Some of you may know that last year after my book sold, an author I long admired got in touch with me. Carla Buckley wanted me to become part of the Debut Authors Program of International Thriller Writers. This still stands as one thrilling moment. In the months since, ITW has become a beloved part of my life. I look up to the authors there, and getting to know some of these legends is just plain trippy. And I love every single one of “my” debuts whose releases I watch as if I were running along behind a bicycle until the person rides off for the very first time. Today’s guest is one of those Debuts, and his writing quest will speak to all of us who feel it’s less about making it than writing the next book. Here’s to launching–and to every single moment that follows.

First, let me say thank you, Jenny, for the opportunity to post on your blog. Your support for authors is remarkable, and I admire your dedication to finding success in both the craft of writing (bravo on Cover of Snow!) and communicating the accomplishments of your peers.

Regarding my “made it moment”…  Smack in the middle of editing Calypso Directive for publication, my agent informed me that she was retiring. Immediately, I was in a panic. What was I going to do about my next book? (never mind the fact I had not written my second book). The sky was falling! After several deep breathes, I realized this was probably not the pressing crisis I was making it out to be. Until I had another book to sell, fretting about getting a new agent was akin to worrying about what to order for dinner when you haven’t even had breakfast. After CALYPSO was past copy-edit, my editor (who knew my agent predicament) sent a copy of the manuscript to Phyllis Westberg of Harold Ober Associates. Fast forward to the present, and I can proudly say I’m once again a “taken” author. To be represented by the same agency of legends such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Agatha Christie, William Faulkner, and J.D. Salinger is humbling (and quite a boost to the spirit). Now, if you’ll excuse me… I need to go work on finishing that second novel.

If you would like to receive an autographed copy of THE CALYPSO DIRECTIVE, please leave a comment. Brian will sign and mail a book to one winner chosen at random!

Some facts about the book: The Calypso Directive originally had a subplot that wove throughout the novel—an origin story for my protagonist (Will Foster) set in 1665 in Eyam, England. As I wrote, the subplot evolved into a tragic love story… with enough legs to stand on its own. At forty-six pages in length, my editor and I decided to pull the chapters from CALYPSO, and bundle them as a companion novella titled “Ring of Flowers.” Ring of Flowers is a available for free on Kindle, Nook, and iPad for anyone who wants to delve into the origin of Will Foster’s mysterious immunity mutation.

Midwest born and raised, Brian Andrews is a US Navy Veteran who served as an officer aboard a 688 class nuclear submarine in the Pacific. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in psychology. He is a Park Leadership Fellow and holds a Masters degree from Cornell University. Brian lives in Tornado Alley with his wife and daughter.

Paranormals are a hot genre now, but ghost stories have been with us forever. We can all imagine that first teller of tales who sat around the campfire and invented a spirit from another realm to cast out the all too real shadows hovering around. In this guest post, author Marilyn Levinson talks about how she decided to write a modern tale of a ghost.

WHY A GHOST?

While I’ve never actually met a ghost, I know ghosts have a permanent place in our literary lore. We find their eerie yet limited manifestations appealing. They usually remain on our earthly plane to teach someone valuable life lessons or to resolve issues they hadn’t attended to before they died. My favorite spirits are George and Marion Kerby from TOPPER and the sea captain in THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR

My ghost, Cameron Leeds, is a scoundrel. When alive, he flirted with every woman who crossed his path. His many business deals weren’t always legal. Though his best friend, the town’s police chief, has declared his death an accident, Cam knows he was murdered. Trouble is, he doesn’t know who did it, and he can’t move on until he finds his killer.  And so, when Gabbie Meyerson rents his family’s cottage—the only place where he can manifest–Cam nags and cajoles until she agrees to investigate.  Gabbie starts asking questions, and to her dismay discovers that several of Cam’s so-called friends and neighbors are glad he’s dead.

Though he was a clever if shady businessman, Cam hasn’t a clue that his thoughtless behavior often enraged people and eventually led to his death. He sent away the only woman he ever loved. In fact, it’s only after he’s dead that he realizes he truly loved her. Lucky Cam receives the golden opportunity very few people get —a chance to say good-bye.

For a fun and thoughtful read, look for GIVING UP THE GHOST on Kindle and the Nook.

