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The Moment Everything Changed: Part 2

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Jeaniene Frost

I wanted to be a writer since I was eleven. I began with poetry, and moved onto novels around age thirteen, but I could never stick with an idea long enough to finish an entire book. My first inkling that I had talent was my senior year in high school, when a friend asked me to write her a poem for her class assignment. I did, and forgot all about it…until a week later, when my friend’s teacher read “her” poem to every class in the 12th grade because he was so impressed by it. Hearing my classmates gasp and say “Wow” to something I’d written was surreal. It was also especially nice because I didn’t have to feel embarrassed or weirded out since no one knew that it was my poem.

Fast forward to age thirty, when I’d finally completed my first novel and was trying to get it published. Rejections piled up by the scores. I also got scammed out of a thousand dollars by a fake vanity agent. I was on the verge of quitting…and then I remembered how a teacher had once loved something I’d written enough to read it aloud to every one of his classes. That helped keep me going.  

Fast forward to age thirty-three. I had finally signed with an agent, and I was sitting at my day job checking my inbox. I saw an email from my agent, opened it…and screamed so loudly that my coworkers came running. It was an offer for my debut novel AND its sequel. I called my husband, so excited I was babbling. All he caught was “Forty thousand dollars…publish two of my books…Omg, omg!”

Now, remember that I’d fallen for a scam before, so it will make sense that he said, very gently, “Honey, I’m so happy for you, but we don’t have forty thousand dollars to pay someone to publish your books.”

And I said/screamed, “I’m not paying anyone. They’re paying ME forty thousand to publish my books!”

In the decades we’ve been married, that is the first, last, and only time I’ve ever rendered my husband speechless. It was also the first time I felt like a bona fide author.

By the way, if you want to read the novel that kickstarted my career, it’s free on Kindle Unlimited HERE.

Jeaniene’s Featured Release: A CURSE OF BEASTS AND MAGIC

New York Times bestselling author of The Night Huntress series Jeaniene Frost returns with a brand-new series! It’s Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher, except Beauty IS the Beast, and he’s the Warden keeping mythical beings in check in our world and beyond.

Raine Stone is living a nightmare. Ever since she survived the attack that killed her family, she’s been hiding a terrible secret–and a Beast inside her.

Remington “Remy” Byrne knows the wall between a realm of deadly mythic creatures and our own world is very fragile. After all, he’s the Warden who guards the gateways between them. Raine’s Beast contains power that could tip the scales in a sinister plot against Remy’s rule―if she allies with him.

Will they be friends or foes…or will their dangerous attraction turn into something else? And can our world be saved by their explosive alliance?

LEARN MORE

Jean Kwok

We were really poor when I was a kid. My family moved from Hong Kong to Brooklyn when I was five years old. We lived in an apartment that was not only falling down around our ears but infested with vermin. It didn’t have heat throughout the bitter New York winters. My parents and brothers started working in a clothing factory in Chinatown, and I went along to help. I was also the youngest of seven children, and a girl at that, so I wasn’t even expected to go to college. Much as I loved reading (once I learned to speak English), it never occurred to me or anyone else in my world that a person could become a writer. 

My only concern was getting a real job and escaping a life working at the clothing factory. So when I was miraculously accepted to Harvard, I chose to concentrate in physics. I was up late one night working on a problem set. I was jotting down an equation on a piece of scrap paper when suddenly, I wrote a poem. I was so shocked that I felt as if I’d laid an egg! But from that moment on, becoming a writer was the only thing I wanted to do. 

Jean’s Featured Release: DOMINION

A woman with no past. A warrior with no future. Their love could save the world—or burn it down.

In a world divided into four rival Dominions, power is everything—and Rubi Morningtail has almost none. Three years after the Annihilation destroyed her homeland and shattered her memories, she lives as an Azure refugee in the Dominion of the Silver Tyger, scraping by as a ribbon dancer and hiding her little bit of singing magic. When she wounds a massive battle tyger on her doorstep, she draws the notice of Blake Axefire— supreme metal mage, leader of the royal tyger warriors, and the last man an Azure should trust. His sentence? Cast her into the Bonding, a brutal trial where tygers choose their riders and slaughter the rest. Surviving is unthinkable.

But survive she does. Now she’s stuck on Blake’s elite team racing to reseal the Anchors to the demon realm. With rebels striking, demons rising, and the Dominions at each other’s throats, Rubi must unlock the truth of her magic and her past…while resisting her dangerous attraction to the ruthless warrior who could be her redemption—or her ruin.

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Jennifer Estep

There wasn’t one specific moment when I thought “I could/want to be a writer!” For me, a bunch of small moments formed the foundation of my writing career.

My grandma always said that when I was about five years old I told her that I was going to write a book someday. I don’t remember it, but I imagine she patted my head and said “That’s nice, dear,” the way folks so often do to grandiose childhood declarations.

