Spotlight on Jillian Cantor!

I am so excited to have Jillian Cantor as a guest today!  

Jillian is the author of the recently released The September Sisters. The praise for her debut novel continues to roll in.  However, Jillian is not just an amazing writer with fabulous hair, she is also an American Idol fan!  So as you get ready for tonight's show, check out why Jillian tunes in...

Why I Love American Idol

The first time I saw American Idol, I was in the midst of sending the first novel I wrote out to agents. I was getting rejections, a lot of them. The majority of rejections were form letters – and I had to wonder if my pages had even been read or had gone straight to the shredder. I was feeling pretty depressed about my prospects, breaking into a business where I had no contacts, and where I was having a hard time getting even one person to look at my work. And that is why I fell in love with American Idol, why I sobbed like a baby when Kelly Clarkson got the first ever Idol crown. And why I said to my husband, why can’t there be an Idol for writers?

I love the idea of the show, the idea that someone with raw-undiscovered talent who was unable to break into the business on his/her own can be thrust into the spotlight, judged by America, and given the chance at what felt like an impossible career. I followed Kelly’s story, about how she’d moved to LA to give the music business a shot on her own before, but had gotten rejected.  And when she won, it felt like a triumph for me, for any artist who has ever been rejected and discouraged.

And it didn’t stop with Kelly. I’ve been an avid follower of Idol every season, finding my favorites, clinging on to the stories of hope and triumph, and watching as people with talent were plucked from obscurity into the spotlight. I followed it all, as my own writing career fell to enormous lows – giving up on the first novel, giving up on writing – and enormous highs – writing my second book (The September Sisters), getting an agent, selling the book to HarperCollins.

Then, just two weeks ago, with this latest season of Idol barely into the good part, I got to watch the show the same night The September Sisters officially debuted! It had been nearly seven years since I’d first started looking for an agent, but despite all the rejection and uncertainty, somehow, still, I’d been able to do it. Not as quickly or as meteorically as Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood or Clay Aiken or David Cook, but still, I felt I’d accomplished something huge, overcome some pretty big odds of my own.

And I am still a big fan of American Idol. I already have my favorites this year, a few of them, actually, as much for their amazing talent as for their stories of struggle and triumph – Alexis Grace, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta, Lil Rounds, and of course, Scott MacIntyre. But I know that no matter who wins this season, I will most likely be watching the finale with a box of tissues. There is nothing else in the world like watching someone’s dream become a reality.

For more about me and The September Sisters, I hope you’ll visit my website, www.jilliancantor.com. Thanks so much for inviting me to your blog today, Shalonda!

A huge thank you goes out to Jillian for taking time out of her busy schedule to visit. (And I mean that.  She is everywhere, and on top of that she has the hardest job of all--she's a mom!!!) 

The September Sisters is available in stores and can also be purchased at your favorite online bookstore.  Jillian's next book, which we are all anxiously awaiting, will be released in Winter 2010.