I am by no means a prolific writer, but I do keep my hands in the business of writing. I work very closely with my agent, Chamein Canton. Aside from being a bestselling romance writer who has ten books published, she also runs her agency fulltime.
I spend a lot of time reading queries and manuscripts for her. She has authorized me to offer contracts to writers I really fall in love with. Mostly I look for unpublished writers with great potential. A few months ago, I befriended Joann Buchanan on facebook, and I went to her blog and read the first chapter of I AM WOLF. I fell in love with her writing, and asked her if she was finished. She said she still had a ways to go.
Shortly after that the Fiction Editor of Book Reviews for the L.A. Times read her first chapter as well, and sent her a message asking when the book would be out because he wanted to read it. Joann contacted me in a panic and asked me what she should do. I told her to tell him that she just found representation by an established agent, and that her manuscript was in the process of editing.
Somewhat shocked by what I told her, I asked her to check her email. I had just sent her an author-agent agreement and wrote that she needed to print two copies, sign them and send them off to Chamien. I then told her I would personally edit her manuscript at no charge, because Joann is a struggling mother of four, and couldn't afford to pay my rates. Chamein flipped when I told her what I had done, and said she would drive to my house and kill me if she didn't like the manuscript. I had no doubts about Joann's ability. Her story was so compelling and her writing is beautiful.
She finished the manuscript and sent me the bones. There was a lot to work with, and I knew right away what a completly unique story she wrote. We spent a month working together to pull the manuscript into shape. Joann was an enormous pleasure to work with; she knew right away what I wanted and why when I asked for changes, and continually blew me away with how brilliantly she executed exactly what I was looking for. She was always right on the money.
At the end of it, I submitted the manuscript to Chamein, and she liked the story a lot. She especially liked the multi-cultural aspects of the book, and the fact that this was no ordinary werewolf story.
In Joann's own words I submit to you her teaser that she wrote for Chamein:
"We all take the form we are meant to take. Angel. Devil. Monster. Hero. We are all the same in our fates. Based on our choices, we become what we really are. I AM WOLF is a coming of age story centering around Jonah, city kid forced to live on a Native American Reservation with his grandparents, because he is coming into his own natural abilities- he’s becoming a wolf.
Natural versus unnatural, Jonah must learn to control his own abilities in order to kill a werewolf he accidentally created. Together with the love of his life, and his newfound youngling pack, Jonah races head on into manhood and finds his destiny."
Joann has just finished her sequel, and she has been invited to write short stories for two separate anthologies. She also cowrote a book with three other writers called SHADOWS OF THIS WORLD, with the proviso that all proceeds go to a town in Italy that was devastated by an earthquake. The book got picked up by XOXO Publishing, and is due out next year sometime.
Currently, I AM WOLF is at seven major publishing houses, and Joann is going out of her mind waiting for answers. That alone is phenominal for a first-time novelist, and really demonstrates the uniqueness of the story.
But rather than sit around and wait for answers, Joann is busy making a name for herself through her blog talk radio show, "The Eclectic Artist Cave," which is now airing five days a week, and is about to become nationally syndicated. She interviews writers, musicians, actors and comedians, and the response to her show is overwhelming.
Joann is a prolific writer who experiments in all genres. I have no doubts about her future success as a sparkling new voice in the literary world.
Love to all!
James M. Weil
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