The Journey Begins...

So, I had my appointment with the editor! *Scary music playing*
And... it was rejected. *Hits head on keyboard*
But... the good news is this-- she liked my presentation, and the reason Free was rejected is because Harvest House Publishers doesn't like Christian Young Adult Fiction because it doesn't sell. She recommended I get an agent and try for ZonderVan. So I take that to mean she liked it, but they don't have a place for it. :)

The rest of the conference was a blast! I learned so much this past weekend, and, I will have to tell you, there are going to be some major changes on my blog. It is time for me to reveal myself, who Calamity Rene really is. And of course, realizing that it's time for Calamity Rene to grow up and give out her real name, I decided I'm going to do it with a story.
So come next month, I will tell the story of who Calamity Rene is and how she got her pen-name. It's time for me to step up and become the writer I want to be. It's time to be my age. *Cries and hides in the corner.*
I've had a wonderful weekend. I learned a lot. I did my first book pitch. I learned about building my author platform. I learned about self publishing. But most importantly, I learned what my job as a writer is-- it's my ministry. It's who God called me to be. It's how I'm going to share God with other people. I'm here to bless others with my words.

Calamity Rene has realized that it's time to be herself. Not to be paranoid that the stalkers are going to find her and steal her identity (besides, that would make an interesting book) and trust God that it's time for the next part of the journey. The journey ahead looks... scary, to say the least. I have discovered that I need to set myself goals. It's time for me to get my own website. It's time to make my blog public. It's time to join other social media sites under my real name. But I don't want to just abandon this blog. So I have decided to keep my blog, change what I need to change, and began the next step in my writing journey.

After Descendants of DunBroch is finished, I am going to have to take my fanfiction stories off my blog, like that Christmas of Interest story I wrote. (It's not legal for an author to promote her fan stories from other fandoms, but I'll provide a link to my fanfiction stories on a fanfiction website. :P) I'm going to have to give the blog a new face-lift. I'm going to add Pinterest buttons and Twitter buttons. That's a scary thought! It's like I'll be inviting the bad guys to find me!

But in another way, it's exciting. I'm excited. I'm excited to begin this new journey of letting the world know who Calamity Rene is. I'm excited to take the next step. And I'm excited to tell you my story, how I came to get my pen name, how I started my writing journey, and what comes next.

Change is coming, loyal readers! Good change! I am so excited to start this new journey with you all. It is time for you all to know the real Calamity Rene. It is time for Calamity Rene to act her age of nineteen. It's time to tell you how my writing journey started seven years ago, when my whole life changed, my world was turned upside down, and when I was given some of the best experiences in my life...

Ten-year-old Calamity Rene. I was cute back then... *Sighs* I'm too young to have nostalgia, but I do. ;)