Marilyn Levinson is a former Spanish teacher who writes mysteries and novels for kids. Her debut mystery novel, A MURDERER AMONG US, was awarded a Best Indie of 2011 by Suspense Magazine. She lives on Long Island with her husband, Bernie, and their cat, Sammy.

The idea of having many Made It MomentS (as opposed to one single one) is oft-shared amongst the inspiring crew I call the Momenters. Here, Peg Herring provides a list that really drives the concept home. Any one of these bullet points signifies success as a writer, but sitting back and resting on laurels is something no author would do. With every book we write and learn from…we are making it.

First, thanks to Jenny for letting me contribute to Suspense Your Disbelief!

My Blog Tour consists of a mix of interviews with Seamus, the Dead Detective, and posts on writing. A full schedule is posted on my blog, It’s A Mystery to Me: http://itsamysterytomepegherring.blogspot.com/.

Prizes: People who comment on any blog post on the tour will be entered in drawings for several prizes: Dead Detective T-shirts, copies of THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY and DEAD FOR THE MONEY (paperback or e-books available), and the chance to be a character in the third of the series DEAD FOR THE SHOW. Multiple winners will be drawn.

How Did I Know I’d Made It?

Like many things in life, writing success is a process. I could never sit back and say, “I’ve made it,” but there are signs along the way that let a person know the process is humming along in a positive direction. Here are some “Made-it Moments” I’ve had since my first book got me started.

1^st agent  =  Somebody thinks I can write!

1^st contract  =  Somebody will pay me to do this!

1^st sighting of my book in a store  =  Somebody thinks I can make money for them!

1^st fan email  =  Somebody took the time to let me know they like my work!

1^st fan who approached me at a con  =  Somebody actually wants my autograph!

1^st panel at a con  =  Somebody considers me a professional!

1^st review  =  Somebody who critiques writing across the genre thinks I’m good!

1^st award  =  A lot of somebodies think something I wrote is the best!

There are many thrills for me in writing. LL-Publications just signed me for a new series, and I’m excited to get to work on that. I also get to write more of my other series, the Simon & Elizabeth (Tudor) books and the Dead Detective Mysteries. I love creating stories people enjoy and having them gently harass me to “get busy and write the next one.”

There will be more Made-it Moments in my future, if I keep writing and improving (and promoting). As of today, the award THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY got from EPIC for Best Mystery of 2012 is my favorite Made-it Moment. For one thing, it’s still fresh in my mind, and for another, it’s a step up the ladder of success I keep in the back of my mind. I expect each book to be better than the last, so DEAD FOR THE MONEY should surpass Book #1. As long as I keep getting better as a writer, I’m pretty sure I’m making it, a little bit, every day.

Peg Herring graduated from the University of Michigan, then worked in education, teaching English, history, and communications. In 2002 she left teaching to pursue full-time writing.

Peg Herring’s love of history and years of teaching Shakespeare led to Macbeth’s Niece, her first published novel (Five Star). These days Peg speaks to groups on the writing process, genres, and public speaking. When not writing, directing musical groups, or gardening, she and her husband enjoy travel, both abroad and in the Unites States.

This post is one part Made It Moment (hint: if you want to make it, don’t check your sense of humor at the door) and two parts recipe for a collaborative writing life. Only Evelyn David throw in a wrinkle. How do you succeed if you’re two different authors in two separate parts of the country? Rhonda and Marian are about to tell you how–just as soon as they tell you who they are.

Juggling Murder

Maggie Brooks, intrepid reporter and unexpected sleuth in our new mystery Zoned for Murder, finds herself juggling career and family with almost fatal results. While the stakes may be higher than most of us usually confront, that sense of trying to keep all the plates spinning at the same time is a familiar sensation.

Both halves of Evelyn David have “day jobs” and families. The Northern half writes nonfiction books and blogs for a living; the Southern half is the coal program director for the state of Oklahoma. Creating murder and mayhem has to be sandwiched in between job demands and family responsibilities – it’s at least a triple-decker sandwich. Writing mysteries is a pleasure. Thinking of new, devilish ways to kill off bad guys, discovering clever methods of hiding clues and inventing red herrings – what’s not to like?

