A STORY IS BORN

Sometime around the first of the year, late February to early March, I began writing Drive-In. It was meant to be a very short, free story. Somehow Drive-In got away from me and ended up being 12,000 words when I submitted it in late April to Ellora's Cave. A Quickie. Early May my editor, Meghan Conrad got back to me saying she liked it, but wanted it longer. She gave me some direction and revision notes. I resubmitted in late May with a story that was 19,000 words.

Contracts were signed and re-signed because I can never seem to get that part done without mistakes, mostly on my part. I filled out cover request forms and of course I moved on to the next story. Mid October I received my first round of edits, which ended up taking me entirely too long (three weeks) and added another 3000 words. A grand total of 22,000 words. Around that same time I got the awsome cover (by Caitlin Fry, featuring the back of Jimmy Thomas' head).

December 2nd, as scheduled (after a few blips and blurps), Drive-In went live. Nine months after conception. And I'm as proud as a new mommy.