My mom took me to our local library every week when I was a kid, which is how I fell in love with books/reading in the first place. As I got older, when I would read a book that wasn’t very good (in my opinion), I would think “I could write something better than this!”

Eventually, one summer during college, I decided to write my own book and tell the story that I wanted to tell. Spoiler alert: My first book was *not* better than other books. My first book was a hot mess with every epic fantasy cliché you could imagine. 😂

But I had been bitten by the writing bug, so I wrote another book . . . and another book . . . and another book . . . Somewhere along the way, “I want to be a writer!” morphed into “I will be a writer!”

Finally, after about seven years, seven books in a variety of genres, and hundreds of rejection letters, I got an agent and sold a book to a traditional publisher. I remember standing in my kitchen, holding a finished copy of my first book, and thinking, finally, after all those years of toil and trouble, “I am a writer.”

Jennifer’s Featured Release: ONLY BAD OPTIONS

New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep blasts off with an exciting new science-fiction fantasy adventure with a dash of historical romance. This action-packed space opera features a mix of magic and technology, along with a soul mates and enemies-to-lovers story. Perfect for fans of Star Wars, Dune, Bridgerton, and Pride and Prejudice.

A WOMAN WHO SEES EVERYTHING . . .

Few people know the name Vesper Quill. To most folks, I’m just a lowly lab rat who designs brewmakers and other household appliances in the research and development lab at the powerful Kent Corp. But when I point out a design flaw and a safety hazard in the new line of Kent Corp spaceships, everyone knows who I am—and wants to eliminate me.

I might be a seer with a photographic memory, but I don’t see the trouble headed my way until it’s too late. Suddenly, I’m surrounded by enemies and fighting for my life.

I don’t think things can get any worse until I meet Kyrion Caldaren, an arrogant Regal lord who insists that we have a connection, one that could be the death of us both.

A MAN WHO CAN’T FORGET HIS PAST . . .

The name Kyrion Caldaren strikes fear in the hearts of people across the Archipelago Galaxy. As the leader of the Arrows, the Imperium’s elite fighting force, I’m used to being a villain, as well as the personal assassin of Lord Callus Holloway. Even the wealthy Regals who live on the planet of Corios are afraid of me.

But everything changes when I meet Vesper Quill. I might be a powerful psion with telepathic, telekinetic, and other abilities, but Vesper sees far too many of my secrets.

Thanks to an arcane, unwanted quirk of psionic magic, the two of us are forced to work together to unravel a dangerous conspiracy and outwit the deadly enemies who want to bend us to their will.

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Elisabeth Wheatley

I had dabbled a little with writing when in my mid-teens I realized I could have any career I wanted, but I would have to pick one and stick with it. I come from a proud line of pig-headed people and I was pretty sure I could do anything through delusion and sheer force of will. So I asked myself what I really, really wanted.

I had too many interests—books, animal conservation, history, psychology, storytelling, anthropology, geology, politics, agriculture, linguistics, economics, religion, et cetera—to ever focus on just one thing. The only way I could think of to integrate all my interests was writing fiction, so I decided to make it happen. 
Roughly 15 years and 30 books later, delusion and sheer force of will have worked out pretty well so far! 

Elisabeth’s Featured Release: TEARS OF THE WOLF

After the murder of her child, Brynn of the Istovari wants nothing more than to escape the shackles of her birthright. As a sorceress and the last of a once-great bloodline, many still seek to use her for their own schemes. Brynn will do anything for the chance at freedom, even if it means marrying an upstart warrior from the far north.

Cenric needs a wife—but not just any wife—a sorceress. Having recently reclaimed his inheritance after a youth spent across the sea, a sorceress will bring security and legitimacy in his estranged homeland.

A marriage gives both Brynn and Cenric what they want—for now.

In the far northern reaches lies a land ruled by pride and strict codes of honor. As Brynn and Cenric struggle to navigate the aftermath of their hasty union, they soon realize that rival factions within the kingdom are on the verge of war once again.

Alone, they will be destroyed by the coming storm. Together, they might stand a chance.

LEARN MORE

If you know Ilona and would like to be featured on the next edition of the moment, please email her.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  5. Thank you for these wonderful insights!

    I have all of Jennifer Estep’s Galaxy Bonds series. They are really good. If you haven’t read them, start with Only Bad Options. It’s the first book in the series. The two main characters, Vesper and Kyrion, don’t like each other when they first meet. In fact, they want to get away from each other as fast as possible. However, things get complicated fast. I won’t spoil it for anyone. 😄

    I also have Jennifer’s Crown of Shards and Gargoyle Queen series. Both are really good. The first book in the Crown of Shards is Kill the Queen. The first book in the Gargoyle Queen series is Capture the Crown.

    • I know, right? And I mean, the obvious follow-up is go buy the books that I don’t have yet. Granted, I’ve gotten QUITE a lot of these folks’ books . . .

      Of course, more books is my answer to any number of things.