Finding a method to keep all the balls in the air, without dropping any of them, is more than a sleight of hand. It’s only possible because there are two of us juggling all the pieces. We’ve tried to figure out what makes a successful writing partnership and have concluded it’s part science and a lot mystery. But here’s what we’ve learned that works – for us and for our characters.

First, and probably foremost, you need a sense of humor. Writing is a tough business, hard on the ego, full of rejection. So if you can’t laugh at the absurdity of it all and keep going, it’s time to find another career. We’ve deliberately incorporated humor into all our mysteries. If we believe laughing at yourself and the craziness of the world is important to us, then it’s got to be important to the heroes we create in our books. Maggie Brooks often makes fun of herself and her predicament as “poor widow Brooks.” When she lost her husband she could barely brush her teeth in the morning. Finding her way back to joy in life is hard, but Maggie wants it. She wants to laugh again.

Second, if you are going to write with a partner, give up all pretense of an ego. Not only will that help when faced with the inevitable rejection inherent in publishing, but diva moments never help creativity. Do what needs to be done and forget about getting credit. The success of the team (oy, dare we say there’s no “I” in team) is paramount. In Zoned for Murder Maggie Brooks works for the Sound Shore Times, a small village newspaper. She has to cover everything from bake sales to city council meetings. Not that exciting for a former Newsweek reporter. But she’s got pride in her work and is appalled when a local resident advises her to turn over her notes to a “real” reporter. Maggie follows the clues to get to the root of the mystery of a local contractor’s death, even if the next time her name is in the newspapers it might be in her obituary.

After three full-length novels, eight novellas, and countless short stories, the collective Evelyn David is going full-steam ahead. We’ve embraced the e-book revolution and the options it gives us for choosing our own destiny. We write on our own schedule. We create our own covers. We publish when we’re ready. Like Maggie Brooks, we’re enjoying the challenges of walking the tightrope, keeping a balance of work, life, and family, and savoring the moments in each.

Evelyn David is the pseudonym for the mystery writing team of Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett.

Marian lives in New York and is the author of eleven nonfiction books on a wide variety of topics ranging from veterans benefits to playgroups for toddlers!

Rhonda lives in Muskogee, Oklahoma, is the director of the coal program for the state, and in her spare time enjoys imagining and writing funny, scary mysteries. Marian and Rhonda write their mystery series via the internet. While many fans who attend mystery conventions have now chatted with both halves of Evelyn David, Marian and Rhonda have yet to meet in person.

Please check out Evelyn’s website and their blog The Stiletto Gang for information about Evelyn David’s appearance schedule and writing projects.

This is an unusual sort of Moment, where the author is a contributor to an anthology. The word anthology understates what this book offers:  30 stories of romance and suspense by a collection of International Thriller Writer authors. One of my favorite authors is included in this volume; readers of this blog will probably be able to figure out who I mean. I pre-ordered to read his contribution alone, but when I saw the lineup, I realized that I had just bought the book bargain of the season. Where else could you find so much talent in one densely packed volume?

At ITW, that’s where. So without further ado, I introduce you to one of the contributors, romantic suspense author Allison Brennan, whose eighteen novels and NYT bestselling career might belie the fact that we all start out in the same place, and making it usually requires the same devotion on all our parts.

I married at 23 and had three kids by the time I was 31. I always wanted to write a book, but between family and my career as a consultant in the California State Legislature, I convinced myself I didn’t have the time. After my son was born in 2001, I realized I needed to get serious if I wanted to be published. My problem? I never finished anything I started. I had hundreds of beginnings but no endings. Some of my “beginnings” were 300 pages long—meandering stories without focus. I’d get sidetracked by new ideas, dumping whatever I was working on for the new, better, glossier story.

I knew I needed to finish a book, but had to make the inner commitment to do it. No one cared if I wrote except me, and I had to make writing a priority. I gave up television for three years (which was hard—I love TV!) and wrote every night after the kids went to bed. In June of 2002, I typed THE END on my first complete manuscript.

At that moment, I knew I’d made it. For me, finishing a novel gave me the confidence to query agents and write another book, exactly what I needed and my first real step toward publication.

I didn’t sell that first manuscript. In fact, it took me five books before I sold. But that first book proved to me that I could finish what I started. I still type THE END even now, and it still gives me the same thrill as the first time.

Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of eighteen romantic suspense and thrillers. She lives in Northern California with her husband and their five children. Her current book SILENCED is the fourth in her Lucy Kincaid series, and she is a contributing author in the Sandra Brown edited LOVE IS MURDER, coming on May 29th from Mira Books.

This post speaks to something many writers think about: How should we promote our books? And fortunately or unfortunately, many readers have to think about this question, too, because writers are always trying to reach them. Some numbers are relevant here. In 2003, 300,000 ISBN numbers were sold–correlating roughly to how many books were available. In 2011, ISBNs numbered 3,000,000. Quite a leap, right? But in 2012, the number is projected to be–wait for it–15,000,000.

With an untenable amount of books available, you might rightly fear that writers will be screaming themselves hoarse–and our ears the worse for it. That’s why I like Donna Fletcher Crowe’s second Moment so much. What should we do to promote our books? Not much, Donna says. Just…try and write a great book.

It was a Saturday evening last fall. My husband and I were just ready to put our feet up and watch our favorite thriller “MI-5” when the phone rang. It was my publisher. “Donna, what are you doing?”

“Um, watching TV?”

“No, I mean with the Lord Danvers series. The sales are going through the ceiling.”

“Er— not very much, I’m afraid. You see, I’ve been busy . .”

“Well, whatever you’re doing, keep it up. This is phenomenal.”

In thirty-some years of writing I’ve never had the words ‘phenomenal’ and ‘sales’ linked when talking about my books.

And phenomenal is exactly the right word because, you see, I’m usually fairly with-it in doing the promo thing: I blog, I Tweet, I facebook. In other words, I’m quite capable of driving my friends mad doing the “Buy my book” routine.

But not this time. I was in the throes of promoting the UK release of  A DARKLY HIDDEN TRUTH, book 2 in my Monastery Murders series and our daughter was just ready to give birth to their third child in Calgary, so I truly wasn’t up to speed in promoting the ebook release of The Lord Danvers series.

I had been over the moon when my publisher Greenbrier Books sent me the new covers for this Victorian true-crime series which I first wrote in the early 1990’s. I think they are stunning and they perfectly reflect my stories. But I hadn’t spent the time agonizing over editing that I usually do. Just the fact that they were live in all ebook formats took me by surprise.

But sure enough: At #4 Nook mysteries— tucked between Harlan Coben and Clive Cussler— was TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN with Charles, Lord Danvers, and Lady Antonia looking appropriately Victorian against a backdrop of Canterbury Cathedral. And a bit further down at #14, was the first of the series A MOST INCONVENIENT DEATH.

And was this amazing activity reflected on Amazon? Yes, indeed. Lord Danvers ranked 52 among British Detectives. Between Hercule Poirot and Agatha Raisin. And While I’m name-dropping other rankings showed him with Adam Dagleish and Lord Peter Wimsey— Exalted company, indeed!

That was six months ago and I’m still pretty much taking my publisher advice of “Keep on doing what you’re doing.” Which was mostly nothing. Or rather, doing everything else but promoting Lord Danvers. (Including spending a month in Calgary during which we got a beautiful new granddaughter and our car was flattened by a falling tree; spending most of December in California where our twin granddaughters had solo roles in The Nutcracker; tending grandsons  for our widowed son who got married and went off to Greece on honeymoon; promoting the North American release of A DARKLY HIDDEN TRUTH; and finishing the next Monastery Murder. . .) Well, you get the picture.

This morning I checked: A MOST INCONVENIENT DEATH, book 1, is in the top 50 for British Detectives, GRAVE MATTERS, book 2, and TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN, book 3 are right behind.

Please, don’t anyone misunderstand. I’m not boasting. I’m gobsmacked (as they say across the pond). But more than anything else I’m enormously grateful. Thank you, thank you, to my wonderful readers who have given me this beautiful gift.

And, yes, I’m working on book 4 in the series right now. But still not promoting much.

Donna Fletcher Crow is the author of 38 books, mostly novels dealing with British history. The award-winning Glastonbury, an Arthurian grail search epic covering 15 centuries of English history, is her best-known work. Donna and her husband live in Boise, Idaho. They have 4 adult children and 11 grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic gardener.

