Gail L. Jenner, click
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Gail L. Jenner's
Success Story
Although always a 'closet writer', as a teacher I was constantly interested in learning more about how to TEACH writing. I attended the Northern CA Bay Area Writing Project and there had to SUBMIT my writing! I quickly moved to submitting for publication and was lucky enough to publish right off the bat. I attribute that to having studied the periodicals and markets BEFORE submitting. I also started 'small' and 'more local.' With each success, I reached a little further. Coauthoring a teacher's curriculum guidebook and having several of my children's stories accepted for publication in a family anthology gave me the incentive to submit my first novel, a romantic historical set against the little-known Marias Massacre of 1870. The history was important and as I studied it, became disturbed that so little had been written about it. After 10 years of research and rewriting, it was sold. Then it won the 2002 Willa Literary Award for Best Original Paperback Fiction, from Women Writing the West. What a thrill to have a story that grew out of my research to be rewarded like that.
