I guess it worked.
I was reading Montgomery's Emily of New Moon series when I heard that Time Runs Away With Her had been accepted. The Emily books tell the story of a young girl almost exactly 100 years ago who wants to be an author. She keeps on keeping on despite family discouraging her, despite tough criticisms from people she respects, despite rejection upon rejection. Emily--and Lucy Maud--faced a tough battle getting their stories told.
I was really and truly reading about that tough battle when my own book got accepted. You can't make this stuff up.
But I'm awfully proud of what I did make up. Time Runs Away With Her is a story close to my own heart. It's about Bean Donohue, a young girl who just wants to make music and be loved. It's a time travel story, set mostly in the year 1970. There's a ghost story, a great old mansion housing a snooty private school, a best friend who turns out to be not such a great pal after all--and through all of it, Bean keeps slipping backwards into the past. 1885, 1945...she sees the truth behind the local ghost story, the truth behind her own mom's failed marriage. She falls in love with a guy who turns out to be worthwhile. I liked the story so much that I often put myself to sleep thinking about it. I read that Stephen King says that's his own test for figuring out if a narrative is worthwhile--wanting to think about it right before you go to sleep.
Time Runs Away With Her is--of course--fiction. My own high school best friend was and is a great gal, utterly worth my trust. My high school boyfriend? A bit of a rogue, actually. But I loved ghost stories, and I really, really wanted to be able to go back in time. I still do. And yeah, I played the guitar back then. Still do. And that Grateful Dead show at the Fillmore in February, 1970? I was at that show. In fact, I was amazed when I checked the set list online (amazing thing about online; it really is time travel when The Dead are concerned). I got the order of songs right in my first draft! Part of me really is Bean and (as I have to keep reminding myself) the book JUST GOT ACCEPTED! BEAN LIVES!!!
Anyone who knows the lower Hudson River Valley will recognize scenes from Dobbs Ferry and Briarcliff Manor in the book, by the way. And the Hudson River. The River's in there a lot. I love the Hudson. Guess it's my own Lake Of Shining Waters. I'm a happy girl today. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FURTHER EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS!