Author Success Story: Lisa and Laura Roecker

Have you been dreaming big? Have you gone forth and queried? Conquered? Feeling inspired this week by those who've suffered, er, endured this long and twisty road toward publication?

Dude, you know you have.

Click here for more inspiration: Lisa and Laura Roecker, Beth Revis, Leah Clifford, Victoria Schwab, Kirsten Hubbard, Susan Adrian, Dawn Metcalf, Kim Harrington, Carrie Harris, Amy Holder, Kathy McCullough, Suzette Saxton and Bethany Wiggins, Gretchen McNeil and Tiffany Schmidt.

I will be featured on Lisa and Laura Roecker's blog today! Please go check out mine--and all the posts--because you never know who's going to say exactly what you need to hear to keep moving forward.

Today I've got the sistahs Lisa and Laura Roecker.

LIAR SOCIETY in a tweet: When Kate gets an e-mail from her dead best friend she decides to channel Nancy Drew. A hotter, bitchier Nancy Drew, but you get the idea.

Was there ever a time you felt like giving up? Why didn't you?

Our first attempt at a novel was pretty wretched, but there were a handful of agents who found our voice intriguing enough to give us real feedback. When we finally laid that craptastic manuscript to rest (RIP The North Shore) we were so, so tempted just to throw in the towel, but we loved writing together too much. So, we gave it another shot and finished our next project within a few months. That project turned into LIAR SOCIETY. [Elana interrupts to say they only had to query for like, a day--so not fair. And they got three offers, and are repped by Catherine Drayton at Inkwell Management.]

What has been the hardest part of your road to publication so far? And why?

The hardest by far was being on submission to editors. It was hell. We basically spent 5 months living on pins and needles. We suck at waiting and that’s pretty much all there is to do while you’re out on submission. That and obsessively check Stat Counter. [Elana interrupts--ooooh! Stat Counter! Shiny...]

What's your best advice to aspiring authors?

Keep writing, keep reading, spend time getting to know other writers, find an amazing beta reader and never say die.

Super Secret: If you could meet anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?

This is such a hard question and we always over think it because let’s face it if you go with a famous author or historical figure or whatever, chances are it’s going to be totally awkward, you know? I mean what the hell would we have in common with Marie Antoinette aside from a shared love of cake?

So, you know what? We’re going to say Libba Bray because we’ve already met her and we think she’s AWESOME and maybe if we start stalking her, we’ll all magically become besties.

Find Lisa and Laura online:
Lisa & Laura's blog
Lisa & Laura's website
Lisa & Laura tweet!
Add LIAR SOCIETY to your Goodreads list! Forthcoming from Sourcebooks in Spring 2011.
Read Lisa & Laura's journey--and their query letter--on QT.