Okay, okay, okay. Deep, calming breaths. Deep, calming... you know what? No. I'm too excited to even mess with "calm".
Why?
An editor got in touch with me and we had a wonderful talk over Starbuck's coffee!
The great thing about all of this is that there's a story behind it all, and since I'm a writer, I've got a love for stories.
I must give credit where it is due, so I would like to thank my oven for this particular turn of events.
Yes, you read that right.
My highly annoying and broken oven.
It all began around three days after I finished my book. My nerves were going bonkers and I was forcing myself to stay away from that dang book. Naturally I was frantically texting two of my closest friends in a effort to distract myself, and one (fully knowing my weakness for delicious baked goods) suggested I whip together a batch of cookies so I'd have something to do.
I happily grabbed all the ingredients out of my pantry, set it all out, and preheated my oven.
Now as some of you cooks will know, you can sometimes manage to get a batter all ready before your oven is even half way done (especially if you're an energetic, nervous, constantly moving girl) That's exactly what I did, and as I was trying to keep my hands away from that delicious cookie dough I heard a- beep!
Oh yay! The oven is preheated! And then-
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Um... that's not supposed to happen.
We tried everything to get that thing to stop beeping. Everything. Nothing would faze it, because it obviously wanted to its death be long and drawn out.
Stupid thing.
So there I was. Sitting in my kitchen, a batch of waiting cookie dough beside me, and a screechy oven in front of me. Those beautiful cookies that I wanted so much... they would be ruined! We simply couldn't have that. So I asked my mom to please let me ask our neighbors (I didn't even know their names at the time) if I could use THEIR oven to bake my precious cookies, and with her permission, I trotted across the yard.
I'm not a shy person. Not usually anyway, but I was in baggy jeans, and a bright yellow t shirt, with zero makeup on. I probably looked feral, and yet I was asking my poor neighbors if I could "borrow their oven".
It actually turned out spectacularly. I knocked on the door and a grandfatherly looking man answered, and when I meekly explained myself, he was completely happy to comply.
As I sat in their blissfully quiet kitchen, his wife popped in and she was one of the friendliest people I have ever met. This lady sat down right beside me and just started chatting away with me.
It's safe to say that I can call them friends after that experience, but the story isn't over.
My grandma told our neighbor that I had written a book, and the lady told her that she had a friend who was an editor. A little while after that, my parents talked with her, and then she gave us the editor's number and name.
After a game of phone tag, the editor got in touch with my mom. She was full of information and knew exactly where to tell us to go. They talked about editing websites and review websites, and just all sorts of things. She also told my mom that it's very exciting in the publishing world when a teen writer comes out with a book that's in a planned series. How awesome is that?
She asked to meet us at a coffee shop, and so we went. I was a little nervous but so excited as well! She came in, sat down, and we basically just dove right in. She gave us instructions and references to where we could go for online editors, reviews, book covers, and just so many other things. We weren't sure which path to take and how to travel down it, and she gave us a lot of information on what to do. We are currently researching a site, and praying about where to go with this. Thank you all so much for all the prayers and all the support! It's meant the world.
This just goes to show how God can turn bad things, like constantly beeping ovens, into blessings. If our oven hadn't decided to noisily die that day, I wouldn't have gone to the neighbors house. If I hadn't gone to the neighbors house, they wouldn't have known about my book. If they hadn't known about my book, they wouldn't have suggested their editor friend. If they hadn't suggested their editor friend, well, we wouldn't be in the place where we are now with this amazing journey.
So be thankful for all those annoyances. You never know when they might turn into blessings.
Until next time!
Why?
An editor got in touch with me and we had a wonderful talk over Starbuck's coffee!
The great thing about all of this is that there's a story behind it all, and since I'm a writer, I've got a love for stories.
I must give credit where it is due, so I would like to thank my oven for this particular turn of events.
Yes, you read that right.
My highly annoying and broken oven.
It all began around three days after I finished my book. My nerves were going bonkers and I was forcing myself to stay away from that dang book. Naturally I was frantically texting two of my closest friends in a effort to distract myself, and one (fully knowing my weakness for delicious baked goods) suggested I whip together a batch of cookies so I'd have something to do.
I happily grabbed all the ingredients out of my pantry, set it all out, and preheated my oven.
Now as some of you cooks will know, you can sometimes manage to get a batter all ready before your oven is even half way done (especially if you're an energetic, nervous, constantly moving girl) That's exactly what I did, and as I was trying to keep my hands away from that delicious cookie dough I heard a- beep!
Oh yay! The oven is preheated! And then-
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Um... that's not supposed to happen.
We tried everything to get that thing to stop beeping. Everything. Nothing would faze it, because it obviously wanted to its death be long and drawn out.
Stupid thing.
So there I was. Sitting in my kitchen, a batch of waiting cookie dough beside me, and a screechy oven in front of me. Those beautiful cookies that I wanted so much... they would be ruined! We simply couldn't have that. So I asked my mom to please let me ask our neighbors (I didn't even know their names at the time) if I could use THEIR oven to bake my precious cookies, and with her permission, I trotted across the yard.
I'm not a shy person. Not usually anyway, but I was in baggy jeans, and a bright yellow t shirt, with zero makeup on. I probably looked feral, and yet I was asking my poor neighbors if I could "borrow their oven".
It actually turned out spectacularly. I knocked on the door and a grandfatherly looking man answered, and when I meekly explained myself, he was completely happy to comply.
As I sat in their blissfully quiet kitchen, his wife popped in and she was one of the friendliest people I have ever met. This lady sat down right beside me and just started chatting away with me.
It's safe to say that I can call them friends after that experience, but the story isn't over.
My grandma told our neighbor that I had written a book, and the lady told her that she had a friend who was an editor. A little while after that, my parents talked with her, and then she gave us the editor's number and name.
After a game of phone tag, the editor got in touch with my mom. She was full of information and knew exactly where to tell us to go. They talked about editing websites and review websites, and just all sorts of things. She also told my mom that it's very exciting in the publishing world when a teen writer comes out with a book that's in a planned series. How awesome is that?
She asked to meet us at a coffee shop, and so we went. I was a little nervous but so excited as well! She came in, sat down, and we basically just dove right in. She gave us instructions and references to where we could go for online editors, reviews, book covers, and just so many other things. We weren't sure which path to take and how to travel down it, and she gave us a lot of information on what to do. We are currently researching a site, and praying about where to go with this. Thank you all so much for all the prayers and all the support! It's meant the world.
This just goes to show how God can turn bad things, like constantly beeping ovens, into blessings. If our oven hadn't decided to noisily die that day, I wouldn't have gone to the neighbors house. If I hadn't gone to the neighbors house, they wouldn't have known about my book. If they hadn't known about my book, they wouldn't have suggested their editor friend. If they hadn't suggested their editor friend, well, we wouldn't be in the place where we are now with this amazing journey.
So be thankful for all those annoyances. You never know when they might turn into blessings.
Until next time!