Jaime Questell, graphic designer for the University of Houston, College of Education (UH COE), has sold the rights to her debut young adult novel, By a Charm and a Curse, to Entangled Publishing. The book is to be published in early 2018.

The novel tells the story a run-down carnival that's held together by a charm and a curse, and the girl who becomes ensnared in the curse after visiting it one night. She must figure out how to break the decades-old curse to become human again — without destroying the carnival (and the boy) she's growing to love in the process.

The road to publication has been a long one. Questell, began her project in 2012, writing nightly after her children had gone to bed and on the weekends. After completing and polishing the manuscript, she then had to secure representation from a literary agent. She signed with Patricia Nelson of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency in 2014. "Trying to find an agent who likes your work is tough," says Questell, "but I was so lucky to find Patricia. She completely understood what I was trying to do and is always insightful and encouraging."

After revising and polishing the manuscript again, Nelson set to finding the perfect publisher. Rights ultimately went to Stacy Abrams Entangled Teen, a division of Entangled Publishing. "It's hard work," says Questell, "and I'm not done yet. There will be several rounds of revisions with my editor before it's ready to go to print. But I can't imagine what I would do if I wasn't writing."

To stay up to date on the publication status, check out the Goodreads page for By a Charm and a Curse here.