It was my great luck to be sat next to the award-winning writer at the Mystery Writers of America's (MWA) Edgar Awards banquet this year. Hearing her talk about her life, I knew that the story of her path from successful corporate exec to successful mystery writer would appeal to the many writers seeking to make similar career transitions. And I knew that the story of how she published Uncommon Grounds after six years of failure was important for all writers to hear. Fortunately, Balzo was up for a more formal discussion of her career; this interview is the result.
About.com: How did you manage to maintain faith in yourself as a writer during the years Uncommon Grounds was rejected?
Sandra Balzo: I'm not sure I DID still have faith in myself as a writer -- at least during part of that time. Happily, though, other people did.
I was doing publicity for published authors and also for organizations like the International Association of Crime Writers and Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention. In 1999, Bouchercon was held in my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and headed by Gary Niehbuhr and Ted Hertel. The conference was a big success and the next morning Ted, Gary, and I had breakfast together, SO depressed because it was all over. We decided to start a writers group -- more to give us an excuse to hang out together than anything else.
With the group, I re-wrote my first novel and sent it off again. Meanwhile, I was doing publicity for Jeremiah Healy. He suggested I try writing a short story. That sounded like a good idea. I wrote that story and dropped it in the mail to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine without giving it a thought. By this time, I was used to rejection, or so I told myself.
The truth is, of course, that rejection still hurts. Rejection never stops hurting. BUT Ellery Queen bought my story. Not only that, but after it was published, the story, "The Grass Is Always Greener," won the Robert L. Fish Award for Best First Short Story from Mystery Writers of America. It was also nominated for two more awards and won one of them. Then Ellery Queen bought my second story, and that won awards, too.
One day not too long after that, I got an e-mail offering me a book contract for Uncommon Grounds. When the book came out, it got great reviews, and my publisher went back to press three times. An agent I knew from the mystery circle congratulated me and took me on as a client. We've been together ever since. The moral of the story, of course, is to never give up and have good friends who encourage you.