  11. In so many stories that I have heard about people who are successful in whatever career they have chosen, one of the first people who believes in them and whose belief they cling to in times of doubt is a teacher.

    Having spent the last 43 years as a teacher, that makes me proud and a little terrified of how a comment you said on the fly could actually affect someone’s whole life, for good or ill.

    Teachers weld a lot of power. It should be HARD to become a teacher— as hard as it is to become a doctor or a lawyer, but we should value teachers AND PAY THEM as if it were one of those storied professions as well.

    Just my two cents!

    I really enjoyed reading about how some of my favorite writers realized they were destined to write. And thank God they did! My life is so so much better because of their books. That is quite a lot of power as well. Let’s hope House Andrews always welds it wisely!

  12. This is a TERRIFIC post. I love learning how our favorite writers started out. Thanks to all of these authors for their terrific imaginations and their persistence in learning their craft to tell such great stories. You’ve all made my life more enjoyable.

  13. Thank you to all the authors who have participated! It’s so interesting to read about your journeys and I’m so grateful that you succeeded as I really enjoy reading your books!

  14. I’m 34 and love to write but never wind up finishing it beyond the world in my head and a chapter here or there. Hearing all my favorites tell their tales, well, maybe I’ll just write the damn book already.

  17. Wow, so impressed by all these authors. I love Elizabeth Wheatley’s Tears of the Wolf and have the second novel, which I haven’t had a chance to read yet. Jennifer Ester’s Only Bad Options, I have that also and hope to read it after the first of the year. Jean Kwok, I’m sorry I’m not familiar with you, but plan to rectify that! Your book sounds wonderful. Jeaniene Frost, I have enjoyed many of your books. Thank you all for letting us know how you came to your calling! Mad respect.

  18. Gosh I love this idea – the way they’re shared and such? It’s so heartwarming and just… lovely! *happy sigh

  20. Big thanks to Ilona and Gordon for letting me share my story here! And thanks to everyone for reading it. Tween Jeaniene would be amazed 😀

  21. I love this series. I am familiar with Jeanine’s, Elisabeth’s and Jennifer’s book, since they are all authors I read on a regular basis. I will need to add Jean to the rotation. This is a great way to introduce us to new authors and their backstory.

  22. I’ve read all the authors except E. Wheatley. I downloaded the Wolves to my kobo, via KP, but it locked up my kobo. Time to install the new software version my reader has been nagging me about and get to reading it! Oh and I haven’t read Jean Kwok! It’s been in my wishlist though, that exact same book. Maybe I heard about it here. I hope I have a few days off at Christmas to read ALL THE BOOKS.

  24. love these posts. I feel like I was invited to some great party where all these amazing authors are swapping their stories. Some of the “writer origin” stories seem like they should be a novel!

  25. Love Bones and Cat! Night Huntress and Night Prince are two great series to get lost in. Can’t wait to read Curse of Beasts and Magic.
    Haven’t read Wheatley and Kwok yet.
    Jennifer Estep’s Galactic Bonds is a great rec.

    As a reader I am truly grateful that you all chose the difficult path and became writers. You have kept me company when alone and babysitting my sibs. Kept me distracted while my mom in law was receiving chemo, kept me sane while my (now grown) kids were sick, these books were an inexpensive form of entertainment when I couldn’t afford cable. For all the times I’ve turned a page, I give thanks.

    • That is so kind, Bea. Author Charlaine Harris once said that books were the cheapest vacation you could buy, and I agree. They’re also portals into another place when the one you’re in is very dark. I know books have helped me take a much-needed mental break when life got heavy. I’m so glad they were able to do the same with you.

  27. You have such cool friends.

    Thank you for this. I now have new authors to try out. (Happy puppy gif).

    And thank you for the two stories earlier this month.

  28. I love this series! Thanks so much for sharing your stories. It’s great to hear from some of my favs, and find some new soon to be favs too.

  29. I absolutely loved Cat and Bones! If for some weird reason any of you haven’t read the series, definitely click on Jeanine Frost’s link!

  30. Love this insight so much! Have seen these authors but not really pulled the trigger (and some I own and love and nice surprise to learn more about them!)

  31. Jennifer Estep is already one of my authors I’m following. section 47 is my new favorite is my new favorite series from her. still love the innkeepers from IA and want more!

  33. Thank you for this post. It’s wonderful hear how authors found their way to being published. I can just imagine Jeaniene Frost’s excitement about getting a book deal. Oh, and I’m so happy she did. Her writing is magic! I’ve just started Only Bad Options and I need to look into the other authors books.

    Thanks HA and all of these authors for creating characters and stories we enjoy so much!

    • Thank you! When I say I screamed at first seeing that deal offer, I mean I almost shattered the glass in my office :).

  38. I have thoroughly enjoyed all these authors…except Jean Kwok (never heard of her)- but Dominion looks like my favorite kind of catnip and it’ll come out just in time for my birthday and isn’t that exactly what preorder is for, anyway?

    Happy (way early) birthday to me!

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