Colene asked me about my journey…how I got where I am today.
I started the way a lot of writers do…with a first novel and a mother who was certain it would soon be featured on Oprah. I didn’t have quite the conviction she did, but I’d always wanted to be an author, ever since I was little. I had a bit of a “why not” moment. Sure it was a dream…one that I had a pretty slim chance of achieving. But I definitely wasn’t going to reach it if I didn’t try. So I did.
I started the way a lot of writers do…with a first novel and a mother who was certain it would soon be featured on Oprah. I didn’t have quite the conviction she did, but I’d always wanted to be an author, ever since I was little. I had a bit of a “why not” moment. Sure it was a dream…one that I had a pretty slim chance of achieving. But I definitely wasn’t going to reach it if I didn’t try. So I did.
Got some requests. Even more rejections. Found writer friends and crit groups. Revised over and over. Submitted again. Got more requests. And even more rejections.
Somewhere along the line I started a blog. I wanted to put good, helpful, informational posts on my blog so I started a series of How To posts on writing poetry. I got such a great response I expanded to essays and papers and different aspects of fiction writing.
In doing some refresher research for the writing posts, it drove me nuts that so many guidebooks and websites out there either listed the rules and left it at that, or filled their instructions with so much overly complicated and technical information that even I had a hard time understanding it.
My writer buddies encouraged me to turn my blog posts into a book. I wasn’t sure about that idea :) But memories of helping my sister and brother with their papers kept coming back to me. They knew what they needed to do. They had all the rules, they knew the basic process. But they had no idea how to get from A to B. They didn’t know how to start, how to implement those rules.
I came up with an outline, wrote several chapters, tackled a non-fiction proposal and query letter and started submitting. After shopping an unsuccessful novel, I was ready for a long, hard road. But things actually happened pretty quickly. The day my agent, Krista Goering, read my proposal she contacted me to set up a phone call. After speaking with her, I knew we’d be a good match, so I withdrew my proposals from the rest of the agents who had them and signed with her.
We started submitting to publishers, waited and waited and waited some more, and after several months, received an offer from Career Press. A year later, here we are :)
Michelle McLean is a writer and the Chief Editorial Consultant for PixelMags, LLC. In addition to her non-fiction work, Michelle writes YA historical novels and other children’s books. If she's not editing, reading or chasing her kids, she can usually be found in a quiet corner working on her next book.
Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers is a fun, user-friendly book that guides the reader, step by step, through writing a dozen different types of essays, including the dreaded SAT essay. Using straightforward, plain English, this book shows the reader exactly what they need to do, from start to finish, and includes rough draft, edited, and final draft versions of every type of essay discussed. This book also provides chapters that include tips and instruction on researching, proofreading, and citations.
Here are all the wonderful places you can find Michelle or her wonderful book!
Thanks SO much Michelle!! Congratulations!!
