It’s happened before…seeing my name on the cover of an anthology, but it was different the last time. I did some very minor (and I do mean ‘minor’) editorial work for a publisher, and in exchange, my short story, The Passing of Millie Hudson was given a spot in the pay-for-inclusion anthology. Though I was ‘published’, I never felt validated as an author. It didn’t count.
Today, however, I feel validated. A real, honest-to-God publisher chose my story out of a sea of many to appear in their anthology. I didn’t pay my way into it. It wasn’t a perk. I was chosen. My story was chosen. That word is very, very powerful.
Chosen.
That’s why seeing my name on the front cover of the Make Believe anthology is such a big deal for me. I mean, signing the contract was huge! I couldn’t believe it. My very first publishing contract! It was something I wanted ever since I could hold a crayon. It was on my bucket list – to be officially published before I leave this life. My prayers were answered.
When I told my husband and oldest son, they were about as excited as getting their teeth pulled. Oh, they gave their congratulatory ‘That’s great’, but that’s where it ended. No excitement. No hurrah. No celebrating. Just “That’s nice. I knew you could do it.” My girls and youngest son, however, were ecstatic! They bought me Asti Spumanti and poppers and were all full of happiness and squeals of delight. They knew what this meant to me. They got it.
Still, none of it seemed real until April 26 when I first saw the cover with my name on it. I wanted to share it with everyone then, but I couldn’t. Not until today. Look at it! Isn’t it pretty? :-)
Squeeeeee!!!!! I can’t believe it! I simply can’t believe it.
Another beautiful part about all of this, is that one of my dearest friends, Jennifer M Eaton, is also getting published in this anthology. We were both iffy on if we were going to submit, then coaxed each other into it, then went on this amazing journey together as writers, friends, critics, betas to end up, side-by-side, on the cover. How cool is that? Our first real published pieces appearing in the same anthology!
Make Believe is due to release on December 3, 2012 in e-book only, and you can read blurbs about each of the six stories below. After reading them, please pop over to each of the gal’s websites and leave a congratulatory message for them. This IS a big deal for each of us and I am so very proud of each one of my anthology mates. We did it, ladies! *Pops cork* *Throws confetti*
Sacrificial Oath by Terri Rochenski
An impetuous act unwittingly makes Alesuela the fulfillment of the Sovereign’s Blood Oath to their Goddess. In five days, she’ll be forced to make the greatest choice of her life: become the virginal sacrifice already promised, or force the man she loves most to die in her place.
With an impossible choice in front of her, she searches for ways to undo the oath, and in her quest, finds not everything in her life is as she expects.
The Amulet of Ormisez by J. Keller Ford
There is only one way to save Elton Fletcher’s brother from an insanity-ridden death.
After years away from home, fighting for his people, Elton returns to discover his only sibling, Cayden, possessed by greed and malice, and responsible for malicious, unthinkable deeds. Cayden, though, isn’t the only one afflicted by the Amulet of Ormisez, and Elton finds himself in yet another battle, where the price of failure could be his own life.
Birthright by Lynda R. Young
Christa can mask the pain and hide the scars, but running from a birthright is impossible.
She’s tried to escape her grief by fleeing to a small town in Florida. Much to her frustration, the locals think they recognize her even though she’s never been there before. To make things worse, a man named Jack spouts outrageous theories about her.
Both spur Christa to bolt, to start fresh yet again, but there’s something about Jack that intrigues her enough to stay. The only problem? Someone else wants her to leave, and they won’t stop until she’s dead.
Petrified by Kelly Said
A mysterious storm has replaced summer with winter, devastating crops and smothering Castle lands in snow. Prince Sterling August stands alone as a leader, lost in personal grief as well as a desire to help his people but with an inability to do either.
The answers he needs await him, but without Lochlyn, a woman who’s just as isolated as Sterling, he’ll never see what stands before him, cloaked in illusion.
Last Winter Red by Jennifer M. Eaton
Emily is a Red, a woman whose sole purpose in life is to produce offspring. When her husband dies and leaves her childless, she risks her life and forsakes the safety of Terra—a disease-free city born after the nuclear holocaust. Beyond its boundaries, she knows, survives a man with whom she can be properly paired.
The Outside, though, holds secrets the government struggles to keep, and what Emily discovers on her quest for a mate will change her life forever.
Escort to Insanity by J.A. Belfield
From a charity auction, to a stroll in the park, to the craziest night of her life. Nicole Harrington can’t help but wonder how a simple event went so drastically wrong.
Of course, the male escort she booked is wholly to blame. Not only charming but shrewdly intelligent, Benjamin Gold drags Nicole into a platoon of unimaginable problems—ones from which she’ll have to find the courage just to survive.
