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A Tale of Two Emails
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So this morning, this greeted me in my inbox:
Congratulations Eve!
You’ve won the Chapter Winner Grand Prize:
A Day with Avon
Awarded by random drawing to one (1) of the six previous chapter winners, this prize package includes travel, hotel, and a day at HarperCollins. You’ll meet with an editor, get an introduction to our art department, and learn about the promotion of a title. Plus, you’ll receive a $250 saks.com shopping spree.
Thank God for that Saks card, because I have absolutely nothing to wear!
Shortly after receiving that email, I sent another one to my employer. I quit my job. Well, one of my jobs.
Sure, it’s just a little part-time, independent contractor gig that brings in about $1000 a month. But I’ve been working with this woman for over 2 years, and I really like her. It’s a very scary move, to quit a paying job to devote my time to writing. Especially when I have two very young children who are quickly filling the world’s landfills with disposable diapers.
This day at Avon is a golden opportunity, however, and I don’t want to live the rest of my life wondering what could have been, if only I’d been better prepared. I have to believe that I’m doing the right thing. Fortunately, my husband is A) fairly well-paid at his own job, and B) very supportive.
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Wow! Congratulations on taking that first big step! I’m sure that we’ll be hearing that it’s paid off for you very soon. I can’t wait. 🙂
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Yikes! That’s a very scary move. When do you have to go?
Alice
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I quit my job earlier this year in order to write full time. It was scary, but has it ever been worth it!
Congratulations, Eve, and good luck!
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Wow–good for you. It’s a huge step, but I know it’ll pay off down the line.
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Congratulations!! You are an inspiration to us all — my kids are 8 and 12, and quitting looks quite a ways off still.
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Yay! Time for our shopping spree! Oh, right, the job… Hmmm. Can’t really say too much about that. The one full-time job I had – working in a children’s bookstore – fired me after less than two weeks for undisclosed reasons. I still maintain that I was over-qualified, and they feared a coup d’etat!
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Good move, Tessa. I applaud your decision. Hey, I moved to China so I would have more time to write–that’s even more extreme. NaNo will be crazy, but it’s so great that we have other FanLitters to share it with us.
Lenora
p.s. I love your pseudonym! As someone else commented, it sounds like an intrepid girl reporter from the Forties. I’m picturing Gwyneth Paltrow in Sky Captain. I bet your hair would look lovely in a Veronica Lake peek-a-boo bang style. Could be a good look for your meeting with Avon…
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Hi TessaD~!
I am so glad you have a blog, and that you are sharing the excitement with us…. So, I hear they have free ARC’s there~! another big YAY… and I’ve loved your chapters from the start so I hope that Avon gives you a contract, bc I am already a fan that wants to buy all of your Avon Romances off of the shelves~!
I have a few* favorites from that contest that I want to see published for my own selfish reading enjoyment lol. You are at the top!
Also, I am SO glad you quit that one job because of it. I am very glad you have your priorities in the right places~! You know, so I can read your books after I’ve bought them off of the best selling kiosks @ B & N!
YAY~!!!!!
I hope you blog this experience up, even just a little. You have a very unique and amazing story to tell about the road to publication.
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So very exciting and terrifying, Tessa! It may be a scary step to take, but it will be so fulfilling in the long run. Yay for you! Stay the course. We’ll be pestering you for ARCs before you know it.
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You continue to amaze and inspire me! This is going to pay off big time for you! I just know it will!
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Tessa – I just stumbled across your blog. As a mom of two preschooler boys (3 and 2) AND A TEENAGER girl (just turned 13), I feel your pain.
I didn’t do NaNo this year because it’s too much time and I needed to complete the novel I’m half done with.
I was luckily able to quit my job when we adopted the two boys just on 2 years ago (Jan 2005). It’s been an adjustment, but I love writing and have seen my output increase significantly (along with the dust bunnies, but that’s another story!)
Good luck again!
Pam
Good luck!