A challenge

At this point in my writing journey, my daughter calls me and issues me a challenge. Keep in mind, her favorite genre is anything paranormal. I write romance. She says to me, “Mom, let’s both write a paranormal story and try to get them published.”

“I don’t write paranormal,” I say.

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun, we’ll do it together.”

I hang up with the promise that I will think about it. And the more I think about it, an idea comes into my mind. I begin to write my story. I hash it out, rehearsing every plot element with my ever-patient husband. I ask advice from my psychology-degreed daughter. Soon, I end up with a 90,000 word paranormal romance entitled, “Lancaster House.” But, I feel kind of silly writing paranormal, even though I end up loving the story. Maybe like everyone else in the world, I’m just a little bit tired of vampires—yet I LOVE Twilight. I admit it.

However, feeling like my book wasn’t really all that good, I don’t query it. I don’t send it to ANYONE. Not one single query letter.

Instead, I move on and write my next book, entitled, I Have People. Once again, it’s too long, but I don’t know that. It was in the 130,000 range. I do query this book, but only hear rejection.

But, one of the rejection letters is PERSONAL.

And this is HUGE.

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This rejection is NOTHING!

There is absolutely no way to feel good about rejection. You tell yourself that it doesn’t matter, that writing is very subjective, that your story just didn’t appeal to that particular person, etc.

But, the fact is, it hurts. It blows your confidence. You start to wonder if you really suck. If you let it, it will affect your writing ability.

After LOTS of rejection letters, one kind agent let me know that my books were too LONG, that I’d never get published at that length.

Oh.

Do I believe her, however? Nope.

I keep writing. I move on and write my third book. The fastest I’ve ever written a book. I write For Nick in two months and I’m stoked. It was something like 137,000 words and I, of course, think that it must be okay because it’s shorter than the others.

I needed to do some serious research on word count. But, I don’t. I move on.

Everyone who is rejecting me is wrong. Right? They don’t know what they’re talking about. All I need to do is persevere. Don’t give up.

The don’t give up part was good, the lack of research was bad.

A little bit of quirky family history: Whenever my children came home upset at a teacher, a friend, an organization, etc, I would sing them a song. (Keep in mind, I can’t sing). They would roll their eyes and laugh, but the song has a fantastic message. I am again referencing, A Chorus Line. The song is about a young girl who goes to acting class and the children and the teacher laugh at her. As she prays about the situation, she hears a voice in her soul tell her, this class is nothing, this teacher is nothing, if you want something, go find a better class. And when you find it, you’ll be an actress, and I assure you that’s what finally came to pass.

Great message, right? I had the nasty habit of feeling that song bubble up inside of me as I listened to my children’s complaints. Then, I couldn’t help myself, I’d sing it to them, replacing the words with whatever problem they were having at the moment, ie: this person is nothing, this friend is nothing, if you want something, go find a better friend . . .

You get the idea. The thought wasn’t limited to advice. The thought was in my head. This agent is nothing, this agency is nothing, if you want something, go find a better agent . . .

It helps to be just a little delusional if you’re going to be a writer.

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