Have you ever had a remarkably gifted friend or acquaintance? One you just knew would “make it big” someday?
I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine like that, Sandra Worth. She’d tell you she’s far from such a person, but that’s only because she’s modest. I’m here to tell you otherwise.
I first met Sandra when I was an editor for NovelBooks, Inc. I edited mysteries and romances mainly, but I ended up agreeing to edit her book (which was a historical) to help catch up on backlog.
She made my job very difficult. Not because she was finicky or the edits were immense. No, in her case I kept forgetting to edit. Her writing was so beautiful, her storyline so engaging, and her characters so mesmerizing I was totally enthralled, captivated and enchanted. It had been a long time since any author had captured my soul, imagination, and heart the way her writing did.
I knew from the first chapter that she was going to be big someday. In my opinion, landing a deal with a major publisher is big. (She’s now with Penguin.) But I know she’s got even bigger things coming her way.
Remarkably, her path to authordom started with her marriage, something she mentioned after receiving our annual Christmas letter. In it I had mentioned what a trying year it’d been with Wayne commuting, trying to sell the house, and then Wayne deciding to get his old job back.
She wrote me to say how she sympathized because she had lived through similar times, but how she owed her writing successes to her husband’s commuting. Him being gone like he was freed her to pursue it even more aggressively.
Since I had resolved to make the best of Marriage in ‘08 by sharing stories of couples who make their marriages work despite adversity, Sandra’s story piqued my interest.
I asked if she’d care to share, and she graciously agreed.
That interview will follow in a separate blog.