It's our pleasure to welcome mystery novelist Peg Cochran who also writes as Meg London.We had one request to Peg when we invited her to our blog and it was to discuss her journey to publication. If you find her post helpful or if you have questions kindly leave it when you finish the post. So here's Peg!
Berkley Prime Crime just released my
debut book ALLERGIC TO DEATH, and on September 4 (the first book in my second
series, MURDER UNMENTIONABLE), under my pen name of Meg London, will hit the
shelves.
Ha!
I have wanted to be a published writer since I picked up my first Nancy
Drew at the age of seven. At the end of
September, I’ll turn 60. I’ll let you do the math. If that was overnight, then it was a very
loooooong night!
I started out writing plays which I
forced my cousins to perform at Christmas dinner (they’re all in their forties
or fifties now and are starting to talk to me again). During high school I began a romance which
was much like my knitting—full of holes and with no end in sight. In my twenties, I tried romance again and
actually sent off a (typed!) manuscript to Harlequin. It came back about four months later with a
note, that no matter how politely written, still meant “no.”
I had some modest success writing
non-fiction for magazines and web sites, but the fiction bug was still buried
underneath my skin. I spent my three
hour daily train commute working on my first mystery (having succumbed to the
notion that I ought to write what I read.)
I wrote in spiral bound notebooks by hand and entered everything in the
second-hand computer I’d managed to purchase, at night.
I got my first agent with that first
book after about a year of sending out queries, partials and full manuscripts.
This was before everyone had email so agents actually called me to request
partials or fulls although the rejections invariably came in the form of a
letter. Then one day an agent said
“yes.” I was convinced that I was on my
way to fame and fortune! A publishing
contract was no doubt just around the corner.
My celebration was slightly premature—she was unable to sell that book
or the two subsequent manuscripts (also written on the train) that I submitted.
We parted company, and I lost hope
for a bit, but I couldn’t not write. I
began another mystery (CONFESSION IS MURDER—now available for Amazon Kindle and
doing quite well.) After that I tried my
hand at a young adult. And I managed to
get another agent. Alas, she was unable
to sell the book, and she disappeared along with the last rejection letter.
I wrote yet another young adult and
a cozy mystery and between the two of them, in a two year period, I racked up
400 rejections! I was runner-up in my
on-line writers group’s contest for the Queen of Rejection (or Princess of
Persistence as it has been renamed.) But
one of my writing buddies said “don’t quit five minutes before a miracle,” so I
kept going. Through an on-line
acquaintance (network, network, network!) I got wind of the chance to
“audition” for a work-for-hire. Meaning
an editor at Berkley has an idea for a cozy mystery, and they go in search of a
writer to write it. And for once “no”
had turned to “yes!” and I was chosen to write the Sweet Nothings Lingerie
Series, and I signed with the BookEnds Agency.
Meanwhile I had my own finished cozy
mystery still on my computer. I noticed
that my editor at Berkley tweeted a lot about food. I tweeted that I’d made an excellent fish dish. She tweeted back asking for the recipe. I emailed it to her along with a throw-away
line at the bottom. Something like “oh,
by the way, I have a foodie cozy if you’re interested in taking a look.” She was interested and all of a sudden my
agent was calling to tell me I had a contract, and I was going to be
“multi-published.”
And just like that I became an
overnight success!
~~~
After her husband died, Peg remarried and her new husband took a job in Grand Rapids, Michigan where they now live (on exile from NJ as she likes to joke).
She has two cozy mystery series debuting from Berkley Prime Crime— the Sweet Nothings Vintage Lingerie series, written as Meg London, set in Paris, Tennessee and the Gourmet De-Lite series, under her own name, set in Connecticut. She also has two ebooks on Amazon, a mystery, Confession Is Murder and a young adult book Oh, Brother! Visit her at www.pegcochran.com and www.meglondon.com.
5 comments:
Peg:
Welcome to Texas and the GFW Writers site. We're so glad to hear the story of your journey. It shows perseverance pays off. Thanks again for visiting.
It was my pleasure, Ruby! I'll check back later if anyone has any questions or comments!
Thank you for sharing your story Peg! This is so inspirational!
Peg, I never get tired of hearing stories of perseverance and ultimate success such as yours. I'm anxious to read Murder Unmentionable!
Thank you for sharing with us. I find it interesting to hear about everyone's journey!
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