According to the bio, Patrice Michelle is “a natural with a point-and-shoot camera, likes to fiddle with graphic design and, to the relief of her family, strums her guitar to an audience of one.” To those members of the online romance reading community, we know Patrice to be a straight shooter and all around nice person which puts paid to the notion that nice folks finish last. As Patrice’s first sale stories tells us, the road to writing, from inception to delivery, can be a long one, but one that can be done.
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When did I decide I wanted to be an author? When I was fifteen.
When was I mature enough to tackle writing a book? When I was in college.
When was I experienced enough to follow through and complete a book? Twelve years later, after I thought the computer file holding "the book from college I never finished" was erased from the computer.
It's amazing how motivating that scare was. After that, I started writing again. I was a woman on a missionâ€â€an author who'd finally found her passion!
Fast forward nine months, and I sold my first manuscriptâ€â€a vampire novelâ€â€to a small publisher. I guess you could say I have two "First Sale" stories. My first sale was to Ellora's Cave, who went on to publish several more of my books in eBook and print. The whole time I was working on novels for EC, I attended conferences, made industry contacts, worked on promotion and continued to learn.
Four years later, I met my agent at a conference and a few months after that, in a whirlwind that made my head spin, I had my first New York sale, a trilogy actually, to Silhouette Nocturne! If someone had walked up and told me, while I was pounding away on that dinky community computer in my college dorm, that my first New York sale would be an "action-oriented, suspenseful romance about vampires, werewolves, and other paranormal happeningsâ€Â, I would've peered into that smudged monitor at my flowery, historical romance in the making, and said, "Are you out of your ever-lovin' mind?" But then I would've quickly followed up with, "At least tell me it'll be sexy." *g*
The moral of this first sale story isâ€â€Take chances, always believe in yourself, and never say never, because that one story you thought you'd never write may be the "one" that finally lands you your first sale.
Hey Patrice,
We all have that first flowery, ahem, histerical hidden somewhere. Mine’s collecting hairballs under my bed.
Congrats on the Nocturnes!
Heh, mine’s in a box collecting even more dust. Thanks for the congrats, Gennita.
Patrice,
That is a nice story, and thanks for the reminder. Am I wrong, but were you a reviewer at one time? I think you were the first person to review Mayan Nights under my former penname. That was my first EVER review. Gosh, I feel honored. I’ll check out the Nocturnes!
Patrice, I might have already mentioned this… but that’s a fantasic cover.
:-)
Ciar,
Thanks so much. And no, I’m not a reviewer. I think you’re referring to Patrice S., a very nice lady who reviews for The Romance Studio. Patrice is an uncommon name, so she used to sign her emails in the same loops we were on together…the “other” Patrice. LOL! :)
Shi,
Thanks bunches! I love this cover…the colors really pop.
Huh. My buried in the files historical is rather bloodthirsty, full of magic and mayhem. I stopped and looked at what I was writing, said, “the hell” and “you can’t do that in a romance” and there it sits to this day. *ggg* Urban fantasy historical, anyone?
Congrats, congrats, congrats, Patrice! I’m anxiously stalking my mailbox waiting for Scions: Resurrection to show up. It’s my reward for finishing my edits.
Actually, Charli…a UF historical just might work for you in today’s market. Might be time to blow off that dust. ;)
Thank you for the congrats. I truly hope you enjoy Scions:Resurrection!
Congrats Patrice!
I’ve got the Scions in my ebook reader waiting for my next reading break!
Thank you, Sarah! I know what you mean about reading time…oy! I’ve got AAs to do on Scions book 2 (Insurrection/ and a pile of books I “want” to read. Work first though.
Here’s hoping you found Resurrection worth the wait when you finally get to read it.
“Take chances, always believe in yourself, and never say never, because that one story you thought you’d never write may be the “one” that finally lands you your first sale.”
Well said! Glad you followed through on that story, Patrice :).
Me too, Jeaniene! :)