Anniversaries Sweet and Sad

Happy March 1st, everyone! Only 20 days until Spring!

Today is special for two other reasons for me, The first, happy one, is that it is my Agent-versary! I can't believe I've been with the fabulous Elaine Spencer (and the wonderful Knight Agency) for SEVEN YEARS. Oh, my, how the time does fly. There is a lot to celebrate in those seven years, too. Elaine and I have both worked hard at forging a strong partnership, and at this point in our relationship, I can honestly say I can't think of any other agent I would rather be with. She cheers me on, celebrates with me when we have a win, commiserates with me when things don't go well, and is also a stellar First Reader and editor for my books (not all agents also edit, and she's great at it) so we can put out the best book possible for my beloved readers.

Those seven years have seen us sign a number of contracts together, including the three books in the Baba Yaga series, the first two in the Broken Rider series, three books in the Veiled Magic series, plus four novellas and my last four (I think) books for Llewellyn. The Llewellyn books would probably have come out even if I hadn't had an agent--the others, though, not likely. She is worth her price in pearls! (Don't worry, I didn't send her pearls, I sent her chocolate. I'm not crazy.)

The fabulous Elaine!

I can't believe that we don't have a picture of the two of us together (we've hung out in person at three separate RWA National conventions) but apparently, I don't. I'll have to remedy that this July when we meet up at the next one.

Thanks for everything you do, Elaine! Here's to another seven years of putting out great books together.

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My other anniversary is a great deal sadder. Today it is a year since we lost my sweet Minerva, mother to Magic the Cat (Queen of the Universe) and Mystic the Magnificent. They haven't either of them been the same since she died, although they're doing okay. Mystic, in particular, has found solace in becoming snuggle buddies with pal Angus (who is just blissed out that he can now get on the bed, since Minerva used to hiss at him and chase him off, because it was her safe spot.)

Minerva and Mystic snuggled up together. They matched, except he is so much larger!

Magic, Minerva, and Mystic--the family in earlier days

Minerva in her last month

I brought them all home from the shelter together because in the end, I couldn't bear to separate this mama cat from two of her kittens. Best decision I ever made. She was a great mother, and although she was very timid with others, was incredibly sweet and loving with me and her babies. (It took her two years to sit on my lap--the folks at the shelter thought she might have been abused.) I miss her every day, but I am so grateful for that long-ago impulse that made me say yes. Seriously--look at that face! Who could have said no? I miss you, Mina. Thanks for being my cat.

An Interview with Lucienne Diver & Book Giveaway

CONTEST REMINDERS: My contest here is still open until Friday at midnight Deborah's Contest 
and you can still enter at Bitten by Books for the $50 Amazon gift card until Friday as well. And I can't believe NO ONE said anything about my very first Vlog :-(

And now to my special guest...

The beautiful Lucienne Diver

I first met Lucienne Diver in her agent persona, when I started stalking following her online back in the days when I was still working at getting my fiction published. She was always smart and kind, and generous with her advice and encouragement, and we eventually became pals, bonding over our shared love of Ren Faires, jewelry making, and general silliness. In fact, she was instrumental in my signing with Elaine Spencer, her fellow agent at The Knight Agency, and so we became Agency Buddies. Then Lucienne had her Vamped novels published at Flux, an imprint of Llewellyn Publishing (where my nonfiction books on witchcraft come from), and we became Publishing Company Buddies. (Fun fact: our birthdays are also just one day apart. You know, and a few years.)

My prized collection of Lucienne's books, including the first 2 in the Latter-Day Olympians series

We finally met in person at the RWA National Convention in 2009, and we had a great time together. Now we both have books coming out on the same day, September 2^nd, so we are Book Release Buddies too. In honor of our mutual release date, I’ve invited Lucienne to come by my blog and talk about herself and her new book, and I’ll be visiting her blog to do the same. I hope you’ll visit me there and say hi! (She interviewed me, too.) http://luciennediver.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/deborah-blakes-wickedly-dangerous/

Melissa Jeglinski from the Knight Agency, Lucienne, and me

Let’s give Lucienne a nice warm welcome! And be sure to answer her question at the end, since she’ll be giving away a signed copy of her book so a random commenter.

 DB: Hi Lucienne, welcome to the blog. For people who aren’t familiar with your Latter-Day Olympians series (which I LOVE, by the way), could you give us a brief overview of the series and then tell us a little something about the new book, Battle for the Blood?

 LD: Absolutely, thank you!  To understand the Latter-Day Olympians, I have to start with some background. 

My heroine’s family line may or may not trace back to when the god Pan beer-goggled one of the gorgons.  Certainly that’s the way the stories go. Tori Karacis never believed such nonsense, despite the evidence of some of her family’s more colorful attributes—her grandmother the bearded lady of the Rialto Bros. Circus, her parents and brother able to fly through the air with the greatest of ease, her own strange power to stop men in their tracks, even if she can’t actually turn them to stone.  That is, she doesn’t believe until she witnesses a murder by something that looks like the Creature from the Black Lagoon…with the victim Circe Holland, brass-bra’d Hollywood agent rumored to be that Circe, the enchantress of myth and legend.  Well, that’s just the start of things (BAD BLOOD).  The series continues into CRAZY IN THE BLOOD, RISE OF THE BLOOD and, on September 16^th, BATTLE FOR THE BLOOD. 

