Cydney Rax's Blog - Posts Tagged "publishing"

Please visit my website to learn more about of my books. Since the release of IF YOUR WIFE ONLY KNEW, I have enjoyed meeting readers that are new to my work. They sometimes want to read the previous novels. THANK YOU for your interest. And I am floored by all the libraries that support my work. Libraries rock. I am amazed that my books are in circulation in Germany, Singapore, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, among others. This is a writer's dream. Very grateful for the blessings that have poured into my life since the release of the debut novel MY DAUGHTER'S BOYFRIEND.

So thanks again for your interest. I'm at www.cydneyrax.com.

Happy Reading,
Cydney Rax

I can never forget the novel that introduced me to the literary world. Around 1999, I began to write a book that started with a simple premise: what if there was a guy that had a girlfriend, but he started liking his girlfriend's mother? That was the start of me trying to write this storyline. When I finished in 2000, I was so hyped. I actually finished writing a book. This had never happened before. And I wanted to know if a publisher would be interested. Well, first I got a literary agent. This happened in Spring 2001. And she gave me some editorial advice. We tweaked the novel for a couple of months, and then I mailed the finished manuscript to her around Sept. 7, 2001. The next week 9/11 happened and the world came to a stop. After all the hoopla about that tragedy subsided, my agent sent out my novel to four New York publishing houses. All four rejected the book. I felt crushed...and worried. I had to kind of forget about it for a while. Life went on. By the spring of 2002, one day my agent called me and told me that Random House wanted to make an offer. After we hung up, I literally raced down the hallways of my day job, so thoroughly full of joy and gratefulness to God that my dream was going to come true. We signed the contracts, did the rewrites and the book was published in hardcover on 6/8/2004. I will never forget that time period. I felt like I was in a daze, yet everything felt normal...as if it was meant to be. I love writing so much. I have a ball drawing up stories and characters. Writing is a lifelong dream that I'm able to live. And I'd have it no other way.

One of my writer friends shared a link with me and said "Congrats." So of course, me being nosy, I had to check it out. And I was surprised and very pleased that A SISTER'S SECRET was included in The Root's list of new and upcoming books by black authors that will "give you life" in these perilous times. I love their headline.

And the books that they included, well over, 65 or so books, is simply freaking amazing. I love the diversity of the list. The range of topics that these recommended books cover.

They include works by Deborah Santana, Delores Phillips, Beverly Jenkins, Mat Johnson, Tayari Jones, newcomer Tomi Adeyemi, John Edgar Wideman, Kwame Alexander, and many more literary heavy hitters.

What an honor. Here is the link. Check it out and check out A SISTER'S SECRET while you're at it.