Hey everyone! My name is Lauren Dane and I write books. And stuff like haul little people around to lots of practices and clubs and sometimes I weed and do laundry. I’m thrilled to be here this week talking writing and perseverance.

Perseverance is the one unbreakable writing rule. Because you can’t make it unless you keep trying. And trying. And trying some more.

I made the choice to pursue writing professionally for a few reasons. First, I was on modified bed rest with my daughter and I had a lot of time on my hands. So my husband came home with a second-hand laptop and my preschooler would be at school, the toddler would be playing cars nearby and I began to write this book I’d wanted to write set in New Orleans.

I had no concept of what the publishing business demanded. I had no idea about writing rules or romance conventions. I just wrote a book and sent it to a publisher and it was one of those absolutely perfect right time/right book/right editor moments.

They liked it, but it had a lot of technical errors in it (like my dialog tags were all wrong!) and could I revise and resubmit?

I did and a few weeks later I had signed the contract for Triad, my first sale, my first book. And it opened up a whole world I never imagined existed.

But I was so new I squeaked when I typed. Luckily, they assigned me to a great editor who took the time and work to help me be a better writer. Man, I think I went through something like six or eight rounds of edits. I wrote and wrote and wrote some more.

What I remember so much from that time was the excitement of it all. Promotion was something totally new so I watched the people I thought handled themselves well, like professionals. I took a lot of lessons from people like Jaci Burton and Anya Bast.

I had no idea what the sales would be like, how people would receive the book, or even if I’d be still writing that same time a year from that moment.

But release day came. Reviews started to come in, I contracted some follow up books and when my royalty statement arrived, I was shocked in all the best ways. I felt as if I’d made it.

Bio
The story goes like this – A few years ago, Lauren Dane decided to quit her job and stay home with her brand new second child. As a result, she had lots of conversations in a sing-song voice but no real outlet for adult thoughts and words. While on bed-rest with her pregnancy with the tiny monster, Lauren had plenty of down time so her husband brought home a second hand laptop and she decided to “give that writing thing a serious go.”

Lauren had no idea how fabulously wonderful it would feel to actually make a go of her writing and she’s thankful every day people actually want to read what she writes! She’s well aware of her good fortune and loves every moment of it, even when she has to edit and put Barbie’s dresses back on over and over again. She still hasn’t managed to figure out how to shut out the sound of the Backyardigans so she can write a love scene, though.