Probably there’s not a writer on earth who won’t relate to Jan’s roller coaster ride of submission and rejection, and hope for the same ultimate acceptance. Of less universality might be Jan’s thoughts on which leg of this ride came making it. Is it in the first full manuscript requested? The offer from a publisher? The sight of your own book cover? Or something else–a moment that gets at the exchange between reader and writer, and the reason we’re all doing this in the first place.

Thanks for asking me to visit you today Jenny! Oh! What a question! There have been many little happy steps during my publishing journey, it is hard to pinpoint that one, special “made it” moment after I had finished writing my novel, Veiled Virtues.

First, there were the queries to agents. I had several happy moments during that stage when four agents asked for the full manuscript. All of my hard work had paid off! People wanted to read the full! But, wait. Three rejections. Waiting for the fourth…. But no! Jeanie wanted to be my agent! Wow! I signed a contract for representation, yay!

Next it was time for Jeanie to work her magic. One rejection. Two rejections. Three, five, ten. Wait! Great news! MuseItUp Publishing wants the full! I was so excited a publisher was truly interested. And the next day I was offered a contract. Break open the champagne! That was in April, 2011. The contract stated a tentative release of February, 2012. What??? So long? Hadn’t it been long enough? Ah, patience is a virtue, so they say.

Each week that went by, I worked on edits with two different editors. So much editing! At long last, I received the final galley. Ahhh, huge sigh. When I got the first cover art mock ups, I felt the release date creeping up ever so closer. Really? Is this for real? And then it happened. I got THE email.

“Congratulations, you’ve been published.” It was for the ebook on Amazon. What??!? Sure enough, there was my book. For sale on Amazon. I raced out to the publisher’s website, and it was for sale there too, cover, excerpt, author bio and all. I emailed all my friends and family.

But guess what? None of those were my “made it” moment. Nope.

About ten days after my book had been released, I visited a post with an interview of me that had been done the week before. There, in the comments was my “made it” moment. Some person I have never met had posted:

“Great interview. Reading it and loving this book so far.”

Wow.

Jan Fischer Wade is an attorney (please don’t hold that against her!) and author from the Lincoln, Nebraska vicinity. Jan also owns KidStock Consignment, a seasonal consignment sale in Beatrice, Nebraska. She and her husband, Scott, have two children and two Irish Setters, so life at home is very rambunctious.

About the Book…
Veiled Virtues is a young adult novel that follows our heroine (and recent high school graduate), Paige, to England where she house sits for the summer. While there, she starts experiencing increasing episodes of déjà vu, hearing voices and gets the feeling she’s being followed. After her journal is stolen, and the house in which she is staying seems haunted, her fear and confusion lead her to find answers in the town’s eclectic new age store, run by Nathaniel Brightmore, a gorgeous young local. Paige is indeed being stalked, and with the help of a group of modern day knights, she embarks on a fight for her life. The novel is a bit of a romantic fantasy and paranormal mystery all rolled into one.

This one isn’t.

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that in the next few years, book events are going to become more important than they ever have been before. Author readings and signings. Multi-author panel discussions. Schmooze over coffee chats. You name it–and get creative. Because the authors and their publicists sure will be.

We live in a world with so much cyber noise that we’re all going deaf. Some days I feel that if I get one more tweet, I’m going to fly away myself. Forget your latest 5 star review. You could tell me in 140 characters that the New York Times raved and I might fail to parse it. There is just. Too. Much. Noise.

But if we’re sitting down together? If I’m settled in a chair, amidst a crowd of fellow book lovers, about to hear a great tale, or share a laugh? And afterwards I might get to shake your hand and have a book signed? Well, then I’m all yours. Instead of staring dumbly at a screen, I’m connected at the human level–and in the end I think that’s what all the cyber noise is aimed at.

Recently Atria, a division of Simon & Schuster, came up with a unique angle on human interaction and enlisted four of their top mystery and suspense authors for it. Take one cool looking bus, put four writers in it, give them a driver and some roadies, and send them from New York to Missouri with stops at some of the best bookstores in the country, and what do you get?

Possibly the future of book-selling.

