This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
It was my
fiancés 30th birthday and he had the day off work. It was a fairly miserable day in January, but
after a morning of cooking him a lovely breakfast, sitting with him as he
opened his presents and giving him my present (the best present ever- a two
week holiday in Thailand!) I was in a rather good mood. I work from home running a fashion website,
and January is never really too busy so I was just moping around in my dressing
gown like normal, completely unaware of what was about to happen.
I didn’t even realise I was that close to sealing the deal. I’d met an editor at HarperCollins with my agent, Hannah Ferguson, once and then kept in touch via email. She told me my book had potential, but asked me to change quite a few things which of course, I did. I knew she was interested, but I thought it was going to be a much longer process and I wasn’t expecting to hear a yes or no for a long while. I was worried that it wasn’t going to get the approval I longed for at the acquisitions meeting; I thought of nothing else over Christmas. Will they or won’t they?
I remember I was sitting with my laptop on my settee in the lounge, TV on the in the background and I was looking out the window when my phone rang. I didn’t know the number, but never in a million years did I think it was a phone call that was about to change my life.
It was Hannah, and at first I thought she was calling with an update. When she told me ‘Harper Collins would like to offer you a two book deal’ I had to contain myself from not squealing like a mad person; I was so happy! I honestly couldn’t believe it; my book was actually going to be published and I would one day see it on the shelves! When I put the phone down, my fiancé had already guessed what the news was and was over the moon for me (even though I stole his birthday thunder). I then called my mum and she was ecstatic too. It was such a happy day and I felt very proud of myself for fulfilling my dream of being a published author. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face all day and I was so glad I didn’t give up. We were already going out that night in London for my fiancés birthday, but we stopped off at my parents for a few glasses of champagne to celebrate first (it would have been rude not to!)