You know it’s a significant day when you experience one of those moments that you’re going to remember for the rest of your life. Often the keenest moments are from one's childhood: the first time you managed to ride a bike without stabilisers, that first kiss, the moment you finished your school exams and freedom beckoned – but there are also plenty from adulthood like passing your driving test, the birth of your child, and specifically in my case, flying an aircraft solo and my first computer game number one. For me a common theme to all of these moments is that time seems to slow down, perceptions are heightened and afterwards, life is never quite the same again.

I have worked full time as a writer for seven years now and there have been many memorable moments, most significantly becoming a signed Cornerstone's author and securing the wonderful Eve White as my agent. However, the next step of a publishing deal has proved elusive. I had three near misses and on each occasion I’ve experienced a roller coaster of emotions. But my personal motto is to follow the wise words of Winston Churchill about never giving up – it also happens to be a quote that I have printed on a label by my monitor so I can see it every day. Without doubt, perseverance is one of the most important qualities you can have as a writer, especially in the current climate where it’s never been harder to get an initial breakthrough with a traditional publishing deal. 

When another rejection email/letter/phone call comes through, it sometimes feels tempting to throw in the towel and turn one’s back on writing. But here’s the thing – if you truly believe writing is what makes you tick, is what you think about when you gaze out of the window, that you find yourself casting famous actors for the film version of your book, then you really mustn’t give up. I have had to grit my teeth so many times, had to push myself to keep trying, so often that at times it’s seemed that getting a publishing deal is a task that even Hercules would find difficult to pull off (actually, maybe he would have landed a celebrity book deal). But I have always kept taking one step after another to pursue that dream of becoming a published author. Maybe I'm just stubborn.

A good friend and wonderful fellow children's writer, Lee Weatherly, once gave me a wonderful piece of advice that has always stayed with me. She told me that one day even the rejections would make sense when Cloud Riders found the publisher it truly belonged with. She said that there I would find people who would be as passionate as I am about my characters and story, and it would be at that moment my whole journey towards being published would make sense.

That moment arrived for me today at 7.15am GMT. An email landed that has changed my world, a moment where time stopped, a moment that I have worked towards for seven years, a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life. Today at 7.15am I was offered a three book contract with the new and very exciting publishing house, Three Hares, who look set to cause considerable ripples across the industry and will be a force to be reckoned with. 

http://threeharespublishing.com

The rest of this day has been a bit of a daze. It’s not often such a cherished dream comes true. I still can’t quite believe it’s happened. Maybe I’ve slipped through into one the parallel worlds that I write about, but if that’s true I have to say I rather like this new reality. It certainly feels that with this publishing deal with Three Hares, Cloud Riders has finally come home.

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Agent Announcement – http://therealnickcook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/happiness-is-mostly-by-product-of-doing.html

It’s with real pleasure that I can announce I’ve just signed with the agent Eve White, who’ll now be representing me. After just the tiniest bit of encouragement from my friends, it’s been very much a champagne sort of day!

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the very talented Cornerstones team that I’ve been working with. Special heartfelt thanks must go to Kathryn Price, the senior editor there who’s been inspirational to work with. I am so going to miss you guys! If you're a budding new author I can't recommend this team highly enough.

Here’s to the future and I'm really looking forward to working with Eve and her team. I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be a great year! 

http://evewhite.co.uk

http://www.cornerstones.co.uk/

And here's my sparkling new author's page on Eve White's website.

I’ve just got back from a wonderful barge holiday along the leafy Oxford section of the River Thames. A holiday like this is all about slowing down from the normal hectic rhythm of life, where travel along the canals is based at walking speed, and the landscape transforms itself slowly. Fields slide past and approaching cities announce themselves with the peak of church spires over the tree line.  

Entering Oxford, we slipped under its bridges to moor on the towpath at the heart of the city. At once memories of Phillip Pullman’s Northern Lights novel (renamed The Golden Compass), flooded back to me and it was easy to see where his inspiration for the Gypsums came from. A quick visit to the Pitts Rivers museum and of course the obligatory viewing of the shrunken heads (which also features in Pullman’s work), matched up to my startling memories of when I’d first seen them as a child.