MJ Rose, who explored the self-publishing frontier the way the first astronauts ventured into space, only to break out with enormous mainstream success, and Liza Marklund, the only Swedish author besides Stiegg Larsson to reach #1 on the NYT list, were kind enough to answer a few questions about their experiences.

What’s the hardest part about spending your days on a bus with three other super-talented authors? (Another way of asking this might be, What’s the hardest part about spending your days on a bus with three other folks who kill people for recreation?)

MJ Rose: Trying to avoid getting killed is the hardest parts. No, seriously, suspense writers get their aggressions out on paper. And this trip proves that yet again. No hostility or creepiness. These guys are wonderful, funny and smart. The company is the best part of the bus ride.

Liza Marklund: These English speakers are behaving at their very best – at least verbally. Do not know what they are writing on their endless sessions on their computers, though (we have wireless on the bus, which worked everywhere but in Iowa). Me, on the other hand–I am the only one able to say anything without anyone else knowing the true meaning (I just switch to my native Swedish, hee hee…)

Is McDonalds selling its trillionth burger thanks to this tour, or what are you eating?

MJ Rose: What we do is drive to a bookstore, disembark, go inside, speak for a forty minutes or so, answer questions and then sign books and then step back on the bus. We get lunch on the bus while we drive to our next store where we rinse and repeat, then get back on the bus, drive for a while more, have dinner on the bus and then eventually get to a hotel where we sleep overnight, and then in then in the morning drive to the next store and do it all over again. Some stretches between stores are 2 hours. Some 6. It’s a lot of road.

Sort of like being in a pneumatic tube that’s gone from NYC to Madison CT, to Framingham MA, to Brattleboro VT… you get the idea.

The tour organizers pick chains that are close to the stores so we’ve been getting a lot of menus to pick from places like Cheesecake factory and Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Liza Marklund: Nope. Didn’t see anyone eating a single burger on the bus. Lots of chicken salads, though…

In all seriousness, does this tour seem to be more fun and entertaining than going it alone on a regular tour? For you, the bookstore attendees, or both?

MJ Rose: Being with four other writers is more fun that going alone for sure – the pressure isn’t all on me when we get to the stores. And for sure it’s more entertaining for the attendees.

Liza Marklund: We usually don’t tour alone in Europe, at least I don’t. In Sweden, we always go as a whole group of authors from my publishing house, just like we did on the bus. In Germany, there’s normally an actress, a moderator and someone from the PR department along. Normally, we fly or go by train or limousines, but there’s been an occasional bus as well…

I have to say I prefer to go with a whole gang of people, like the bus!

Who first presented this idea to you? The publicist at Atria, your editor, your agent? And how did you react?

MJ Rose: The publicity dept at Atria wrote me and my first reaction was that if the bus didn’t have Wi-Fi, no way would I even consider it. But they did:)

Liza Marklund: I don’t remember, frankly. My agent, I think, and I probably just asked “Can we squeeze it in?”. So we could, and we did, and I’m perfectly happy about it.

How did your families and friends–the people you’ll miss–react?

MJ Rose: With a combo of horror and warnings about what traveling long distances on a bus is like.

Liza Marklund: Well, I’ve done 20 of these in Germany alone the last 13 years, so nobody really gasped…

Can each of you give a brief thumbnail of the career trajectory that got you to this point? Maybe some details your readers wouldn’t already know?

MJ Rose: I don’t think I can get anyone to do that – sorry – at this point we’re all open books!

Liza Marklund: Nobody knows me in the US, so everything about me is probably details they wouldn’t know… What about this one: I’m the only Scandinavian author, except for Stieg Larsson, who’s been no. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list…

Quick–what’s the most embarrassing thing to have happened so far on the bus?

MJ Rose: Well, nothing embarrassing so far but the worst part is we ran out of toilet paper after leaving Vermont and all the places to get more were closed up for the night. Now all the women are carrying emergency rolls.

Liza Marklund: Oh jeez, I’m blushing away here… To use a quote from the bus: I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you…

Thank you, MJ & Liza, and if you get a chance to see these talented authors or buy their latest releases, I highly recommend you do so! (Next year they’ll probably be on a spaceship).

