Sydney Strand's Blog - Posts Tagged "chick-lit"
How Facebook Made Me Write a Book
I started this story in Summer 2013, when I brainstormed the idea for a contest Nicola Marsh was holding on her Facebook page. (I needed a kick in the pants. Consider this the foot.) She said that the best ideas would go on to her editor at Harlequin. I submitted three ideas,and two were chosen: His Favorite Regret and my next novel, coming out later this year, His Favorite Scandal.
I've been traditionally published in young adult, so I knew the process to go from idea kernel to an actual book could be two years, sometimes longer. As I worked on His Favorite Regret, I realized this slow timetable no longer appealed to me. I love Harlequin (I grew up reading Harlequins from age 10 on!), but I needed to love myself more.
And so I embraced the idea of independent publishing.
As this book was being edited, I wrote a companion novella, His Favorite Inconvenience, about Cadie’s little sister, Sera. It is set in Vegas, it has a Swedish hunk, and there is a big splash in a Venetian (Hotel) canal.That story was edited and ready for publication in December 2013.
By the way, that third idea Harlequin passed on? I’m putting it up as a serial on Wattpad. It’s called His Favorite Distraction and features Harrison Black, the bleeding venture capitalist from His Favorite Inconvenience, and Jillian Wade, the girl who doesn’t understand nor participates in monogamous relationships. They’re shipwrecked on an island off the coast of Maine and held “hostage” by a very stubborn bull seal. You can read that story starting February14 at http://www.wattpad.com/user/sydneystr... will get a new chapter twice a month, and yes, I’ll be accepting reader feedback regarding where the story should go. Crazy, right?
The best things usually are.
-Sydney
I've been traditionally published in young adult, so I knew the process to go from idea kernel to an actual book could be two years, sometimes longer. As I worked on His Favorite Regret, I realized this slow timetable no longer appealed to me. I love Harlequin (I grew up reading Harlequins from age 10 on!), but I needed to love myself more.
And so I embraced the idea of independent publishing.
As this book was being edited, I wrote a companion novella, His Favorite Inconvenience, about Cadie’s little sister, Sera. It is set in Vegas, it has a Swedish hunk, and there is a big splash in a Venetian (Hotel) canal.That story was edited and ready for publication in December 2013.
By the way, that third idea Harlequin passed on? I’m putting it up as a serial on Wattpad. It’s called His Favorite Distraction and features Harrison Black, the bleeding venture capitalist from His Favorite Inconvenience, and Jillian Wade, the girl who doesn’t understand nor participates in monogamous relationships. They’re shipwrecked on an island off the coast of Maine and held “hostage” by a very stubborn bull seal. You can read that story starting February14 at http://www.wattpad.com/user/sydneystr... will get a new chapter twice a month, and yes, I’ll be accepting reader feedback regarding where the story should go. Crazy, right?
The best things usually are.
-Sydney
