Loving a Fairy Godmother

My very first story ever published came out this April. Entitled “Loving a Fairy Godmother“, it is a fantasy romance – the tale of Cinderella told from the Fairy Godmother’s point of view… well, if the Fairy Godmother was dealing with her own romantic dilemma, that is. It’s meant to be a fun, humorous story that just makes you feel good while you read it.

“Loving a Fairy Godmother” was the first story I ever wrote with publication in mind. Like most authors, I’ve been writing stories for my own amusement for years. It wasn’t until late 2009 though that I had that breakthrough – that Why Not? – that made me decide I should be writing stories to be published. That I wanted to make a living from writing and sharing my stories.

With that thought firmly in mind, I saw an open call from an epub that was asking for fairy tale inspired stories. It was a no-brainer. Romantic retellings of fairy tales? I was so there.

Except I wasn’t. The first idea I had just was not working. I was getting so frustrated, especially because as this was for an open call, there was a firm deadline when the story had to be in.

With about ten days to go before the deadline, I was laying in bed, just thinking on my story and trying to figure out how to make it work. From out of nowhere this character by the name of Tiernan appears – blond hair, blue eyes, roguish charm, and dimples – and he tells me he is the only Fairy Godfather in existence.

While I usually start my stories by figuring out the characters, I have rarely had a character appear so fully formed from the jump. But Tiernan just was, and almost against my will I started figuring out what his story was. And when I had the outline of the story finished, I knew I had to write that story for the open call.

It was an insane decision of course. Less than ten days to write almost 100 pages of story, someone really should have smacked me for even considering it. But the other story wasn’t working, and this one was just burned into my mind. With my husband telling me he would take the kids to let me write and my crit partner saying she would revise the story as we went along, well, I went for it.

Well, I did finish it in those ten days, thanks in no small part to my crit partner and fellow writer Anna Alexander.

It was ultimately rejected, but it was a good type of rejection. I have enough clues that let me know I was one of the finalists being considered, and the editor told me she really liked my voice and wanted me to submit directly to her in the future. Score!

I started submitting the story to other epubs, and finally at the end of 2010, I signed my very first contract ever with Liquid Silver Books.

I was going to be a published author!

The joy of signing my very first contract was amazing, but it paled in comparison to the first time I saw a book with my name – my name – on the cover. It was one of the truly great moments of my life.

So of course I need to have a contest. From all the comments made today on any of my posts, I will be selecting at random people to give stories to – a way of saying thank you for spending part of your day with me and letting me talk about happy memories and my favorite things.

Good luck in winning!

BLURB:

Tiernan is one of a kind. Beyond the divine dimples, killer blue eyes, and hard muscled body, Tiernan is also the only Fairy Godfather. Most of the Fairy Godmothers have no problem with keeping Tiernan around, but Reina isn’t like most Fairy Godmothers.

Amongst Fairy Godmothers, Reina is the best. Organized, efficient, logical. So why is it when Tiernan is around, all those qualities fly out the window? Reina doesn’t like that one infuriating male makes her lose control, and just wants him gone. Circumstances arise that just might let her get her wish, though not in a way she ever wanted.

Tiernan is given an assignment and told either get a Happily Ever After or he will no longer be a Fairy Godfather. Reina is going with him to supervise, but if Tiernan gets his way, he’ll not only be supervising that luscious stubborn fairy in bed, but also get her to admit Happily Ever Afters also apply to Fairy Godmothers.