All in all, I’d have to say that 2009 was a good year for me.

My short story “Necromancer” was published in the first volume of a new pulp fiction anthology titled Visions: Chronicles of a Visionary Universe. That thrill was quickly followed by an invitation to join the ranks of Sourcebooks authors and help launch a new YA imprint, Sourcebooks Fire, with my historical novel about the Fox sisters and the beginning of the spiritualist movement. And since things often come in threes, I shouldn’t have been surprised (but I was) at the subsequent film option deal with One Eye Open Studio for the rights to my novel, now titled We Hear the Dead.

Yes, 2009 was a pretty good year for an average elementary school teacher, wife, and mom who has been writing all her life, but never dreamed (okay, maybe dreamed) of making a second career out of it! But 2010 promises to be even better!

I expect to shortly see the release of Visions Volume 2, which will include my fantasy short story “Greydeere.” In May, Sourcebooks Fire will release We Hear the Dead, and sometime this year I expect to complete a screenplay based on the book, which I have been writing in collaboration with the owner of OEO Studio.

We Hear the Dead is based on the real life story of Maggie Fox, a teenage girl who, in 1848, inadvertently founded the spiritualist movement with a clever prank that snowballed out of control. By the time Maggie realized the repercussions of her actions, she was embroiled in nineteenth century politics, well on her way to becoming a teenage celebrity, and trapped in a life of deceit. When she fell in love with a fellow celebrity, Arctic explorer and gentleman adventurer Elisha Kane, Maggie was forced to choose between the love of her life and the family business.

I look forward to introducing Elisha and Maggie, as well as the other charming Fox sisters, to YA readers this spring — and potentially to movie goers sometime in the future.

Here’s to the promise of a new decade!