I selected my young adult fantasy novel, The Scorpion’s Lullaby, to go to the moon for a few reasons:

1. The story is fantastical, with impossible creatures and magic, but it’s also very human.
2. It features a strong young woman who’s lost her faith…and then finds it.
3. It shows how two enemies can come together with a common goal and become not only allies, but friends.
4. In the end, if I’m going to be remembered for any of the books I’ve published until this moment in time, I want it to be this one. I always hope the next book will be better than the last, but The Scorpion’s Lullaby remains my favorite for now. 

Here’s a little something I wrote about the book when it first came out:

Almost four and a half years ago, writing under a different name, I started a young adult fantasy tale during National Novel Writing Month. The story just flowed, and I finished it that month.

A few weeks later, I landed a literary agent who wanted to represent one of my other YA fantasy manuscripts (a prior year’s National Novel Writing Month project, in fact). So exciting! But months passed, and the manuscript didn’t get picked up by any publishing houses. However, my agent was extremely positive about this new one, The Scorpion’s Lullaby, and we worked hard for months, getting it revised and polished for editors.

Many polite editor rejections later, I was admittedly crushed, but I decided to move on to other projects. I polished up a historical novel. I started self-publishing a really fun trilogy of creepy tales.

Not long after, my agent left the business.

I was sad to lose my agent, who is a fabulous person with an eye for story and pacing. And although I was happy with my work, a part of me ached at the thought of The Scorpion’s Lullaby languishing on my hard drive. It was meant for “bigger” things–traditional publishing, with a huge advance and all the publicity that goes with it!

I get it in my head sometimes that things can only be done in certain ways. Changing those ideas can be hard. It’s scary.

But you know what? I don’t need the traditional book deal. You are all I need. One reader. One person getting lost in the story. One email showing up in my inbox, saying, “Juliet, I loved this.”

So I’m overjoyed to share The Scorpion’s Lullaby with you. This is the realization of a dream.

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And the dream continues, two years later, as I join my fellow Writers on the Moon and launch The Scorpion’s Lullaby one step closer to the stars. I’m so grateful to be a part of this project!