The random origin story of a new novel…

So. Back in 2006, I did a reading. I read a story from my first book of short stories called "the pool witch." It's a rambunctious story about three boys behaving very, very badly at a water park.

In the audience was this children's book editor. We never talked or met each other that night. I never even knew she was there. Two ships in the night…

Fast forward to 2009. I'm at a party. That same editor's there. We are introduced, start talking—and she tells me about hearing me read all the way back in 2006. She said—"What you do for adults, I think you could do for kids. If you've got an idea for a children's book, let me know…"

A month later, we had lunch. I pitched her five ideas. She kinda liked three of them. One rises up to the top pretty quickly. She said: "No promises, but if you write this one and I like it, I'll go to bat for you…"

What else was I going to do with myself?

I didn't tell anyone. I don't even think I told my wife at first. Partially out of fear of failure, partially out of just wanting to write for myself. I wrote in secret for months, working on this… thing. This novel? What was it going to be? Turns out it was a big sprawling massive four hundred pages of craziness.

But I was having a blast. I don't think I'd had this much fun writing in a long time. Waking up every day, I got to work on this thing. No pressure, no promises. Just me and my computer and a story that I really wanted to tell.

Cut to Christmas 2009. My computer gets hacked. I SPAM my entire email list, including an agent I'd been in contact with years back but hadn't chatted with since, lordy, probably 2003. This agent realized that my email account had been compromised, but she responded to me anyways, just to see what I'd been up to. I said: "Funny that you should mention it, but I've been working on this book…" She asked if she could read it, I said of course!

After New Years in 2010, she gets back to me. She said: "We're repping this." You better believe I wasn't going to argue. She got one of her best men on the job, my very own super-hero agent—and off he went to Submission Town.

That children's book editor got first dibs.

She passed.

Fall 2010, I got a three book deal with Disney-Hyperion.

Suddenly, the crazy thing I'd been working on for months completely under the radar's become Book One in a trilogy of middlegrade children's novels.

What's the trilogy called? THE TRIBE. Book one is titled: HOMEROOM HEADHUNTERS. And me, I've been on cloud nine ever since.

I just pressed send on my copy edits for Book One. It's bizarre to think, but this project that began back in 2009 is slowly coming to a close. The first chapter at least. There's a lot more work to go before it hits the shelves next year, but it struck me how this all came about because of a series of completely random events. Things I had absolutely no control over. If that doesn't make you a firm believe in fate, I don't know what would… All I can say is, I'm very lucky. Counting my blessings. And for every person who had some part in making this all happen, thank you thank you thank you…

Now it's time to get cracking on Book Two…

July 30, 2012

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