Young writer tapped her unique voice
Published: November 28, 2003
By the time I was 16, my writing had earned me a microscope, an ant farm and a stamp collection. I'd accumulated more pages than I'll ever count, including two half-finished novels. Writing a novel may not be a typical way for an 18-year-old to spend her last summer before college, but that's how I spent mine in 1999. Past Suspicion, my young adult suspense novel about a teen's compelling quest to unravel the secrets of her mother's past, began as a short story. But the plot grew along with my enthusiasm, twisting with tantalizing possibilities until--if my zeal was any indication--I didn't see how a publisher could resist.
More than three years of rewriting and 20 rejections later, I learned.
In this article, Therese Heckenkamp shares how she went from rejection to publication. |