Made It Moment: Vicki Lane
I first encountered Vicki Lane through Lelia Taylor’s wonderful blog, and Vicki’s latest release quickly moved up my Pile. (You know the one. That irreplaceable stack of soon-to-be-reads, at which even a partial glance generates its own unique breed of Christmas morning excitement.) Anyway, I am thrilled to have found Vicki’s work, and honored that she shares her Moment here.
The question — How did I know that I’d made it? – immediately made me think – Whoa! Who says I’ve made it? And what does it mean anyway, to ‘make it’?
Here’s the thing — my experience in the writing world has been a sort of roller coaster ride, a series of hills and valleys, ups and downs, in which, at the height of the ride, ‘making it’ seems almost in sight — only to disappear as the roller coaster turns downward again.
I thought I’d made it when after sixty-some query letters and three months of rejection replies, a real live agent called and offered to represent me. Riding high, I was — but then no one wanted that first novel.
I thought I’d made it when my second attempt got me a two-book contract with Kate Miciak at Random House. And a second and a third contract. But I’m still not earning a living with my books.
I thought I’d made it when my fourth book was nominated for an Anthony. But the prize eluded me.
What would it take for me to feel I’d really made it? A major award? The NYT Bestseller list? A slot on Oprah? A lucrative contract?
I wonder. Is it human nature always to see yet another goal? Is Lee Child fretting because he hasn’t gotten a Pulitzer prize? Is J.K.Rowling holding her breath when the Nobel prizes are announced? Is the blockbuster author with a six million dollar contract miffed that he didn’t get twelve?
Are we all awaiting the coming of a heavenly messenger, naming us The Grand Hooyah and Master of the Universe?
I don’t know.
I do know I’m happy to have gotten as far as I have, riding that roller coaster. And I hope the ride continues.
Vicki Lane is the author The Day of Small Things and of the Elizabeth Goodweather Appalachian Mysteries which include Signs in the Blood, Art’s Blood, Old Wounds, Anthony-nominated In A Dark Season, and Under the Skin (coming from Bantam Dell in 2011.) Vicki draws her inspiration from the rural western NC county where she and her family have lived on a mountainside farm since 1975. Visit Vicki at her daily blog or her website.