At the height of my acting career, after I landed
a Sunsweet Pruneberry Juice test market commercial --- which required
that I stood, blindfolded, on a ladder in the middle of an orchard
while picking top-secret "pruneberries" --- I decided
it was time for a change. I'd been writing for fun since I was about
six years old, and knew in the back of my mind that's what I wanted
to do. So, I went to the library and got a stack of magazines that
published short stories. That's when I discovered Sassy Magazine,
now defunct, which I thought was wickedly hip. I wrote a story geared
toward that readership and Sassy bought it.
After the story was published, I got mail from readers
demanding to know what happened to the character, so I developed
it into a novel. It took me about a year, writing and doing research.
When I was getting near the end, I decided my next step should be
to find an agent. I knew next to nothing about the publishing industry,
so I went back to the library and got books on how to write query
letters. I sent my first query by email to one of the top agencies
in New York. They asked to see the book, which still wasn't finished.
I wrote frantically for about two weeks, then sent it off, and they
said they would represent it.
It went immediately to huge, corporate publishing
house. This is when I discovered I'd written a "YA" or
"Young Adult" book --- I'd never heard of the genre before.
I rewrote without a contract to see if we "fit," something
I would never do again. If I'd had more experience, I would have
been able to tell from the editor's notes that things weren't going
to work out - we simply had two different visions of where the book
should go.
Since things had happened so quickly, I tried to educate
myself about what, exactly, a YA book was. I finally found them
after tripping over Legos and building blocks shelved back in the
kiddie section. I was dismayed. I knew nobody who would read my
book would ever find it there! Meanwhile, the rewrite didn't feel
right, and I saw my book getting further away from what I had intended.
Coincidentally, the Society of Childrens Book Writer and Illustrators
was having their National Conference in Los Angeles, where I lived
at the time (I now live in Venice, Italy).
So, I put Harley in for a manuscript consultation,
just to get another opinion. I was fortunate enough to have Walter
Dean Myers read my manuscript. His notes were right on, and he really
encouraged me. He reinforced everything I felt instinctively. I
recorded the session, and listened to his words whenever things
got too crazy.
It was becoming clear that the publishing house and I didn't "fit."
My agent was a great guy, but his clients were mainly "adult,"
and here was this YA book… I made the decision to leave.
I was lucky to get a new agent right away. She knew
the Vice President at Winslow Press, a much smaller company. Winslow
wanted radical changes, but in this case, they felt right.
