by Sierra Dafoe Ahh, the days of March! March, when I was still an aspiring author. Those blissful, innocent, carefree days when deadlines were no more than a self-imposed "Get it done, girl!" and you knew, deep in your secret heart, that once you've sold everyone's going to be falling all over themselves praising your brilliance. Ahh, March.

Then, on a certain fateful day (March 24th, to be exact) I sent a query for a novella I'd written to Changeling Press. I'd met Lexxie Couper and Alice Gaines in a Writerspace chat, and they were both so enthusiastic about working with Changeling that I figured, "What the heck?" I knew the story was solid, I'd polished the first three chapters to within an inch of their typewritten lives, and I already had the outline of the next two stories in the series in my head, at least, if not on paper. What did I have to lose?

Sleep, as it turned out. Lots and lots of sleep.

Now, if you're a writer, you already know this: publishers are notoriously slow at responding to submissions. And the remaining chapters of Devarian Exile only needed a quick brush-up, so I had plenty of time to get them into tip-top condition before hearing back on my partial. Right?

Wrong. In a freakish luck-of-the-draw occurrence, I happened to hit Changeling at a rare lull in their usually hectic pace. Two days later there's an email in my mailbox. They want to see the rest.

WOO-HOO!

Um, wait.

Hee! There goes sleep for the next four days as I frantically proofread and retype and dash off to work to run home again and make each page, every sentence, just as clean as I can. Sheri, Lord love her, gives me till Thursday to turn in the complete manuscript. Thursday morning, at 7 a.m., after yet another all-night polishing frenzy, I send it off.

They accept it.

WOO-HOO!

And want to put it out on May 26th.

Um…

My editor, Chrissie Henderson, is great. She doesn't let me get away with anything. Which means every turn of phrase I hadn't fixed in my frantic last minute fine-tuning (note to self and other authors: do the fine-tuning before submitting the query! Really and truly -- you'll thank yourself later) now comes winging back at me -- four times! -- before Chrissie's satisfied.

In the meantime, of course, nobody has ever heard of me. Why should they buy my book? (Well, besides the fact that it's a pretty darn good story, if I do say so myself) So… I talk to every Changeling author who's willing to give me a suggestion. Silvia Violet, Lord love her, goes waaaay above and beyond, and introduces me to these wonderful things called Yahoo Groups. WOW! Do you know how many groups there are dedicated to erotic romance? For three weeks I flail around like a minnow in the Pacific, feeling totally lost. Slowly, I start figuring out who's who, and where they hang out, and even start recognizing names. These are some of the warmest, most welcoming, nicest ladies you'd ever want to meet. (Hi Pam, Linda, Dawn, Karen, LLL, Cathie, L2, Echo, everybody!!!!) Slowly, slowly, I start to find my feet.

Which is good, 'cause by the time the third round of edits finds its way to my mailbox, I'm starting to get nervous. Wow, maybe I can't really write. Here's poor Chrissie, trying desperately to fix my obviously sub-par prose (I find out later that in fact, the edits would be considered pretty minimal) -- my book's gonna tank, I know it. Changeling is going to cut me loose with a "Thanks, it was good to know ya". Definitely.

Except, Chrissie informs me, I was supposed to send in all three contracts. Three? What three?

The contracts for all three of the trilogy, she tells me.

What?

WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!

So I start outlining in earnest, in between making friends, marketing, learning how to make an animated banner, and shopping for a webhost for my as-yet nonexistent website.

I don't know how to use Dreamweaver. I definitely can't afford a webdesigner. So I build a site the only way I know how -- in good old, type it out one line at a time html.

There goes another two days with no sleep whatsoever. Seriously. The rest of the time, I'm down to three and four hours a night, at most. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving it! But the print on the computer monitor is starting to look habitually blurry…

Edits DONE! Yay! Which is good, because it's less than a month to publication, now. I breathe a deep sigh of relief, start picking away at the next book in the series. Plenty of time. July? No problem.

You have submitted your cover art request for Devarian Exile, Chrissie asks me, haven't you?

My what?

Bryan Keller, the miracle-worker, does not kill me as I hurriedly stumble through the process of learning what his cover-design program can -- and more importantly (I hear his teeth grinding even through the modem) can't do. Some breath of sanity sneaks through the sleep-deprived fog in my brain and I actually shut up and listen to him. The result is gorgeous. Yay!!! Ten days to go till release, and I have my cover!

WOO-HOO!!!

And by now, we all know what follows that. Yup. There's an opening in the June schedule. Can I commit to a June 30th release date for Devarian Uprising? I stare at myself in the mirror -- hard. I note the bags under my eyes, the unhealthy pallor of skin that hasn't seen sunlight for a month, swallow hard, and say "Sure!"

My dearest, most wonderful husband, who hasn't heard the sound of my voice in three weeks (except for occasional squeaks as the repressed panic escapes, squawks as I realize I've messed up a bit of coding on the website and one whole PAGE is now a giant link, and groans as the guestbook my webserver provided goes on the fritz yet again…) runs to the grocery store for three more boxes of tea. The friends I've made on the loop are now my lifeline -- promoing isn't promoing any longer, it's my sanity-saver, my way of staying in touch with the rest of the world. Everyone is really enthusiastic about the excerpts. I want to kiss them.

THE BIG COUNTDOWN. Of course, my boss has suddenly decided to schedule me for extra shifts at work. Sleep is a fond, if fuzzy memory. Hunting luscious hunks for my "Countdown Boys" line-up has the added benefit of waking me back up at four a.m. Luckily, the hubby is asleep…

Oh, and how's August 4th for the Devarian Revolution release? Perfect, I say. If I mess this up they're gonna flay me, is what I'm thinking. I comfort myself with the knowledge that I have never funked out on a deadline.

Yet.

And, almost as if by magic, suddenly it's the official release day!!! Never mind that the book's actually been out a whole twelve hours, the official release is May 26th, and, well, it's May 26th. Do I sleep? HELL NO! I party with all the incredible people who've kept me going the past three weeks. For twelve hours straight. On Saturday, my fingers are so swollen they look like sausages. I don't care. I'm grinning from ear to ear. I get my first fan letter. Ignore the terror that's creeping around the edges ('But what are the reviewers going to think?') Get my second fan letter, which almost moves me to tears.

Then I sleep. And wake up to remember that I've promised to write a column for the Cheeky Changeling, promised a story to Coffee Time Romance for their website for June, still haven't gotten the cover art request in for Devarian Uprising… and the dog, the cat, and the hubby are all looking distinctly mangy from a solid month's neglect. Not to mention the state of my house!

So… what is it really like to sell your first book?

It is absolutely, completely, utterly boss.

WOO-HOO!

Sierra Dafoe

Sierra did get that story in to Coffee Time, and it's available here: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/FreeReads/BerillasWishBySierraDafoe.html

Sweet rather than sensual, it shows all the hallmarks of a Sierra Dafoe story: vibrant characters, a beautifully-delineated world, and a lovely attention to detail.

And she needn't have worried about the reviewers. Her first book, Devarian Exile, was chosen a Road to Romance recommended read for the month of June, and received five stars from Euro Reviews.