I love hearing about authors’ experiences getting to where they are today and for your reading pleasure today I present Lani Forbes’ Quest to Authordom! Her new book The Seventh Sun releases this coming Tuesday from Blackstone Publshing and not only do I get to share this awesome guest post with you, but a chance to win her book as well!

My Quest to Authordom

by Lani Forbes

Don’t laugh, but my quest to authordom probably started when I won a creative writing contest in the fourth grade. My teacher at the time literally put “Lani excels at creative writing” on my report card (I still have it!), and I just remember falling in love with the idea of telling stories. My mom gave me the first Harry Potter book when I was in seventh grade, and by eighth grade, I was voted “bookworm” in our yearbook’s hall of fame. Harry Potter had introduced me to the magical world of books and it felt just as exciting as really going to Hogwarts. Throughout high school I was always the one with my nose stuck in a book. Ask my friends, I drove them nuts because I was never paying attention to anything going on around me. I would even get in trouble in chemistry for reading books when I was supposed to be taking notes. My mother was the librarian at my high school, which probably fed my book addiction more than anything (I got first dibs on all the new books that came in muahaha!).

When I went to college, I started reading the Twilight series and was just fascinated by the idea that you didn’t have to have a doctorate in English to get a book published. I was so inspired, that even though I always wrote angsty poetry or descriptive journal entries, I started tinkering with fiction ideas. I would start jotting down story ideas or even writing entire chapters. I started dreaming of someday getting a book published, but didn’t really know where to start. I finished college and became a teacher, but story ideas still wouldn’t leave me alone. My idea notebook got thicker and thicker, but never went anywhere.

I had always struggled with severe anxiety and depression, and when my daughter was born, I went over a terrifyingly steep ledge. It took a lot of therapy and medication to finally stabilize myself, and then I got pregnant with my son, I knew I had to do something different this time. Writing and books had always been such a comfort to me before, so I decided I would try to use writing as a self-care technique in managing my depression. I had researched a little bit about what it took to get published, but it intimidated me so much that I didn’t even know where to begin. Finally, when my son was about two months old, my husband finally kicked me out the door to go to my first writing conference. Literally, he took the baby out of my arms and lovingly shoved me toward the car! “Go,” he said. “You need to do this.”

That first writing conference changed EVERYTHING. I felt as though I had walked through a portal into another world, but it was a world that I had always belonged to and just hadn’t found yet. I remember sitting down with another author and showing her my story idea, convinced she would laugh at me or call me out for being the pathetic wannabe that I so obviously was, and…and… she didn’t! She actually liked my idea and talked to me about it. My heart swelled to ten times its normal size. I started talking to other authors and editors, getting more and more energized with each conversation. Then I found out exactly what it would take to get published…

And I gave up.

No, Seriously. I gave up. I was so discouraged, I thought there was NO WAY it would ever happen. But strangely, the energy that I had tapped into at that conference didn’t stop. I couldn’t get rid of it. It was like I had been infected with something and even though my head kept telling me to move on, my heart kept digging in its heels. Finally, I gave in and joined a critique group. They started teaching me things, and oh man, did I need to learn them. I started reading craft books, then I started devouring them. I went to more workshops, more conferences. I joined my local RWA chapter and soaked in everything like a sponge. During all this, my parents decided to move back to Mexico, and this idea of an Aztec fantasy kept coming to the forefront of my mind. I started researching, and before I knew it, I had an idea that got me incredibly excited. Then I started writing it, and before I knew it, it was finished! I had actually finished my first ever book!

That’s when the “fun” began. I knew that I needed to edit it, so I kept going through it with my critique group. I hired a freelance editor to go over it and teach me ALL THE THINGS. Then, I decided it was ready and that I needed to be brave enough to enter the query trenches. I sent out maybe ten queries. Nothing but rejections. I met agents at conferences, and almost always got requests, so I knew it had to be my query letter. I started researching query letters, reading blogs and articles about how to write them and signing up for query critiques. Ten more queries, and then I finally started getting responses, both requests for partials and fulls. I knew I was getting closer, but each rejection, especially those after a full request, still stung like salt in a wound. After each rejection, I forced myself to send out three more queries. I reached about thirty or forty queries in all and ended up getting about fifteen partial requests and eight full requests.

One of the resources I decided to use while querying was “Ten Minutes with an Expert” through Manuscript Academy. I browsed the list of agents and found an agent named Samantha Wekstein. In her bio, she said she loved Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo. Of course, I adored them too, so I instantly picked her, knowing she had incredible taste (hehe!). We talked on the phone and she gave me feedback on my query, eventually asking me to submit to her. I immediately did and she requested to see it. Then, it happened. I got my first agent offer from someone else. And I died. Well, almost, anyway. At the time, I had eight fulls out, so I notified everyone who still had fulls that I had gotten an offer. Over the next week, the others passed, and I thought I was going to accept the first offer. The morning I was going to call the other agent and accept, but Samantha called and told me she LOVED my book and wanted to offer representation. I immediately said yes because she had been my top choice. From there, it was a whirlwind of edits and revisions. We took the book on submission right around Thanksgiving and got an offer a few months later from Blackstone Publishing.

I remember signing my publishing contract, holding my son who was a little over a year old at the time, and just sobbing. I couldn’t believe that after all the times I had decided it would never happen, that it was too difficult, that I just needed to give up…I was finally going to get a book published. Of course, I immediately called my mom and thanked her for introducing me to Harry Potter all those years ago and starting my love affair with books. And of course, as a librarian, I don’t think she’s ever been more proud of me! Haha!

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About the Book

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Thrust into leadership upon the death of his emperor father, young Prince Ahkin feels completely unready for his new position. Though his royal blood controls the power of the sun, he's now responsible for the lives of all the Chicome people. And despite all Ahkin's efforts, the sun is fading--and the end of the world may be at hand.

For Mayana, the only daughter of the Chicome family whose blood controls the power of water, the old emperor's death may mean that she is next. Prince Ahkin must be married before he can ascend the throne, and Mayana is one of six noble daughters presented to him as a possible wife. Those who are not chosen will be sacrificed to the gods.

Only one girl can become Ahkin's bride. Mayana and Ahkin feel an immediate connection, but the gods themselves may be against them. Both recognize that the ancient rites of blood that keep the gods appeased may be harming the Chicome more than they help. As a bloodred comet and the fading sun bring a growing sense of dread, only two young people may hope to change their world.

Rich in imagination and romance, and based on the legends and history of the Aztec and Maya people, The Seventh Sun brings to vivid life a world on the edge of apocalyptic disaster.

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Giveaway!

Enter to win a signed hardcover of The Seventh Sun, a Worry Doll, a bookmark, and a button.

US/CAN only. Ends February 26, 2020.

This giveaway is sponsored by a third party. NovelKnight is not responsible for the winner selection, or provision and shipping of prizes.

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