[Note: this basic story was sent out to my newsletter in March.]
Almost four and a half years ago, writing under a different name, I started a young adult fantasy tale during National Novel Writing Month. The story just flowed, and I finished it that month.
A few weeks later, I landed a literary agent with a different YA fantasy. So exciting! But months passed, and the manuscript didn’t get picked up by any publishing houses. However, my agent was extremely positive about this new one, The Scorpion’s Lullaby, and we worked hard for months, getting it revised and polished for editors.
Many polite editor rejections later, I was admittedly crushed, but I decided to move on to other projects. I polished up a historical. I started self-publishing a really fun trilogy of creepy tales (woot! Shout out to the Haunted Halls: Blood Flesh Bone series).
Not long after, my agent left the business.
I was sad to lose my agent, who is a fabulous person with an eye for story and pacing. And although I was happy with my work, a part of me ached at the thought of The Scorpion’s Lullaby languishing on my hard drive. It was meant for “bigger” things–traditional publishing, with a huge advance and all the publicity that goes with it!
I get it in my head sometimes that things can only be done in certain ways. Changing those ideas can be hard. It’s scary.
But you know what? I don’t need the traditional book deal or the fleeting validation it offers. You are all I need. One reader. One person getting lost in the story. One email showing up in my inbox, saying, “Juliet, I loved this.”
So I’m overjoyed to share The Scorpion’s Lullaby with you. This is the realization of a dream. I’m not holding anything back anymore, thinking that it needs to be done a certain way. It’ll be out in two weeks, and I can’t wait!
In fact, I was so excited that I put up a prequel, The Scorpion’s Daughter, for free on Apple books! If you have an Apple device, click here to get your prequel.
