I finished the first draft of Mockingbirds2 this week and as I was finishing it hit me – I have written seven novels. You may be wondering why you haven’t seen any on shelves! Well, “The Mockingbirds” will be my first published novel when it releases in November. The second Mockingbirds book, clearly, will come out after the first one. I wrote two novels in between the Mockingbirds sale to Little Brown and my work on Mock2, so those are books I hope to sell soon! And I wrote three novels before I sold “The Mockingbirds.” Here’s a timeline:

  • Novel One: Started writing it in May 2006. Finished first draft in November 2006. Edited and queried from January 2007 to April 2007 before landing first agent. Novel didn’t sell.
  • Novel Two: Wrote first draft in 40 days in July and August 2007. Edited it heavily for two months in the fall. Agent submitted to publishers in fall 2007 and winter 2008. Novel didn’t sell.
  • Novel Three: Wrote first draft from November 2007 to March 2008. Revised it in June 2008. Revised again in November 2008 for new agent. Novel never went out to publishers because agent and I shifted our focus to The Mockingbirds.
  • Novel Four: The Mockingbirds: Wrote first draft from September 2008 to November 2008. Heavily, majorly, incredibly revised it from November 2008 to February 2008 and again with agent in March. Book sold in August 2009 in a two-book deal to Little, Brown! (Note: Edited with editor in November 2009, then copy edits in December, then page proofs in February 2010)
  • Novel Five: Wrote first draft in September and October 2009. Not sure what we will do with this novel as it is geared for a middle grade audience. Will discuss with agent at some point.
  • Novel Six: Started this one WAY back in May 2009 and worked on a really bad half first draft until July 2009. Shelved novel because it was so bad. Had major aha moment to make it so good in January 2010. Completely revised it, basically starting over from late January 2010 through March 2010. Finished draft in March! This is a YA novel so I hope we will sell it after I edit it a few more times.
  • Novel Seven: Mockingbirds2! Wrote the first chapter in May 2009. Wrote the first 50 pages in December 2009 to use as basis for an outline for the book. Submitted outline to editor in March and received approval in early April 2010. Wrote first draft from April 12 to June 16! Now time to edit it before turning it in in August.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Any questions?