I am in Hollywood at a swanky hotel awaiting the premiere of the new original Hallmark series based on client, friend, and colleague KJ Dell’Antonia’s novel, The Chicken Sisters. My windows look out at the Hollywood hills and the giant billboards (For Megan Thee Stallion, the new Transformers movie) on Sunset Boulevard.
I’m about to go downstairs to meet up with KJ and her husband and one of her childhood friends who have gathered here to celebrate.
KJ has said that the making of this TV series — the deal that led to it and the fact that it was actually made and released, and that it all happened so fast — was just pure luck and that she had nothing to do with it. It’s a funny statement because she wrote the book!
She worked so hard to start that book, to finish it, to revise it, to revise it again and again and again, to pitch it, to submit it, to work with her publishing team to get the book ready to publish, to do all the marketing things one needs to do to get their work seen.
She had no control whatsoever over how the book would be received in the world. No writer does. The fact that Reese Witherspoon picked it for her book club, and that it hit The New York Times bestseller list, and that the Reese people and the Hallmark people made a deal to film it were in many ways happy accidents.
But again, it all happened because KJ wrote the book! She had a story in her head and she put it on the page. It all begins and ends there.
I was lucky enough to be part of KJ’s creative process — to be someone she turned to for help getting her first draft (or maybe it wasn’t first?) into good enough shape to pitch. She came from the world of nonfiction books and journalism and was committed to learning the craft of fiction.
She is a fan of the Inside Outline from my Blueprint book and knew that her plot needed some reining in, so that’s why she came to me, ready and willing to learn and to rip things apart and to let things go in service of this story she wanted to tell.
Well, actually, she wasn’t ready and willing at first. She says that I came on the #amwriting podcast to talk about book coaching and she was super skeptical about why anyone would need a book coach and what a book coach does. By the end of that segment (which I haven’t gone to look up just now), she was ready and willing.
I remember when KJ submitted her draft and got the green light from her agent.
I remember when the agent submitted it to publishers and she got the offer.
I remember when she submitted the final draft.
I remember when she first told me about the Reece Book Club pick, after having to keep it a secret from most of us for so long. (I cried.)
I remember when she first told me about making the New York Times list. (I cried again.)
I remember when she first told me about the Hallmark TV series deal, after having to keep yet another secret.
These marquee moments were spectacular to be sure, but it’s equally thrilling to be there when the writer finally understands her story and nails a key scene.
Or when they finally know their point, can see their protagonist inside and out.
Or when they finally feel in full control of their pages.
Those “small” moments are what allow the big ones to happen.
I have been cheering KJ on for a long time now. It’s part of the reason I do what I do; I take so much pleasure in helping an author soar.
KJ forged a whole new career for herself.
She was dogged in her determination, which is to say, she worked her butt off. And she still does. (In this episode of the #amwriting podcast KJ and I talk about her use of the Inside Outline for her fourth novel.)
Tonight doesn’t feel to me so much like a pinnacle, as another mark on the map of her writing life. It’s a really fun one to be sure, but they’re all fun!
It is a book coaches’ great privilege to get to be there for the ups and the down — to help and keep helping, to cheer and keep cheering.
Every moment is important and it’s all a thrill.
I’ll let you know on Friday how it all went and will share photos from the event itself.
I was an early #amwriting listener and I vividly recall that episode! I remember thinking as I listened that she was really grilling you! :) (That was also the first time I’d ever heard of a book coach.) It’s been so cool to follow KJ’s journey with that project and others. Thanks to you both for sharing the ups and downs with us. I’ve learned a lot and I know others have too.