(Continued from Welcome Letter Part 1) 

   It wasn't long until I even began dreaming about getting parts of my journal published, so I sent the manuscript off to Redbook.  Months later it came limping back to me with one of those notoriously "wonderful" form rejection notes.

   Meanwhile, I'd been perusing writers' magazines and had come across an article about how to write teenage romances.  Immediately I thought about my high school journal and realized I had in it a treasure trove of ideas. 

   The followiing summer, with my pink Smith Corona typewriter propped on the kitchen table, I crafted my first young adult romance (while my two sons popped in and out of the kitchen for any number of reasons).  What an exercise in concentration!

   Later, I joined a critique group and worked harder than ever.  I can't begin to tell you how much I learned from the members there, most of whom were already published.

   After I'd revised that first manuscript several times and began sending it out to publishing houses, I started work on my second and third.  Imagine my excitement a couple of years later when I got a call from the editor at Silhouette's young adult line, offering me a contract on the first manuscript!  The following December, Merry Christmas, Marcie was released--the best holiday gift I'd ever received.

To be continued...