Meeting Blue Balliet was fun,
but stressful.
It was not HER fault that it was stressful though.
Let me explain.
The presentation was at Hicklebee’s,
and I was presenting the American Revolution for work,
at a town 30 minutes away.
According to the schedule,
I was going to get done JUST IN TIME
to pack up, hop in my car,
and get to Hicklebee’s.
Well,
Murphy’s Law, right?
The second program started late.
The teacher said, “Oh, we changed the time!”
And at that point I knew I was just going to be late.
A little bit of traffic and a whole lot of revolution later,
I ended up at the presentation.
I did still get to hear a little bit of her talk, and of course I got to meet her!
One of the most interesting things Blue said was that she doesn’t have a critique group.
That’s right.
DOES NOT.
She says no one sees her work until her editor does!
That just amazes me.
Chasing Vermeer (her first art history mystery book)
she actually wrote for her classroom!
She showed it to an agent, then had her pick of houses.
She admitted it sounds like a lucky break,
but there was a lot of work behind it.
I totally related to that,
because I got the first agent I submitted to,
but after three or four years of constantly working on my craft and writing.
Someone asked,
“Did you always want to be a writer?”
To which she replied:
“Yes, ever since I was little I had a burning desire to see my name on the cover of books!”
SO GOOD!
Here’s a quote about rejections that I really liked:
And another, about being patient with your work and believing in your story:
‘fridge
Then I got to talk to her and Singe Singe got to meet her.
I told her about my writing and how I have an agent, and she said it was really exciting.
We chatted about books we liked and the business a little bit while she was signing.
It was awesome.
Another great time at Hicklebee’s.
If you haven’t read her books,
I say start with Hold Fast.
I couldn’t put it down!
The other three:
Chasing Vermeer, The Wright 3, and The Calder Game
are amazing too, and they’re a series.
I can’t wait to see her next book!
Until next time,
KE and SS
