OMG, squee!

I am such a dork. I posted this on my livejournal then promptly went into a migraine cycle (which excuses a lot--considering what I take to knock out the migraines, I'm pleased I remembered to put clothes on before staggering to the Delightful Day Job--and thank gods it's finally broken) and forgot to post it here. And it's big news. Huge news.

NOVEL-SALE NEWS! *happy dance*

A few days ago, I sent back the signed contract for Lions' Pride. Yes, my novel has been accepted! It has a home at last!

I sent the full to Samhain in the first week of April, along with a bunch of other proposals and queries to other publishers.

I had an acceptance by April 14 and a contract by April 15. A little bit of going back and forth answering questions and bingo--it's set. Now I have to contact all those other publishers and withdraw my submission, but that can wait.

The ebook will come out this fall, the print edition probably ten months or so later.

I'm doing the happy dance, but it took several days to sink in. Normally it takes months to get an answer from a publisher; getting one within a couple of weeks didn't seem quite real and I kept waiting to discover it was all a big mistake, or that the contract stank or something. Well, the contract didn't stink one bit, my editor seems great, Samhain has a good reputation, and I'm on cloud nine. I guess my editor (MY editor. What a great feeling to say that again!) got hooked in immediately, read the whole thing, and loved it. Just what we like to hear.

So happy birthday to me! My whole birthday weekend was wonderful, but that just iced my cake, as it were. (And the short story acceptance on the birthday itself was a lovely added touch.)

More details to come.