Once upon a time I was a relatively sane television producer. I switched from cameras to keyboards and added screenwriter and romance novelist (under a pseudonym) to my list of credits. Really Dead is my first mystery.
How I got published
Dying played a big part in the birth of my mystery. I’d been following the usual write a mystery-query-heavy sigh after getting rejections route for several years and I was just about to give up the dream of getting a mystery published when my fate took a detour.
My mother died and I needed to get my hair dyed before her funeral. My hairdresser squeezed me into his over-scheduled day and, while he was putting the glop on my head, introduced me to the other customer he was working on at the same time. She was sitting in the chair next to mine, wearing a plastic bag on her head. The woman and I did the polite “what do you do” conversation and I almost slid out of my chair. The woman with the bag on her head was the then owner/publisher of an independent Canadian publishing house that had a very successful mystery line. It wasn’t the time or place for me to start pitching a story … but I left the salon with a personal connection and an invitation to submit.
I immediately started working on a new mystery, one that hadn’t been stained by previous rejections. I wrote it as the first in a series and sent it to my new salon buddy. She wrote back that she liked the story but would be more interested in it if I wrote it as a standalone. So I rewrote it as a standalone and resubmitted it. It was almost a year later when I heard back from her – she’d sold her company to another publishing house, was working with them as an acquisitions editor, and wanted to know if my story was still available. I told her it was and she asked me if I could re-work it to be the first in a series. I hauled out my original version of the manuscript, did another edit on it, sent it to her yet again and then crossed every flexible part of my body. Eight months later I received the email that every unpublished mystery writer dreams of – “It’s a go.”
Carol Balawyder 
elegant introduction – Shinning like a Gold = amazing!
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Thank you for stopping by and commenting…I’m happy that the post moved you. 🙂
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Great feature on the publishing process. Thanks for sharing, Carol.
Best wishes to you, Aquileana 😀
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Isn’t it? It’s refreshing to know that everyone has a different story behind how they got published. Hers is certainly out of the box! Maybe i should go to the hairdresser more often! 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend, Aquileana.
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Love that story! And the blurb for the book sounds wonderful. What a great success story.
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Thanks for sharing, Carrie. I’m glad you enjoyed the post and you might want to hop over to her link. Enjoy your weekend. 🙂
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If we believe in karma, then we know that we are put in positions or places to meet people for reasons, if not seasons. How wonderful the serendipity occurred for J.E. Forman.
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Thanks for commenting. Her publishing experience shows that there are many roads to Rome, we just have to keep focused our own journey and to choose the road less traveled. Have a relaxing weekend, Debby. 🙂
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Absolutely Carol. The gift of tomorrows leaves us open to receive many opportunities. Have a great weekend my friend! 🙂
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Hi Carol, I love this story of magic and fate. When we continue to be committed to our dreams we dont have to worry about “how” they manifest, they just do! This is inspiring, thankyou.
Karen
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Thanks for this comment, Karen. I also found Janet’s post inspiring and your comment reminded me of how I need to trust more in letting go. Have a peaceful weekend, Carol
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It’s a waiting game and only for the very, very persistent.
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Persistence is certainly one of the top qualities to have as a writer.It’s easy to lose motivation. One really has to want it. 🙂
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I had no idea it took this long to get a book published. I would probably have given up.
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Great story. I’m inspired by the possibility of the connections that can happen organically to make publication a reality when a writer is ready and does good work. thanks to both of you for sharing.
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These are the stories I hear about and know could never happen to me! Love it. My hairdresser introduced me to a fellow writer.
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How neat!
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Great story, Carol.
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that was very moving and it speaks to how small a world it is and the power of fate and chance. thank you for sharing that. truly amazing
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This experience just goes to show we should always be prepared to talk about our writing. We never know who might be sitting next to us in the salon or on a plane!
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Another fascinating account of the publishing pathway. 🙂
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Wow what a great story this is! A meeting in a salon – so random and yet so brilliant.
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