Introduction of The Unpubbed Monday, September 25, 2006

I'm lucky to be here. Surrounded by stellar authors, I am the only one of the group still (as of this date) unpublished.
In a way, I feel priviledged. I still remember when I got to help Jennifer Bianco at Romance Divas to moderate a chat with Allison Brennan, the author of "The Hunt", "The Prey" and "The Kill". I was in reader heaven. I was talking to an honest-to-God-saw-her-books-at-Walmart author. I still feel the same way. As an unpublished author, I still have rosy view of the shining mountaintop that is "Published".
As a writer coming in contact with other writers, I'm learning about the published author's aftermath. Promotion, deadlines, contracts, edits, and other scary stuff.
What does that tell you about me? Well, probably not very much. I write romantic suspense and erotic romance under a pen name. I'm terrified my mother will find out the pen name. I love being on the computer and I love being with other authors.
I write because my characters won't leave me in peace until I do. It's in me. Whether I get published or not, I won't ever silence that throng of people that stand up and start talking. They're funny, sad, broken, loving and brave. And they picked me to write their stories.
Hopefully, you'll get to read about how that happens.
Jennifer McKenzie
aka Jennifer Leeland