Not Quite How I Imagined It...When I get into range the waiting message icon flashes on my phone. I pull over to the side of the road, get out of the car, and then punch in *86...
“Heather, dear...” It’s my agent -- imagine an uber-cute Connecticut accent with lots of pauses and a bit of a drawl. “So...good news. We’ve received an offer.”
I put my hand against the roof of my car, steadying myself because my legs feel like they belong to Gumby. I play the message again to make sure it’s real, then I calmly get into my car and drive the rest of the way home. I park, kill the engine, and play the message yet again.
The book has been going to meetings at HarperCollins. I know today is the day the decision would be made, but it can't actually be happening. Not after what I’ve been through. I mean, how could something so sweet come to me in the midst of the longest, loneliest time in my life? It can’t be true.
I find my way into the house, throw my stuff down and call my agent’s cell number. He laughs at my utter shock. He tells me some of the details and says he’ll call me the next day.
I lie back on my bed, shaking and crying. I call my best friend. She whoops and screams for me because I can’t. I’m just repeating like a crazy person, “I knew I could do it. I knew I could do it. I knew I could do it.”
I realize as I start to breathe again that while the rest of my world has fallen away, my writing has been my constant. Something I alone have built. Something I have believed in and nurtured. Something I did for myself after years of doing things for the man I’d been married to.
It hits me: My book will be in print. My former students will be able to check my book out of the library someday. And, I will recover from my brokenness. I will fill the empty place with more words.
No so-called love or even heartbreak can take that from me or make me turn away from what I was meant to do, or meant to be.
Heather Davis
is the author of
Never Cry Werewolf
Coming in 2008
from HarperCollins
Heather Davis
is the author of
Never Cry Werewolf
Coming in 2008
from HarperCollins
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7 comments:
Oh Heather!!! You brought tears to my eyes. What an awesome story! You've certainly worked hard and persevered (never can spell that right) and triumphed!!! When you won your Golden Heart, I turned to my friend sitting next to me and said, "this is going to be it for her!" Soooooo happy for you and can't wait to read your book!
Hugs,
Marley = )
http://www.marleygibson.com
"Oh, Heather!!!" is what I came over here to say, only to see it's exactly what Marley wrote. :)
This story of getting The Call is sooo moving, how your writing was always there for you, and how, when you needed it most, it gave you the greatest gift.
Thanks so much for this beautiful tale, and again, I couldn't be happier for you. And I can't wait to read your book!
Tina
www.tinaferraro.com
That was so beautifully said. I can't wait to read your book.
Janie
I knew it would happen for you...I knew it the second I read WEREWOLF. It was one of those exquisite moments in life where you feel you can see the future. I said to my husband that night, "This book is going to sell and it's going to sell big."
What an amazing story, girl. I will be the first in line to buy your book when it hits stores in Seattle :)
i've heard that your agent is really hot. is that true?
And, Heather Davis should never forget that she rocks!
Shannon
I'm so with Tina that sometimes you get the thing you really need at the time you need it the most.
Hugs and may all those bad times be behind you,
TLC
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