Six Years Down the Published Road...

I had Facebook to thank for reminding me. A random message of congratulations from 2009 popped up on their On This Day feature from my friend Kris. I had to think about it--what had happened in August of 2009 to warrant a congrats? Then I turned to Gmail and searching my messages for that month...and bingo.


I got my first contract offer six years ago yesterday from Dreamspinner Press, setting me on the road I've been barreling down ever since. It was for a short story in an anthology. But I didn't care--it was a contract! And I loved that little short story and the two guys in it. Just this year I took that short, Remarkable Restraint (got the rights back last year after the anth went out of print), expanded it to novel-length and republished it.

Here's my blog post from back then. I was a little excited, lol!

But that's not the entire story of how I started out. My karma game was strong that week, because exactly one week later, I got another contract offer for another story, A Pint Light, from Total-e-Bound (now Totally Bound and Pride Publishing).

Here's that blog post too. :)

So within a week's time, I suddenly had two books on release schedules. And I had to choose a pen name.

Pen names are interesting things. Some people don't bother to use one, but for me, my real name just ain't that sexy. LOL. Plus I wanted to honor my dad, who had been gone several years before I realized my dream of being an author. So after polling some of my industry friends and thinking long and hard--Oh, and doing many searches for available domain names!--I decided on Devon Rhodes. The Rhodes part was easy--my maiden name. :) I'd spent most of my life answering to it and signing it, so that seemed like a natural choice. And Devon came from the last street I lived with Dad on.

Just today I signed my thirty-eighth contract. 38!! Wow--when I went back and counted the books, I was shocked, especially since there have been a couple of those six published years where I just couldn't write and barely put anything out. But I'll tell you...number 38 was just as exciting as the first and second. :)

Now. Back to work on number 39 and counting. ;)