.

This time when I handed it over to readers, it looked much more solid. It had all the bookly pieces in all the right places and I could see they fit together really, really well. And my readers agreed. It blew their minds….but still we went through rounds and round of revision until finally (FINALLY!) they called it ready.

And it was.

I sent queries to my top seven agents. Six requested the full, and four offered representation.

Three weeks after sending those queries, I made an utterly terrifying, utterly exhilarating choice and signed with my agent (who, for what it’s worth, pulled me from the slush).

When I think back on it, I am so, so glad that I had readers who were willing to tell me I could do better. Listening to them was hard. I was anxious to move onto the next step. I wanted to believe that first manuscript was it. But I’m so glad that I waited.

So, I think if I were going to boil all of this down into a piece of advice about finding an agent of your very own, it would be this: Take your time.


Natalie's blog and twitter!

The How I Got My Agent stories: This week's guest post by Amy Christine Parker.

How I Signed With My Agent Lucienne Diver

First and foremost, thank you, Ruth, for allowing me to tell my story. My husband thanks you too since he is sick to death of me recounting everything for the one hundredth time. And it’s probably a little sad that the kids can recite the story by heart…

So, where to start? I guess at the very beginning is best. I didn’t start writing seriously until about two and half years ago.  I think that I only began to wonder what it would be like to write when I began telling my children stories that I made up every night at bedtime. I was carrying on a family tradition since my grandfather used to tell stories to me this way. In the back of my mind I think I always wondered secretly what it might be like to write full time and to be published, but I never saw it as practical and so never allowed it to become something I seriously pursued. But once I thought about it I knew that I was at the perfect stage of life to try. I didn’t have a full time job other than being a mother  (which, let’s face it, IS a full time job, but what I mean is I didn’t have a paying one so no one had expectations of me earning anything right then) and I had some free time during naps and late at night. If ever there was a time to make a go of it, this was it.

And so I just decided to dive in, like sky diving without a parachute kind of diving in. I had an idea for a novel and I just went with it even though I’d never written anything longer than a term paper in my life. After a year and a half, I had a finished manuscript. Not a sellable one, mind you, but a complete story. I did query it, but only briefly and mostly just to see how the process worked. Deep down I knew it was not really publishable; it was my college so to speak. But by now other novel ideas were coming fast and furious and I had one in particular that I thought could be really good…provided I had the chops to write it the way it deserved to be written.  I got busy on it, writing and rewriting in radical ways until I was satisfied that I had done my best.

Now, the one thing that made my journey unique is that at a local writer’s group (one I started and hosted when I couldn’t find one for novelists), I met an agent, Lucienne Diver. She lived nearby and knew someone who attended the group and just decided to check it out one night. Over time I emailed her here and there and commented on her blog whenever something resonated with me. She came to group some months later once again and very slowly we got to know each other. She is a young adult author herself (The Vamped Series, the latest, Fangtastic came out in January) and so we bonded as fellow writers. I told her about what I was working on and when she heard the general pitch, she asked to consider it.

Now fast forward to this November, when I finished my manuscript. Lucienne had reiterated her wish to look at it and I was ready to take her up on it. I queried her first and exclusively. She had taken an interest in me as a writer long before she needed to and I felt that she should be able to look at it before anyone else.  And if I was lucky enough and she was interested? I would sign immediately. I liked the idea of signing with someone I knew personally, someone who I already really liked. She read my manuscript on Friday the 13^th in January (very appropriate since it’s about a girl in an apocalyptic cult and the end of the world) and she offered representation the very next day. I signed officially two days later. And the rest is shall we say…in the works! 

So there you have it, my story in a very large nutshell. Hmmm, that was so much fun I think maybe I might need to tell it all over again. Honey? Kids? Are you there? Anyone???

You and Mr P are very welcome Amy! I'll even forgive that you broke the run of slushpile success tales because that's such a cool story, and in some ways similar to my own (at least the writing the books part, if not the meeting-your-agent-in-person bit.)

You can stalk find Amy's website here and twitter here.

The How I Got My Agent stories: This week's guest post by Kimberly Welchons.

Ok, so it's only slightly later in the same week, but I love these stories, I have more to schedule, and I want to do another beta reading contest this month too. So this slightly-later-in-the-week's guest post on How I Got My Agent is here today, and it's by another of my new writerly friends, Kimberly Welchons.

I think she's the one on the left, but don't quote me

My “How I Got My Agent Story” is terribly exciting and full of unicorns, dragons, and mortal danger. Okay, okay, there weren't any unicorns.

About this time last year I was in New York at the Writer's Digest Conference where I could take part in a Pitch Slam, which was described as speed dating with agents. That was a lie. It was more like "Stand in line in 4 inch heels and a pencil skirt and listen to some guy talk about how his trip to Peru changed his life because that's where he first met the aliens" with agents. This was also where I met a group of girls who like changed my life dude (which is the best thing about conferences).
I pitched to a handful of agents and they all requested my material. Which wasn't done. Oops.
I went back to California and wrote like a mad woman. See, if I have deadlines I can do some incredible stuff. If I don't, I spend all day watching Daniel Radcliffe interviews. I finished and immediately sent it to my critique partners, their major consensus being "Why GOD is this in present tense?"

