Coming into the light - Happy Birthday to EC!

Raelene Gorlinsky posted on the Ellora's Cave Author's list a reminder that EC is celebrating it's 8th birthday! Yaaay EC.

As I considered this announcement, I started remembering my history with EC. I found EC on the web in late 2001 or early 2002. I hadn't read a romance in years but I was still an advocate for romance as a VERY poor grad student in library science. I was writing a research paper on the genre and surfed the internet for research when I stumbled over the EC web site.

I didn't have a lot of money (hey I was hoarding my diet pepsi cans to turn in when money was especially tight) but I bought EC books when I could afford it. Reading Jaid Black, Cheyenne McCray, Lora Leigh, Ann Jacobs and other fabulous authors inspired me to revisit my own writing, so I started writing a book called Crime of Passion. After I graduated I had two very lean years of job hunting (and more pop can hoarding along with visiting the food bank when needed) and then was hired as a library professional. All the while, I kept writing (and reading books from EC). I sold a short erotic romance to another publisher always dreaming I'd get to play "the big time" by selling to EC.

I pitched my finished novel, Crime of Passion, to Raelene at RWA National in 2007 and it went through the submission process after she requested I send it for review. This April 2008 I received a contract offer and next January 7, 2009 it will be release as Protect and Defend. This company has meant a lot to me during some really hard times. I'm really proud to be published by EC and look forward to what I hope will be a long relationship with this company.