From Public School to Published Author

Hey, everyone! I’m debut author Macy Beckett, and the lovely ladies here at Books-n-Kisses have asked me to share my journey to publication with you. So without further ado, let’s hop into my figurative time machine—watch your step!—and take a trip back to November 2009…

I’d resigned from teaching four years earlier to stay home with my babies, and I was officially going insane in the membrane. Yes, my kids are awesome and all that, but I missed the intellectual stimulation and the creative outlet that teaching had given me. I tried filling the void with reading, but it only left me hungry for more. That’s when a group of internet friends told me about NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month: a challenge in which participants write 50k words toward a novel in 30 days.  I decided to go for it. What did I have to lose?

Folks, that was one of the most EXHILARATING months of my life! The writing bug bit me—hard. Everything changed after that. I rewrote the manuscript (Alienated, a sci-fi romance for young adults) four times over the next year and a half before I was ready to query agents. By that time, I’d also written Sultry with a Twist, but I didn’t think it was ready to submit, so I focused on the YA project.

Most writers talk about querying like it’s a death march, but I found it addictive. Each time I clicked the “send” button, I felt a little thrill…and as a result, I queried way too many agents. Oops. But that’s okay, because within six weeks I signed with the remarkably savvy Nicole Resciniti.

Remember when I said I didn’t think Sultry with a Twist was ready to submit? Well, I had it backwards—it was Alienated that needed another rewrite. Nicole loved Sultry, and after a brief round of revisions, she sent it out to editors where it sold in a three-book deal. Yay! I rewrote Alienated, and Nicole sold it in a two-book deal to Disney! Double yay!

So here I am now, a debut author in two genres. Sultry with a Twist is currently in stores; book two, A Shot of Sultry, is now available for pre-order; book three will follow next year, and Alienated will launch in February 2014. I’m one busy mama. Not to mention incredibly lucky. 🙂

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AMAZON | B&N

Welcome to Sultry Springs, Texas: where first loves find second chances…

 Nine years after June Augustine hightailed it out of Sultry Springs with her heart in pieces, one thing stands between her and her dream of opening an upscale martini bar: a bogus warrant from her tiny Texas hometown. Now she’s stuck in the sticks for a month of community service under the supervision of the devilishly sexy Luke Gallagher, her first love and ex-best friend.

 If Texas in July wasn’t already hot enough, working side-by-side with June would make any man melt. Luke wants nothing more than to strip her down and throw her in the lake–the same lake where they were found buck naked and guilty as sin all those years ago. In their heads, they’re older and wiser. But their hearts tell a different story…

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Macy Beckett writes hot and humorous romances set in Sultry Springs, Texas: where first loves find second chances. Her debut novel, SULTRY WITH A TWIST, is now available in stores, and two more Sultry Springs romances will follow in 2013. Macy loves to hear from readers, so feel free to say hello on Facebook  or via her website.