Author Spotlight - Marion Kelley Bullock talks about how she first got published

Several years ago, I taught preschoolers in my church. At a conference in Fort Worth one year, a leader challenged attendees to write articles relating to the age groups we worked with. I wrote two articles about 4-and 5-year-olds. The manuscripts sat on my desk for weeks. Finally, thanks to my husband's prodding, I mailed them to the editor of an age-related periodical. Then one day I received a phone call from the editor to whom I'd mailed the manuscripts. "It's' obvious you know preschool work," she said. "We want to bring you to a week-long writers' conference in Nashville. We want you to write curriculum material." I'd never flown. After I got past the fact that I'd have to fly to get there, we firmed the date. I completed that assignment and went on to write curriculum material for several more years.

I also sold short stories, essays and devotionals. At some point, I felt God nudging me to write Christian novels. I began to work on Claymore Legacy, He Wants Me Dead and Secrets of Old Santa Fe. I joined American Christian Fiction Writers and attended their conferences. My critique partners helped me immeasurably. But I felt like I worked harder on marketing than on writing. An editor at Guideposts wanted to publish one of my novels and an editor in another publishing company wanted to publish a cozy I wrote. In both cases, the novels didn't pass committee. I kept writing. Every time a novel was rejected, I rewrote it, lengthened it, tightened it or worked on another one. About that time, Deb Kinnard encouraged me to submit to Desert Breeze. I had totally re-written Secrets of Old Santa Fe. Long story short, I sent it to Gail and she accepted it. So began a happy relationship.

I'd love to hear how you first got published. Anyone want to share?

BUY LINK TO MARION'S LATEST BOOK, HE WANTS ME DEAD:http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-175/Marion-Kelley-Bullock-He/Detail.bok