How I Sold My First Book -- Or Everything I Needed to Know, I Learned From George Costanza

I hope you are all having a great weekend! This week, Killer Fiction is very excited to feature Dorchester Debut Author, Angie Fox, as our guest blogger this weekend. I met Angie at the Romance Writers of America National Conference in Dallas this past July. We happened to sit down at the same table at the Kiss of Death Mystery Suspense Chapter's Death by Chocolate Party where we were both finalists in the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence (Trigger Happy Halliday was a finalist, as well!) and became acquainted then, connecting off and on throughout the conference. I was thrilled to hear from Angie several months later that she had gone on to sell her first book and asked Angie to share her experience with us here at Killer Fiction. I remember my own 'The Call' story and will blog about that next week, but I still remember how stunned and excited I was that my dream was finally a reality. For those of you who are published, I suspect we never get tired of hearing these stories. As for those who are still waiting for that momentous call, I remember so many times before I was published that I just wanted to give up but would read someone's 'call' story and it would keep me plugging. So, without further adieu, I'm thrilled to welcome Angie Fox to Killer Fiction. Take it away, Angie!

~Bullet Hole~

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How I sold my first book

Or: Everything I needed to know, I learned from George Costanza
I’ve always loved to read, so it was no surprise to anyone when I eventually decided to write a book of my own. When I did, I attacked it head on. I planned, I worked, I outlined more than any woman should. The end result? I wrote three mysteries that didn’t sell.

I don’t know how many of you watch Seinfeld, but there is a time in George’s life where he decides what he’s been doing hasn’t been working, so he decides to do the opposite. That’s what I did with my books. I’d been writing serious mysteries, with lots of science and research involved. They’d generated some interest, enough to almost, almost sell. But nothing quite happened.

To take my mind off the latest mystery making the rounds with agents, I decided to write something completely different, a funny paranormal romance where I could build my own world and make up my own rules. I fell in love with the idea of a preschool teacher who is forced to run off with a gang of geriatric biker witches and THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER was born.

Instead of a 20-page plot outline, I had a 5-page list of ideas, one of which included “but little did they know, all the Shoney’s are run by werewolves.” Instead of following the rules, I broke a few. Instead of painstakingly writing over the course of a year, I giggled my way through the book and had a complete manuscript in five months.

The opening chapters did well in contests and caught the eye of an editor, who asked to see the whole thing. That same editor bought the book less than a week after I finished it.

I still can’t believe THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER will be an August 2008 release. And just this afternoon, I was working on the sequel, laughing with the characters and having more fun than I should.

While I’m not sure Seinfeld is the best place to go for life lessons, I really do think there’s something to be said for following your instincts – in writing and in everything else. Can you think of a time you’ve taken a different path? Broken out of a pattern and started something new?