Steve Ulfelder, by almost anyone’s accounting, has made it.  His debut novel was nominated for a major award in the industry. But his Moment speaks of other forms of success. What it’s like to have a top agent in your corner, year in, year out. And at the end of the day, the only real measure a writer can use to gauge his or her success. What is it? Steve is about to tell you.

How did I know I’d made it?

Seems like a simple question – but the answer is complicated.

ANSWER 1:
I thought I’d made it five years ago when a small publisher, the first I queried, agreed to buy my first Conway Sax novel.

That publisher spent the next 18 months going out of business. Turned out I hadn’t made it after all.

ANSWER 2:
During that initial query process, I got the break I was (and continue to be) supremely grateful for: agent Janet Reid, known to many for her blogging prowess, agreed to represent me.

Between the near-miss with the first book and the day Minotaur agreed to buy PURGATORY CHASM, I would slog through some rough days. PURGATORY was the third Conway Sax book; the first two were rejected all over New York, then all over the country. Hell, I think they were rejected overseas a few times. Janet’s optimism and enthusiasm for my work were about all that kept me plunking away at the keyboard.

I know how hard writers work to find an agent. It’s only gotten tougher these past few years. I have nothing but admiration for unpublished novelists who keep slogging away, waiting for that partial, then full, request. I don’t know if I’d have kept at it without Janet.

ANSWER 3:
How did I know I’d made it? This is the real answer: I don’t. Because I haven’t.

PURGATORY CHASM was nominated for the Best First Novel Edgar, and that’s fantastic. Conway2, THE WHOLE LIE, comes out in a few weeks and has earned strong reviews. That’s great too.

But every morning, when I pat the dog’s head one last time and don my noise-canceling headphones to attack Conway3, I feel the same knot in my stomach that I felt before any of these good things happened. I need to prove it all over again by writing the best thousand words I can come up with.

Writing books for money is a tough racket. There are talented, hard-working people all over the place. Want to know if I think I’ve made it? Ask me at about noon on any weekday. That’s when I can tell you if I wrote a thousand decent words that day, and that’s all that matters.

Steve Ulfelder is an amateur race driver and co-owner of Flatout Motorsports Inc., a company that builds race cars. In addition to being nominated for MWA’s Best First Novel Edgar, his debut, Purgatory Chasm, has been named Best First Mystery of 2011 by RT Book Reviews. His second novel, The Whole Lie, comes out May 8.

Please welcome Sasscer Hill back to the blog with a second Made It Moment that may even top her first! One thing all writers hope for is that a wider slice of the world takes notice of their books, and media coverage is one way to make that happen. But we have so little control over it. This Moment reads like a blueprint for how–given a great book and some luck–a writer can bring her novel to the attention of someone who can get it even more.

On April 15, I sat in the Annapolis Barnes & Noble cafe with fellow Sisters in Crime member, Becky Hutchinson, pouring over the arts and entertainment section of the Baltimore Sun newspaper. For a few frustrating and disappointing moments I can’t find the promised review. Anywhere. Wait, there it is — on page five, next to the best-sellers list. My God!

I’d been after the Sun for a mention of some sort for two years. I knew they wanted a new book and an event to tie it to before they would write anything.

In 2012, my second book came out. I called my contact at Pimlico racetrack and happily, she arranged for a grandstand book signing on Black Eyed Susan’s Day. I sent an email to the Sun’s sports beat-writer Sandra McKee. She said maybe the features editor would let her write something. Then she said it looked like it might happen. She interviewed me on my cell phone while my husband was driving us south on 95 somewhere in North Carolina.

McKee was delightful. A kindred spirit — as little kids we both had fathers who wouldn’t let us have a pony. While I snuck rides on our Maryland farm’s Belgian plow horses, she was riding a cow on her father’s place in West Virginia. We both devoured everything Walter Farley ever wrote about horses. Let’s face it, I got lucky to have her as my interviewer. It’s all about serendipity.

In the Barnes and Noble book store, I stare at the newspaper article. The review is long and positive. Years of work and revision acknowledged right there on page five. I feel validated. I feel wonderful. I am experiencing the Milchman-made-it-moment.

In addition to Agatha and Macavity Best First Mystery Novel Finalist, FULL MORTALITY, Sasscer Hill has several published mystery/suspense short stories and a number of articles in publications like the “Mid-Atantic Thoroughbred.”