Mini Made It Moment: Julianne Carlile
Sometimes a writer will get in touch with me, saying, “I haven’t really made it yet, but today something kind of cool happened.” Now, we have Edgar winners and international bestsellers on the blog who don’t fully believe they’ve made it. No one ever is sure they’ve made it. But putting that aside, there did seem to be room in these “kind of cool” emails for a slightly different sort of Moment. A Mini one. So I decided to allocate some time on the blog for Mini Made It Moment Mornings. Today Julianne Carlile, an emerging writer whom I met at the American Idol of writing conferences, New York Writers Workshop Perfect Pitch, kicks things off.
I just had a made it moment when I found that Tom Colgan was following me on Twitter.
I guess there are many different “made it moments.” When I was in the third grade, our teacher had us write a paper on what we wanted to do when we grew up. I said I wanted to be an author, and proceeded to say in my paper that all you had to do to be one was to write a book and send it to a publishing house. She wrote on my paper that my plan was very impressive. She said, “Julie, you really know what you are doing!” That was a made it moment.
In November, I attended The New York Writers Workshop Pitch Conference. It was a great time, learning how to write a good pitch for an editor or agent, meeting other writers, and taking in the fun of New York. While there I pitched my novel to Tom Colgan from Penguin and an editor from Random House. I did not get to pitch to the editor from Avon because I had to get my shuttle to the airport. Made it? Not really.
But, on January 6, an email that Tom Colgan was following me on Twitter! I really am an author. Made it…
Julianne Carlile is a poet, screenwriter (The Meeting, 2004) and author (The Little Red Hound).
Made it moments come in many ways. They can be major breakthroughs or small ones that make you feel good about yourself. Every time we finish writing a new poem, short story, novel, article, I believe we need to smile and give ourselves a mental pat on the back.
Comment by Jacqueline Seewald — April 23, 2012 @ 9:04 am
I read The Little Red Hound and adored it. I also love Julianne’s poetry. How nice to see her here!
Comment by Alison DeLuca — April 23, 2012 @ 9:12 am
I read the Little Red Hound and LOVED it! Julianne is a great author and a wonderful story teller!
Comment by Connie J Jasperson — April 23, 2012 @ 9:27 am
LOL, I’d say that definitely qualifies as a “Made-it Moment”.
Comment by mountainmama — April 23, 2012 @ 10:18 am
Thanks for sharing your story. I’d say that counts as a “Made It Moment”. Congratulations!!!
Comment by Kellie — April 23, 2012 @ 10:42 am
I really love reading these Made it Moments, as they are so unique to each author and gives insight into them. Thanks!
Comment by Donna Galanti — April 23, 2012 @ 12:41 pm
Julianne, hah, you have A Made It Moment on Twitter!
Comment by "Doctor Barbara" - Barbara Ebel — April 23, 2012 @ 1:45 pm
That’s neat, Julianne. My latest mini-made-it-moment was when a reader, who checked out my novel from the library, sent me money via PayPal because he thought I should “get more than an email” for writing “such a good book” that he didn’t even buy. Small things matter!
Comment by Sara — April 23, 2012 @ 8:55 pm
Thanks everybody! And thanks, Jenny, for posting this!
Comment by Julianne Carlile — April 23, 2012 @ 9:05 pm
I love this story. And I love the idea of mini moments! My mini moment was publishing an author whom I adored as a teen, and inteviewing the author who made me want to be a writer in the first place. I am lucky to have been able to do it.
Comment by SavvyBlue — April 24, 2012 @ 10:02 am