October 15th, 2007
I’ve been waiting a long time to post a “Mary sold” post. I can’t think of a writer who has earned a first sale more, and to say I’m thrilled for her would be a vast understatement. So in honor of Mary’s sale (squee!!), and her new identity as published author M.J. Fredrick, here’s a interview of Her Newly Soldness. 
Oh, and that’s Mary and me at the RITA/Golden Heart Awards in 2006.
Congrats on your first sale! Tell us about the book that sold.
Where There’s Smoke is a best-friends-turned-lovers story, set in a small Texas town. Lauren Stokes put a lid on her attraction toward her best friend Seth Escamilla years ago. She’d never be the type of woman he’d love, so why torture herself? So she’s stunned by the sexual awareness that strikes during a friendly game of football. He feels guilty for hurting her in the game and looks after her, but Lauren resorts to wisecracking to distance herself from the insecurity she feels with him.
Seth is confused by the new emotions swamping him. This is Lauren, after all, his best friend, someone he has fun with, not someone he has fun with! He has no plan to settle down, and he won’t risk their friendship when he knows they have no future. They not only have to resist the new attraction, but the efforts of their families to push them together. And when a wedding loosens their inhibitions, keeping the new aspect of their relationship a secret is harder than they would have thought.
How did you get the idea for this story?
This firefighter band came to play at my school during drug-free week, and it turned out Oscar Incredibly Handsome Guitar Player was my uncle’s best friend’s son, and he’d grown up with my cousin. I always wondered why they hadn’t ended up together, so I created a story to explore what would happen if they had. At the same time, Monica and Chandler on Friends were hiding their relationship, so I thought, “Hey, that might be fun,” so there’s the secret relationship aspect in Smoke.
Tell us a bit about your publishing journey? How many books have you written, and where does Where There’s Smoke fit in that list?
Goodness. I finished my first book in 1994 or 1995, I think. I joined RWA in 1997. I finaled in my first contest — with this book, in fact — in 2002. I’d written…let’s see…eight books before this one, I think. I know I wrote this one right after the first version of Hot Shot. I remember that because this one just poured out, unlike Hot Shot. So it’s my ninth full manuscript, I think. Which means I’ve written 11 since!
What was it like when you found out you had an offer on this book?
Wow, you know, this year has been pretty rough, writing wise. I cracked a few contests at the beginning of the year, but I had trouble with my last book, and I haven’t finaled in any contests in awhile, and I parted with my agent. So this offer was a huge boost! I called the dh first, then Baby Brother, then e-mailed you!
Any advice for writers out there still struggling to achieve that first sale?
Keep writing! Every book makes you better, every book you learn something new. There will be discouragement no matter how long you’ve been writing, but as long as you love what you do, keep at it!
To what do you attribute your unwillingness to give up on your dream of being published?
I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was 9! Until the past three years, when I actually learned to LOVE my teaching job, I always thought of myself as a writer first.
That’s not to say I didn’t give up — more than once. But ideas kept demanding to be written, and I was pulled back again and again.
Plus, whenever I told my dh I was ready to quit, he wouldn’t let me. 
What’s next on the writing agenda for you? When will Where’s There’s Smoke be available?
I’m writing a straight romance, kind of Virgin River meets Friday Night Lights and the Gilmore Girls, and having a ton of fun with it. I’m also planning a paranormal to write during NaNoWriMo.
I’m not sure when Smoke will be available. I sent in the contract last week, and I’m waiting for revisions, which I hope will be minor!
And finally, just for fun, if you could spend 24 hours at a beach house talking writing with any one writer, who would it be?
Dude, it would totally be YOU!
(Trish’s note: Aww, that’s sweet.)
It’s the last day of October, Halloween. It’s also the last day before what I consider the start of the “brr” season — though we have already been running our heat a little bit at night and the fleece has been making regular appearances in my wardrobe. Hard to believe three weeks ago it was like 92 degrees.
