Bye Bye Lorain

My editor at HarperCollins NZ, Lorain Day, is leaving and that makes me feel strangely sad.

The heady days of excitement as Ripples On The Lake was accepted and published are long gone.  You'd be hard pressed to find a copy for sale on any of the book shop shelves now.  Heaven knows, my royalty payments have dried up like a creek bed in the Sahara!

And as someone who doesn't even classify themselves as a writer anymore I have no reason to mourn her leaving for new adventures.

But I do.

There are still stories in my head.  One day, I might have taken that lonely, courageous step of trying to find the words that match the tale I can see.

And it would have been very nice to have someone who liked what I did in the past read it and give her verdict.  (I am, in fact, legally obligated to give HarperCollins "first peek" at any future writing.)

But their next Head Editor might not like my style - or my love of the exclamation mark!

As someone who has written and submitted a number of stories, I know how dreadfully hard that first "break" can be.  And after all my efforts, I sort of "lucked" into it in the end when an Australian agent who rejected me said try Lorain Day at HarperCollins NZ.

I did.  I sent her a first chapter with a postcard that had two options: "Please send complete manuscript" or "Idea does not interest me at this time"  - please tick one.

She ticked the first option. 

It was one of those times when life seems to stop for a moment and the universe imprints upon you. I felt as if I had spent half my life collecting mail and always wondering if there would be a reply from some publisher or agent.

And there it was!  Someone wanted to read the whole story.

I fell in love with that woman right there at the mail box!

So although we never met and although I am not currently writing,  I am indeed sorry to hear that she is moving on.

Bon voyage, Lorain, I wish you well.