The
Story of the Story
Life is funny sometimes.
By all rights, I shouldn’t be here--an author with
a novel coming out. I was a science major in college.
If it wasn’t for a glitch in my grad school program,
I might well be conducting sleep research somewhere.
But that’s beside the point. I am here, and I’m glad.
Because of said glitch, I slanted my major toward
general psychological research.
Because of that, I was hired to work at Prevention
magazine as a researcher for features. Secretly, though,
I wanted to write, so I made opportunities for myself—doing
column work here and there, planting some seeds.
Because of that, I was actually taken seriously when
I asked to be hired as a freelance writer after my
daughter was born.
Because of that, I was able to work at home with the baby who rocked my world.
Because of that, I was completely submerged in the
world of the child. Feeding the child. Playing with
the child. Trying to get the child to sleep (oh, please,
sleep). Reading to the child. And reading. And reading.
Because of that, I began writing stories for my daughter,
and when my son came along, I wrote for him too. As
my children grew, so did my stories. I realized I liked
writing more complex fiction.
Because of that, I decided to give it a shot. Adult
fiction. Why not? I had a friend who loved romance
novels.
Because of that, I began writing a story called Unbounded--about
a girl and a guy and a conflict. Almost entirely by
chance, a Javanese dagger called a keris became
the centerpiece of chapter 1, scene 1.
Because of that, I started researching the keris and
discovered the equivalent of a storyteller’s goldmine.
Though the story spun off into decidedly unromantic
territory, I persisted.
Because of that, I finished version one of the novel
and submitted it to agents around the world. (Well,
not really, but I spattered it around New York quite
a bit.) Rejections poured in—some were even positive.
One particularly kind agent offered advice. I should
do what the story needed, she said. Expand on it. Let
fly my voice. Write commercial women’s fiction.
Because of that, I pouted long and hard. I read plenty
of women’s fiction and craft books. And then I dusted
off my keyboard and started over.
Because of that, after almost another three years
of work, Unbounded evolved
into what is now The Last Will of Moira Leahy.
Because of that, I found an agent, Elisabeth Weed
at Weed Literary; a publisher, Shaye Areheart Books,
Random House; and a great editor in Sarah Knight.
And because of that, I’m writing this page for you
now, and you’re reading it.
Life is funny sometimes.
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