Climbing Mountains in Stilettos by Ann Tinkham
To get a book published is like climbing a mountain in stilettos.
Our book, Climbing Mountains in Stilettos, started with an idea—to write a kick-ass guide to becoming a bad girl. I asked one of my best friends to collaborate with me and she was on board immediately. We brainstormed ideas while backcountry skiing, climbing mountains, soaking in
The second trail we tackled was Pioneer Pass—putting our ideas down in a book proposal. One hundred pages and one summer later, we had written and were ready to pitch our project to the publishing world. We thought: ready or not, here we come!
“One hundred pages and one summer later, we had written and were ready to pitch our project to the publishing world. We thought: ready or not, here we come!”
Sleeping Mountain Lion Pass was next. As we hiked the trail, we had no idea what lay in wait for us. The agent rejections followed our scent and stalked us. But being the intrepid bad girls we are, we persevered. Finally, a well-respected NY agent with a smoky voice and big promises signed with us. After completing Sleeping Mountain Lion Pass, we were elated!
After that came the Yellow Brick Road. With our emerald-tinted glasses and ruby-colored stilettos, we felt that we would soon reach the summit. But we still had a few things to learn along the way. One, signing with a literary agent doesn’t mean you’re golden—that a six figure advance is coming your way. It just means you’ve signed with an agent. Two, after a dozen publishing houses passed on the project, we were told by our agent we needed to be famous to get a book deal. Three, apparently, we were not as far along to the Stilettos Summit as we thought.
Our next trail was Luscious Body Hot Springs. With our spirits low and our bodies heavy with disappointment, we soaked away our aches and pains in mountain
Sabotage Gulch was a tricky trail to navigate; one misstep and we would plummet into the gaping gulch. We had to make sure not to make the typical mistakes of good girls, such as passively waiting, refusing to blow our own horns, believing the doubting demon, and being damsels in distress. We were determined to present our baddest bad girl selves to the publishing world!
We signed with a second agent and took on the Double Black Diamond Challenge. This time, we were more experienced mountaineers, so we quickly saw that our challenge was to drop our agent, who wasn’t doing much on our behalf, and move on. With a brief stint on Sassy Comeback Arch, we sharpened our tongues and strengthened our resolve to navigate without an agent.
It was while hiking Bushwhackers’ Gorge that we felt long-term fatigue from the journey—our feet ached and our spirits were weary. We wondered if we would ever reach the summit. We encountered climbers who had been to the top and egged us on. They told us that the summit was a steep but quick ascent right after the Gorge.
As we caught sight of the summit, we signed with a third agent who landed a book deal with Sourcebooks! The editorial team insisted upon naming our book Climbing Mountains in Stilettos. We loved it! At long last, we had reached the Stilettos Summit, where the view was spectacular. We were exhilarated and exhausted. As we settled on rocks with panoramic views and refueled with hot cocoa and brownies, we could see the route we had traveled.
Our next dream is to take off from the summit and fly—in winged stilettos, of course.
Ann Tinkham is a writer/instructional designer based in Boulder, Colorado. She has written over 40 online courses in subjects ranging from emergency preparedness to energetic healing. Ann has completed a nonfiction book, Climbing Mountains in Stilettos (SourceBooks, 2007). Her fiction has appeared in Apt, Double Dare Press, Edifice Wrecked, Hiss Quarterly, Lily, MotherVerse, Stone Table Review, Syntax, Thirst for Fire, Toasted Cheese, Wild Violet, and Writethis.com.