By the end of each book, nothing is quite the same…or ever will be again.  There’s crazy fall-out from the proceeding books, along with all new threats.  The tensions escalate, the stakes are higher…  In BATTLE FOR THE BLOOD, Tori isn’t just dealing with the loop I threw her at the end of RISE OF THE BLOOD, she’s dealing with the rise of an ancient Babylonian plague demon who’s stirring up nosoi, djinn, demons, and other forces dark and deadly enough to bring about an apocalypse. Various factions vie to control the daddy of all demons and the end of the world, hoping that they will be the ones to rise triumphant from the ashes.

I love these covers, don't you?

 DB: This series is very different from your first series, the Vamped books, which are very funny and snarky. Where did the idea come from for these books?

LD: The series sprang from two sources, really—my crazy family and the five years I spent on Latin in junior high and high school.  I thought at the time that I might want to be a doctor (before I realized how ridiculously squeamish I am), and teachers, etc. had told me how helpful it would be in understanding medical terms to know the Latin roots.  Well, that turned out to be a bust, but my favorite part of my Latin class was when we went over religion and culture.  It turned out that I wasn’t so much cut out to be a linguist as an anthropologist.  Specifically, and I think my medical interest played into this, I was fascinated by forensic anthropology.  I even applied to grad schools for it at the same time I applied for jobs in publishing.  Publishing got back to me first, which turned out to be a good thing, because as much as I like mysteries and skeletal remains, they don’t always come fully skeletonized.  Examining remains in situ means bugs, fluids, any tissue still attached and, well, we’ll leave it at that.

As far as my crazy family—I wouldn’t have them any other way, but, well, to give you an idea that we may be an acquired taste…you know Stephanie Plum’s family in Janet Evanovich’s bestselling series?  Well, sometimes I wonder where she’s hidden the video cameras around our familial homes.  (For me telling tales on my family, check out the post I did for Faith Hunter’s blog here: http://www.faithhunter.net/wp/2011/06/07/lucienne-diver-and-bad-blood/.)

DB: You are both an agent and an author, which gives you a unique view from both sides of the table. Can you give us a little idea of how you balance them both, and what a typical day might be like?

LD: I’m trying to find my new normal, now that my son is off to high school, shifting our whole schedule an hour earlier.  Traditionally, I wake up, have coffee, walk the dogs, kiss my husband and son good-bye on their way out the door and sit down to write for an hour before my agent brain kicks in, the phone starts ringing off the hook and my overflowing inbox calls me away.  I have about an hour a day to write during the week, which is not nearly enough, so I work weekends as well, sometimes carving out as much as two whole hours to myself before I have to put my work aside to read and critique manuscripts or actually spend time with my family!

DB: Do you have any more books coming out in this series? What are you working on now?

LD: Samhain has contracted me for a fifth novel in the Latter-Day Olympians series, which I’m really excited about. I’ve established in the series that the Greek gods didn’t necessarily start there, but have been various things in various cultures, changing with the times and the worship.  I’m planning, finally, to bring in Athena, but as her Egyptian counter-part…or anyway one of them.  The fun thing with mythology is that different sources point in different directions, so I can pick the one I like best!  All I’ll say is underworld goddess and escape from hell.

[Note from Deborah—OH, boy! I can’t wait!]

Outside of that, I’m working on a YA thriller that I’m equal parts nervous and excited about.

DB: Why don’t you ask my blog readers a question—and we can give away a signed copy of the new book to a random commenter!

LD: Sounds great! I’ll go easy on you all so you don’t have to have read the series already.  Maybe I can get you hooked now! What god or goddess or other mythological beastie most intrigues you? Who would you like to be or meet (or definitely NOT meet) in a dark alley?  I’ll give away a signed print copy of RISE OF THE BLOOD, which just came hot off the presses yesterday, to one lucky commenter. (Or an electronic copy of BATTLE FOR THE BLOOD, if you’d prefer.)

Thanks so much for being my guest, Lucienne. I can’t wait to read this new book myself.

Thanks so much, Deborah, I can’t wait to read YOURS! I’m off to go queue it up on my Kindle!

Read about my agent journey at Guide to Lit Agents Blog!

Ever wonder what it takes to get an agent? Read about my journey at Chuck Sambuchino's "Guide to Literary Agents" blog today.

http://tinyurl.com/3xuqsno

The Call

In the publishing world, writers talk a lot about getting The Call.

The Call is when an agent calls and tells you that they liked the manuscript you sent them enough to offer to represent you.

I have been submitting to agents for a little over two years. And this Monday, I got The Call!

I knew I was close. I knew my third manuscript was much better than the first two I sent out. In fact, I only sent it out to my top two picks. Who both said, "I like it, but no."

Luckily for me, one of these fabulous women, Lucienne Diver, who only turned it down because she was already representing someone who had a book too much like mine, agreed to recommend it (and me) to another agent in her agency. That agent had read my 1st book and liked it, but not quite enough. And she reps two of my writer friends, so I knew she was great.

So on Thursday of last week, I sent the ms. for PENTACLES AND PENTIMENTOS to Elaine Spencer of The Knight Agency. Late Friday morning, she sent me an email telling me she had read the first half and loved it, and wanting to know if anyone else was reading it. On Saturday morning, she told me she'd read the second half and STILL loved it, and wanted to talk to me.

And at 7:30 Monday night, I got The Call.

To say that I am happy to have this particular agent, and be a part of this particular agency, would be an understatement of epic proportions. I am over the moon!

For all of you that are still waiting for The Call--hang in there. Your day will come.

And for all those who helped me along the way; gave me advice, critiqued the work, held my hand, and told me my day would come--thank you so much!

Woot!