By: Kristina Mathews
This season
marks the 132nd season for the Giants baseball franchise. A team
that began in 1883 (one hundred years before I started 8th grade),
and still carries on a proud tradition. They’ve survived wars, one
cross-country move (while escaping a second move to Florida in 1993), a strike,
a major earthquake that postponed game three of the 1989 World Series and the
steroid problems. One of the things I
love most about baseball is that it is never over until it is over.
Perseverance is the most important trait a baseball player can have. Not size
or strength or superhuman talent. Sure, those things help, but the biggest
asset a player has is the ability to never give up.
The same thing
can be said about writing. Or any dream worth pursuing.
I started my
first romance novel twenty years ago. Just playing around, really, a way to
entertain myself when I was first married and we didn’t have cable. Just
baseball on the radio and my imagination.
Years went by,
we started careers, a family. Bought a house. Upgraded. I quit teaching, tried
bookkeeping, stayed at home with my kids and volunteered in their school. I
joined the Little League board and kept myself busy. But I secretly wrote along
the way. When I worked full time, I wrote about a career woman quitting her job
and entering the world of playdates and competitive preschools. I wrote an
inspirational secret-baby spy thriller told almost entirely with wine-induced
flashbacks. That was the first book I finished, but it will never be published.
Finally in 2010
I finished my second book. This time I felt like I could take the next step. I started
researching agents and publishers and how to submit. Along the way, I
discovered Romance Writers of America. There was a chapter that met in
Sacramento, not far from my home. I couldn’t make the next meeting, because it
was opening day of Little League, but I signed up as a guest for the following
month.
I met with many amazing and welcoming writers. I felt completely over my head, but also like I belonged there. So I went back. I’ve learned about the craft and business of writing about how to pitch (not a baseball, but a book) and after almost three years I had signed my first publishing contract, and today is the debut of my first novel.

But I almost
gave up on Better Than Perfect. I had
received several rejections, most of them as a form letter. I got a few
suggestions, encouraging me to keep writing but I wasn’t quite there yet. I was
getting frustrated because I wasn’t sure what was wrong with my book. I was
getting requests to my queries, but then…nothing. So I was really excited to
win a critique by an author on a blog I follow.
I sent off my
first 50 pages to her at the same time as a few agent and editor requests. I
got a couple of rejections, again generic. One even spelled my name wrong and
it ended up in my spam folder.
But I kept at it. Savvy Authors hosted a “Pitch Perfect” event the month of April. They set up several agents and editors to take pitches on their website. I’d already submitted, and been rejected by a couple of the agents/editors on their list. But there were a few that I hadn’t yet contacted. I got two requests right away, and sent the required partial or full manuscript. One of the editors I pitched to didn’t post the results right away, so I had to check back.
In the
meantime, I got my critique back. It was like my dental hygienist—very thorough
and painful. I couldn’t finish reading it. I know she was trying to be helpful,
but I was pretty down. I figured Johnny Scottsdale was destined for the
disabled list, maybe permanently. I was working on the second book in the
series, but I stalled out around chapter ten. I wasn’t ready to give up, but I
felt like I was down to my last strike.
I checked the Savvy Authors website and sure enough, the last editor wanted to read my manuscript. I sent it, thinking if I was going to go down, I’d go down swinging.
The next day
she sent me a quick e-mail telling me how much she looked forward to reading
it.
About a week
later she’d finished reading it. I read the e-mail skimming past the words “I
loved it” waiting for the “but.”
There was no
“but.” She wanted my book.
A week later I
had signed the contract with Lyrical Press, which is now an imprint of
Kensington Books and I have since signed a second contract for Worth The Trade, due out in July.
So yeah,
sometimes you can be down to your last strike, and with one swing of the bat
(or click of the mouse) you can hit one out of the park.
BETTER THAN PERFECT

Pitcher Johnny “The Monk” Scottsdale has won awards, been
named an All-star and has a perfect game to his credit. Known for his legendary
control both on and off the field, his pristine public image makes him the
ideal person to work with youth players in a preseason minicamp. Except the
camp is run by the one woman he can’t forget…the woman who made him a “monk.”
Alice Harrison’s three strikes include an unexpected
pregnancy, a marriage of convenience and young widowhood. She once traded her
dreams so Johnny could have a chance at making it to the Majors. Johnny comes
back into her life just as she’s ready to resign as foundation director and
pursue her own dreams of finally earning her teaching credential. Her plans may
go on hold, though, depending on the reaction when she confesses she may have
kept a major league secret from Johnny and her son.
With the minutes ticking by until Johnny will leave for
spring training, they’ll need to let go of the past and work together in order
to win the game of love.
CONTENT WARNING: Some strong language, consummated love
scenes
Kristina Mathews doesn't remember
a time when she didn't have a book in her hand. Or in her head. But it wasn't
until 2010 that she confessed the reason the laundry never made it out of the
dryer was because she was busy writing romance novels.
While she resigned from teaching
with the arrival of her second son, she's remained an educator in some form. As
a volunteer, Parent Club member or para educator, she finds the most
satisfaction working with emergent and developing readers, helping foster confidence
and a lifelong love of books.
Kristina lives in Northern
California with her husband of twenty years, two sons and a black lab. A
veteran road tripper, amateur renovator and sports fanatic. She hopes to one
day travel all 3,073 miles of Highway 50 from Sacramento, CA to Ocean City, MD,
replace her carpet with hardwood floors and serve as a “Ball Dudette” for the
San Francisco Giants.
Website www.kristinamathews.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kristinamathewsauthor
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/KristinaMathews
Thank you for having me on Just Contemporary Romance. I am so excited to share my book birthday with you.
ReplyDeleteI'll check back throughout the day.
Hi Kristina - good luck with sales and congratulations on getting your baby out there.
ReplyDeletePatricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
Hi Patricia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. I feel like I should shout from the rooftops that my book is "Alive" but I doubt there is anyone in the neighborhood who hasn't heard and seen my cover a million times already in the last few weeks. Still, you only get one first time.
This is my first visit to this site. This sounds like a really good book. And wowee, love that cover!
ReplyDeleteWelcome Brooke. I've been lurking on this site for quite sometime. I love contemporary romance and have found some great reads. This is my first time posting as an author and I hope you get a chance to check it out.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Kristina!
Delete