HBF Teacher has been a public school Middle grades teacher for three years. Before that, she substitute taught for two years.

Because of the many years teaching and seeing what really goes on in the school system, she decided to write a book about it, going incognito of course.

We interviewed her to find out about her new book, No Teachers Left Behind, a fictional yet realistic look at the frustrations of middle school staff.  If you’d like to find out more about her, visit www.noteachersleftbehind.info.

Welcome to Beyond the Books, HBF Teacher. Can you start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?

No Teachers Left Behind is not my first novel. I also have had an e-book published so I would definitely consider myself to be multi-published.

What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?

Summer’s Love was the name of the romance novel.

For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it?

Well I can’t honestly recall all the rejections I received for Summer’s Love. Probably enough to fill a storage locker. Eventually I self-published the novel, did another rewrite, and it the story was picked up by an e-book publisher.

How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?

Rejection hurts. There’s no doubt about it, and I think the more you get, the more it hurts. Of course, I was depressed, probably honestly cried a little bit, but I tried to use the rejections constructively. Why was I being rejected? Was my query not written well? Was my story not unique, etc?

When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

iUniverse was the company I used to help me self-publish my novel. At the time, their publishing program was easy and affordable.

How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

Even though I self-published the novel, I was still overjoyed when I received the first copy in my hand. There’s nothing like holding a copy of the object that you sweated and toiled over for a year and a half.

What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?

I told everyone I knew that I had published a book, and I asked them to tell their friends. Social Networking is very important these days.

If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?

Self-publishing was my choice. The only other route would have been for me to not publish, and I just had to see my story published. I’m happy with the way things have turned out so far.

Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

I have been published again, and the name of my new novel is No Teachers Left Behind. My previous publishing experience taught me a great deal, and that knowledge has been beneficial to me.

Looking back since the early days when you were trying to get published, what do you think you could have done differently to speed things up? What kind of mistakes could you have avoided?

I probably would have worked a bit harder on my query letter and my book synopsis. Those things are so very important. You won’t get your foot in even the smallest door if they aren’t written well.

What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?

I’ve received some great reviews, and I’ve also been nominated for a couple of awards. It’s an achievement to have my writing recognized.

If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

Well I’m already a writer, a teacher, and last but not least, a mother. If I could add one more profession to my resume, what would that be? I think I would choose to be a psychologist. I really enjoy listening to people talk, and people often tell me that they feel better after talking to me.

Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

I would never give up my writing for anything. It’s a part of who I am. As far as combining the two professions together, sometimes I feel like I do help people by writing. Often I will have a reader come up to me and say that I’ve made them smile or laugh or simply reflect about a part of his/her life. With that said, perhaps there is some psychiatry in what I do.

How do you see yourself in ten years?

Still creating stories about life.

Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Your desire determines your reach.