I had my reasons.
I sent it out.
I got rejections from every agent that requested it at the Pitch Slam.

FINE. I spent two weeks changing every single verb. My friend Michelle went through and read every singly verb. I got to the point where I couldn't figure out if the word 'cut' was in present tense or past (it's both). I also did some other fixing and trimming, things I had missed because I was trying to get it out before the Pitch Slam agents forgot about me. In reality, the manuscript I had rushed to get out wasn’t my best work and I hurt myself because of it. This is the part of the story where I stress taking your time, letting your book breathe, and letting yourself breathe. Also, listen to your critique partners.

Then I sent it out again in small bits. I spent a lot of time on my query letter, making sure the tone of the book really came through in each line, even in my bio.
A few weeks later I got an email from an agent who had pulled me out of the slush pile and wanted to talk. I was in a coffee shop that I go to because it's full of screenwriters and I like to gloat that my prose makes me a real writer to them. We all danced around.
30 minutes later I got an email from another agent who also wanted to talk. The screenwriters glared at me for being so noisy.

I talked to both of them, talked to their clients, emailed and asked questions. I even made a little excel sheet with their answers. They both had very, very different visions for my manuscript. I debated endlessly over sangria, did some research, and found childhood pictures of both agents (beware my googling ability). Everything about them was so different, and it was an incredibly tough choice.

What it ultimately came down to were the revision notes. I knew I wanted someone who was more editorial, who would dig her heels into a work and get it in the best possible shape before submitting to publishers. My book is much stronger with Meredith’s notes, and I’m glad I took the time to do the work with her.

So that’s how I signed with Meredith Kaffel at Charlotte Sheedy Literary. Not from a conference, from a pitch slam, or even in an elevator, but from good ol’ fashioned slush. It happens people!





More evidence that the slush pile works! All four of the stories featured so far on my blog - including mine - have been about success from the slush pile. I like what that says about your chances, don't you?

Here's where you can follow Kimberly's blog and tweets which you'll be wanting to do because she's nice. And funny.

The How I Got My Agent stories: This week's guest post by Stephanie Winkelhake.

This week's story comes from a new writerly friend of mine, the lovely Stephanie Winkelhake, so I'll hand over to her!

My aspirations to become a writer began when—as a kid—I attended my father’s book signings. He’d published a novel with an imprint of Random House, and I’ll never forget the amazing feeling of walking into a bookstore and finding my father’s book on the shelves.

My first attempt at writing a novel happened the summer of 2007. It was a young adult adventure story about oracles, magic, and treasure, and it was wrought with all sorts of POV and plot problems. So I had a lot to learn. That was okay. The important thing was that I’d completed a novel. And finishing a novel is like finishing a marathon, right? Once your mind wraps around the fact that you can do it once, you can do it again. (Or so I’ve been told. I’ve never actually run a marathon. I’ve just heard these things.)

I decided my next manuscript would be great. In 2009, I sat down and hammered out a YA dystopian. There was action! There was romance! There was…a lot of info dumping and poor character development. A few agents read it, but of course, there were no bites. But good things came of this experience—I learned more about queries, synopses, and submissions. I learned about the ups and downs of requests and rejections and how to handle them. Eventually, I also learned to let go of a manuscript I had believed in, and I knew that if I wanted to continue toward my goals, I’d have to work harder.

So at this point, I needed to step it up. I bought books about self-editing. I devoured YA novels like crazy. When I finished my third manuscript, I reached out and found beta readers. I joined an online writing community (YALitChat) since there wasn’t a local writing group in my area. I entered contests (there are plenty of free pitch and/or critique contests on online blogs). I joined RWA and entered some of their local chapter contests. As a result, I received a lot of great critique advice I could apply to the rest of my manuscript.

When I started querying for my latest project, I was lucky and managed to get a few requests from agents right off the bat. After several rejections on my full, I paused to re-examine the story. Based on critique feedback, I reworked the pacing in several parts and rewrote a few sections. I started querying again, and then I was encouraged when the next agent to reject my full had good things to say about my writing. She had liked my writing and my manuscript. She just didn’t fall in love with it. It was the best rejection I’d ever received.

Shortly after this, I placed first in a few contests. I added the wins to my query letter and around Thanksgiving, a new slew of requests came in. Marie Lamba of The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency was one of the requesting agents.

It was about this time when I realized I’d reached a turning point—I finally felt confident when it came to my writing. It was as if a light switched on inside of me, and I can’t tell you how happy I was to be in this place. And bonus, I found another YA writer in my local community (she’s now my critique partner). We started hanging out, and it was so nice to bounce things off someone who understood things my non-writerly friends might not.

And then, I got THE CALL.

