Guest Post: "City of the Gods" by S.J. McMillan

Lets welcome author S.J. McMillan to Romance Book Junkies for a special guest post. Thank you S.J. for being on our blog.

The journey to publish City of the Gods: The Descendant has been a long and interesting path to follow. Just writing the book took years. It started as a paranormal romance with vampires, werewolves, witches, etc. But then a certain movie came out, perhaps some of you have heard of it, Twilight. Then Vampire Diaries premiered on the CW. I wanted to give readers a story that’s unique. That’s when the rewrites began. 

                I started researching for a new place to base the story. My sister had just returned from her honeymoon in Mexico, so I thought I’d start there. Well, it didn’t take me long to find the city of Teotihuacán. I was instantly intrigued and an idea was born. I spent the next year rewriting the story.

                After the rewrites were done, the dreaded querying process began. I queried agents and publishing houses, but either received rejections or no answer at all. I shelved the book for a few months and started on the second book for the trilogy. I was contacted by a fellow writer who informed me of a new publishing company that was opening and looking for submissions. (On a side note, I love how supportive authors are of each other. They’re such a great group of people). I queried the company and two weeks later was offered a publishing contract. I was ecstatic. I started working with my editor, was given a release date, and received the cover art for my book. I was almost done with the first round of edits when the company closed.

                It was a tough break, but I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and started the querying process over again. This go round I found two publishing companies interested in my book. Which is awesome, but it was a hard decision to make. I signed on with one and sent a lovely ‘thank you, but no’ note to the other. My book finally hit the shelves for the first time in late May of 2012. It was so exciting. I loved doing the virtual book tour and made lots of new friends. Just as I was putting the finishing touches on the second book, my publishing company closed its doors and my book was pulled from retailers.

                I didn’t start searching for another publishing company right away. I took some time to completely finish the manuscript for the second book and sent it the editor I worked with on the first book. I, once again, started querying agents and publishing houses.  Needless to say, my book was picked up with another company. I got a brand new cover for my book and it was re-released in November 2012.

                In conclusion, I’ve been with three publishing companies (including the one I’m with now), I’ve had three different covers for my book, and two editors. I’m not complaining by any means. I’ve met some great people throughout this journey. It’s been one hell of an awesome ride and I can’t wait to see where it takes me next.

                Thank you so much for having me here today and allowing me to share my publishing expedition. I have an author page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/mcmillansj), as well as on Twitter (www.twitter.com/mcmillansj), if you would like to follow along with my writing projects. You can also stop by my website that has all sorts of goodies posted there (www.mcmillansj.com).

 700 A.D. Teotihuacán, Mexico – The High Priest believed himself to be as powerful as the gods. He set a plague on the city as a demonstration of his power. The Gods took pity on the remaining loyal congregation. They granted each survivor immortality and an extraordinary ability. Three loyal survivors were given a mission of great importance: train the lone human descendant of their civilization to stop the evil priest from damning the rest of humanity.

2012 A.D. San Diego, California – The time has come to finally make Katalina Deckard aware of her destiny. Her life has been a constant struggle since the loss of her parents when she was young. But has it prepared her to save the world? Can her friends, who have survived so long, convince her she has what it takes to accept the mantle of Redeemer?