My second novel, Reunion, went on sale this week. It is, as they say, out now wherever books are sold. It looks gorgeous, early reviews are great, it has co-op placement in the major chains; all is well.

I know I sound calm now, but you should've seen me thirteen months ago when I was a debuting novelist, something akin to a nervous parent sending her firstborn to full-day kindergarten. that novel, Souvenir, was like a precocious child: capable, attractive, and thought to be a little above-average-- due to its having sold at auction and also to some nine or ten foreign publishers. Even before its release here in the U.S., I'd achieved my long-held dream of being able to write full time. All that remained to be seen was how well my first baby would be received.

I knew (and you aspiring novelists should take note) that first novels- even those that get lots of pre-publication "buzz" and amazing publisher support- rarely draw enough publicity to become best sellers. So-called Women's Fiction, which is what I write, has a particularly tough time of it despite its popularity and demand. I didn't expect Oprah to call, I didn't expect major media interest, and I didn't expect a glitzy book tour attended by eager throngs like the ones I've seen for Nicholas Sparks. In fact, I didn't expect anything; I hoped that the book's intended readers would find the book and love it, and tell their friends. I hoped to get a good start at what I hope will be a long and enjoyable career.

The letters from readers started arriving in my inbox almost as soon as the book went on sale. Lovely, heartfelt notes of congratulations and gratitude- gratitude!- sometimes written in the wee hours when that reader had just finished the book. One such reader emailed via cell phone so that she didn't have to wait for her computer to boot up! People were buying copies to share with their mothers, their daughters, their sisters, their aunts. They were passing their copies around to their office mates, they were promoting it to their book groups. They wrote to say they'd been inspired to make long-overdue changes in their lives. A few said they'd stolen their library copy and would happily pay the fine.

I was in new-novelist heaven.

Some might say that getting onto the NYT Best Seller List is new-novelist heaven, and I don't dispute that. But that's a different sort of goal, and not, in my opinion, the one that should motivate writers to sit at their keyboards every day. As I once read on a highly successful author's website (and darned if I can recall whose, it was years ago), first and foremost writers must "remember the reader!" Please your readers, and you'll have done 90% of what it takes to reach that other worthy goal- albeit over time rather than as a first-at-bat home run, but in a lot of ways that's the better route.

Thirteen months ago I was a newbie; now I'm a little more seasoned, a little more secure, a lot more knowledgeable, and no less thrilled to be doing what I love most. The work doesn't get any easier. The insecurities don't go away. I do keep my eye on the NYT list, and would love to see my name there one day. There is nothing, though, more fulfilling than hearing from a satisfied reader- except perhaps knowing that I get the chance to satisfy them again this time next year.
-Therese Fowler

Last night was the Literary Trivia Showdown, a fundraiser for Slice Magazine, and agents, editors, and authors went head-to-head in a nerdy competition. I was lucky enough to be on the agent team, and while we didn't win the whole show (the authors won by a pretty clear lead) it was incredibly fun and we raised a whole lot of money for Slice. Who knew that Truman Capote could only write lying down? Not me, but Jonathan Lethem and Chip Kidd sure did. Over a hundred people turned out, and there was an all-star roster that included some great editors (from Grand Central, Penguin, Ballantine, FSG), agents (from WSA, Endeavor, Harvey Klinger, Sterling Lord, Folio). The author team was a knock-out: in addition to Jonathan Lethem and Chip Kidd, they had AJ Jacobs, Darin Strauss, and Susan Jane Gilman.

Slice is a great magazine, and the editors, Celia and Maria, put together a great event. Please check them out here! http://slicemagazine.org/index.php
-Michelle Brower

It's the day before the official release of my debut novel, Breathers: A Zombie's Lament, and I'm sitting in my apartment in San Francisco feeling a bit like a character in a movie whose dreams are about to come true and who can't quite wrap his mind around it.

I look over at my bookshelf, where I have a framed quote from Henry David Thoreau, a gift I received years ago when I'd first embarked upon this journey that has taken most of the past two decades:


Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you have imagined.

So here I am, on the cusp of those dreams, quoting David Byrne in my head and wondering:


"Well, how did I get here?"


It's a bit of a paradox, really. When I wrote my first short story back in 1990, I never thought it would take so long to reach this point. And yet everything has happened so quickly.


For eighteen years I wrote with occasional publishing success, producing four dozen short stories and four novels, searching for an agent who believed in me, someone who could help me live the life I'd imagined. And then, in less than eighteen months after Michelle offered me representation, everything I'd dreamed about is coming together at the same time, coalescing into a surreal, celebratory nexus.


My book is being published by Broadway Books.


I quit my day job to be a full-time writer.


And the film rights to Breathers have been acquired by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

While I've had a year to prepare for the publication of Breathers and to get used to the idea of seeing something I've created in the New Fiction section next to the likes of Christopher Moore and Chuck Palahniuk, I've barely had more than a week to process the movie deal with Fox. So I still occasionally find myself walking down the street and suddenly bursting into delightful fits of laughter, not caring about the other pedestrians who give me a wide berth as they pass.

What I'm still getting used to is the idea that the parties involved in the film are excited to work with me. I thought I was the one who was supposed to be excited, the one who couldn't wait to meet them. So it's wonderful to realize that my novel has been embraced with such enthusiasm.

I also realize that I wouldn't have reached this moment if it weren't for Michelle's belief in me, for Laura Swerdloff and the fabulous team assembled at Broadway Books, and for the efforts of Sarah Self at The Gersh Agency. I’m fortunate and grateful to have everyone's support and guidance in helping me to realize my dreams.


But to be honest, I don't know if I imagined they would be this much fun.


-S.G. Browne