On Jan 2^nd, Marie called me out of the blue. I’d slept in that day (we’d driven 16 hours the day prior) and I missed her call. Yup, I missed THE CALL. Marie had left a message saying she’d call back later in the day. So I gnawed on my fingernails for a few hours. The phone rang again that afternoon…and Marie offered representation!

I can’t say I was coherent.

I immediately emailed the other agents who had a partial or full of my manuscript. I told them I’d make a decision on the offer by Jan 9^th. Then I waited. In the meantime, I woke up every morning thinking THE CALL had just been a dream. I must have pinched myself over a hundred times that week.

Halfway through the week, I called Marie with a list of specific questions. By the end of the phone call, I was confident Marie and I shared the same vision for my manuscript. Without a doubt, I knew she was the right agent for me.

So on Jan 9^th, I picked up the phone and accepted Marie’s offer. A few days later, I signed the contract. I’m still walking around with a silly grin on my face!

Thanks for gracing my blog with your great story Stephanie!

You can follow the rest of Stephanie's story over on her blog and follow her on twitter here. You should probably go and do that now. 

New mini-series: The How I Got My Agent stories. This week's guest post by Michelle Krys.

Everybody loves a How-I-Got-My-Agent story - at least I assume they do, because I know I do. I'm thrilled that the first guest post in this mini-series is by my lovely crit partner and all-round internet bff, Michelle Krys!

So, you want to know how I got my agent?

Short answer: The old-fashioned way. Via the slush pile. 

Long answer: I’d like to take you all back to January 8^th, 1985. I was born naked and helpless…okay, maybe let’s skip a few years. In January 2010, I had a baby (a wonderful, magnificent, sweet baby named Ben). He slept through the night from under 3 months old, in addition to napping 3-plus hours in the day. Being on maternity leave, I had an AWFUL lot of free time on my hands that I was COMPLETELY not used to having (a year—I live in Canada). So naturally, instead of relaxing, I decided to write a book—something I’ve always wanted to do, but had been too intimidated to try. 

In 3 months time, I wrote a book.  I joined a website, Writersbeat.com, where I met my internet bestie/crit partner, whom you all know as Ruth Lauren Steven. After an initial major bitch moment from me (which we shall not discuss!), Ruth and I began exchanging critiques and became fast friends. We moved on to another website, Scribophile.com, where I met a ton of amazing friends who were, in addition to Ruth, completely invaluable in honing my writing. This book needed the rest of the year to edit, as it was sucky. Boring and sucky and will never see the light of day. But I learned a lot.

After this book I began another, which I gave up after a whopping 26,000 words because I had AN IDEA. An idea for a YA Urban Fantasy that I couldn’t ignore. I needed to write it—now. So I did—3 months later, my 81,000-word book was complete. And it needed less than a week of editing until I felt ready to start querying. I felt confident! I loved the book and my query letter felt strong. I knew this was going to be IT. Then the rejections started rolling in. After the first 15, I was starting to feel pretty dejected. I know 15 is not that much in the bigger picture, but 15 in a row after I’d felt so confident? Well let’s just say my confidence waned. But then I got a partial. From a major agent. The next day, another partial from a major agent. A few weeks later, the first partial-requester wanted the full. I almost died! That meant she read the first 50 pages plus synopsis and liked it. My book??!! A huge happy moment for me. But it wasn’t the first. Over the next few weeks, the full requests started rolling in. Six in total (Nine if you count the 3 requests I got after I’d already landed my agent!)

Then came the holidays, when all of the literary world shuts down from December 23^rd to January 3^rd. This was a dark time. There was a lot of internet stalking involved, which I’m not proud of. Then came January 11^th. I got a reply from one of those agents. She’d just finished reading the book…and completely loved it! She wanted to set up a time to talk on the phone. AHHHHHHH!! She called the next day and offered me representation (in addition to giving me a HUGE ego boost with all her compliments about the book). My initial reaction was to say “YES! WHERE DO I SIGN? MWUHAHAHAH I’VE GOT YOU NOW!” But there were other agents who had my full. In order to be professional, I needed to give them the courtesy of replying to my manuscript.  I alerted the other agents, and holy crap, several of them were interested, too! But in the end, it was the first agent’s major enthusiasm and extreme likability that sold me. So now I’m repped by Adriann Ranta at Wolf Literary. Woohoo!!

Hey, it's me, Ruth, again. Isn't that a cool story? But never mind the amazing sleeping baby (not jealous of that. No, not at all) or the fact that said first book was neither boring nor sucky; no, let's dwell on the little moment that we shouldn't discuss, just briefly. In fact, oh, what's this I have here? A blog post on it, you say? Well, if you insist : D Post in which I recount the nature of Michelle and Ruth's first encounter

Right, now that Michelle may never forgive me, who needs a crit partner?? I kid : D 

I couldn't be happier that you're all going to get to read Michelle's books, and I can confirm that she likes a stalker almost as much as I do, so here's her blog and right here is twitter

Thanks for sharing that with us Michelle!