Secondhand triumph

Hello out there, Operation Awesome!  My name is Becky Mahoney, and I’m one of your new bloggers. I’ve been a huge fan of this site for a while now, having participated in my first Mystery Agent contest almost exactly two years ago, and I am thrilled to be part of this sensational team.

I am rather newly agented (and I’ve been trying for the past two months to get this to sink in!) but my publishing journey thus far definitely hasn’t been straightforward. And yet, shockingly, I ended up exactly where I desperately wanted to be. It’s funny how these things, on occasion, work out absolutely perfectly in the end.

So here I am, on sub for the first time, doing what people on sub do. Which is to say, I alternate between periods where I feel like it's not real, and periods where I realize it is real, and then absolutely freak out. On top of that, though, I've noticed that one thing in particlar has intensified. It makes me ridiculously happy to see people succeed.

I'm not sure when this started - probably around the time I started querying in earnest - but success stories became my drug of choice. Suddenly I couldn't get through the Olympics, or an award show, or even one of those cheesy singing competition shows without misting up a little, because awww, they look so happy!

But, of course, that impulse is the strongest when it comes to writing. I love reading agent stories. I love reading book deal stories. And last week, that impulse almost got me in trouble - it would have been hard to explain to my boss that I was beaming at my desk because I'd set my Twitter feed to #ALAyma. For whatever reason, bosses don't like it when you're ignoring your work to watch authors find out, in real time, that they've just achieved another dream.

Part of it is, of course, that feeling is stronger now that I've been in this community for so long, and I've gotten to know these authors, agents, and editors through the beauty that is social media. But it's mostly that I can't help but be absolutely thrilled for them, because I know exactly how it must feel. When it comes to my own publishing journey, I am quite the stubborn realist, more out of sheer self-preservation than anything. But I've been where these people are a thousand times in my own head, sometimes so intensely that it takes me out of wherever I am and puts me right in that moment. It's the kind of moment you don't want to leave - and sometimes, I don't even try.

But for whatever reason, bosses aren't too fond of that, either.

So happy Friday, Operation Awesome! Indulge yourself in a little daydreaming today. It's good for you. ;)

And in the spirit of this post, if you'd like to post in the comments about something fan-freaking-tastic you've accomplished lately, have at it!

The "Over-Many-Nights" Success

I read a 2007 post by Rick Riordan, about when people ask what it feels like to be “an overnight success.” It took him nearly ten years to reach his “overnight success.” His story parallels that of so many writers I know or have read about. I don’t think people realize oftentimes just how hard these overnight successes had to struggle before they “made it.”

Since my book deal was announced, I’ve had people ask me about my journey. When people hear that Treasured Lies was the first book I ever wrote, I think they sometimes assume I didn’t have to struggle much. After all, I sold my first novel!

However… :D

The very first draft of Treasured Lies was finished about five years ago. Since then, it has been completely rewritten at least three times, and I mean COMPLETLEY, with countless revisions of those rewrites in between. And I wrote other books between those TL rewrites. I queried that poor baby over 200 times (and then I stopped counting). I got many requests, some revise/resubs, and lots of “I love it, buts" :)

I’ve started other projects that I’ve abandoned. But this one I just couldn’t leave alone. I believed in it too much. So every so often, I’d pull it out of its virtual drawer and start all over again. So while it might technically be the first book I wrote, if you count up all the rewrites and books in between, it’s at least book number 5 or 6 :)

I’m glad I had a hard road of it, because now I can truly appreciate the success I've earned. And I know, and accept, that there is another hard road ahead. More importantly, I know I can handle the speed bumps that are going to come my way. Getting published is just one more step up. It's a good step, a very very good step that makes me smile whenever I think of it :) But I know there are still some rough times ahead, and probably always will be. And it's good to know that I can deal with all the ups and downs that will come with the journey to true success.

Rick Riordan says all this so much better than I am doing here :) Be sure to read his article. It’s inspiring – and wonderful to know that even the big names out there had to go through the same things I am :)