The Windrose Sets Sail

I love a good luck story, don't you? Only, there's one thing we should all remember about the world of a writer: you make your own luck. And never was this lesson more evident than yesterday morning when an announcement arrived, tucked away in a sidebar on the newsletter for the Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf. Harper Collins US had bought the North American rights to a trilogy written by Jasmine Richards, senior commissioning editor at OUP.

I know Jasmine. We used to work together at Working Partners, both starting at the company in the same year. You can see her in this photo* on the left, taken during one of our Away Days. Well, waiting on the side of the road with her colleagues after our bus broke down. It's easy to spot Jasmine - she's the one in the middle who is... How do I put this? Performing. Yes, Jasmine was always destined to set the world alight one day - either with her jazz hands or an astounding novel.

When I joined WP, Jasmine had already been there a few months. A joy to be around, she would sometimes say, 'Yes, I really need to sit down and write a novel.' That was five or six years ago. During the passing years she grew as an editor at WP, left to become a star senior commissioning editor at OUP, valiantly talked and appeared at every writers conference in the Western hemisphere, commuted between London and Oxford, did an intense period of maternity cover ... oh, and wrote the first book in a trilogy. If that isn't enough for you, she also thought up one of the most evocative titles I've ever come across for a novel: The Windrose. It doesn't matter if you don't know what the book is about, you close your eyes and imagine... All sorts of things! For me, a warm breeze off the sea (okay, I know a few details about the book), a ship, a quest, some romance...? We'll all find out in 2011 when the first book comes out.

What do I like about Jasmine's story? The sheer chutzpah she showed in getting on with a first novel - the writing and redrafting that took place in the hours left after a full day in the office. The creative determination to see through a project that was larger than life - Jasmine had a big manuscript and big ideas. The strength of character to do something that most people just talk about and the ability to keep going. 'Keep swimming!' as they tell us in the film, Finding Nemo. That's good advice for any writer.

And what do I like about Jasmine? Well, as you can probably tell from the gentle teasing I've already indulged in, she's a warm and charismatic personality who everyone loves. She deserves 2010's good news. Because there's something else we all need to remember about good luck. You can't just make it happen. You have to deserve it, too.

Well done, Jasmine. More people are proud of you than you can possibly know.

* Also in this photo is Sara Grant, author of debut novel Dark Parties, to be published by Little Brown in 2011 and Guy Macdonald, one of the Beastly Boys who write the 'Awfully Beastly Business' series for Simon and Schuster. Working Partners seems to be a breeding ground for children's authors!