Make New Friends…

I love to write. I’m pretty sure most have figured that out by now and it isn’t something I have to keep blasting to the world. But what I really love about writing, besides being able to manipulate lives (muwaaahaaaa), is the camaraderie between authors. I stepped into this creative arena pretty unsuccessfully a few years ago. I dove in, head first, filling the readers head with enough backstory and characters to choke a horse. Needless to say, I have tons of rejection letters (yes, I keep them, my little badges of honor).

I was ready to give up. Everyone I knew that read anything I wrote always said I wrote well. That they liked my stories. So what was the problem? If my friends liked it, why didn’t the literary agents and publishers? Why?

Because I still had so much to learn and I still have a tremendous more to learn. There are no overnight successes. I had to learn that lesson fast. I’m still learning it. Anyone you see that’s successful today (by whatever your standards are for success), I bet has a story they can tell you on how they got there. It wasn’t overnight. It may seem that way, but it wasn’t. There is a journey behind every person you meet. They may be at the beginning of the trail or somewhere three-quarters of the way into it. 

What powered me through the rejections? Highly potent beverages. (Just kidding, Mama) But a big glass of wine is great for medicinal purposes, right? For authors, it’s great for mental and emotional stress and for getting 3,000 words down on paper. (Whether it’s coherent or not.)

But seriously, what really pushed me to keep going was the encouragement and the awesomeness of other authors. Seeing their successes and hearing their stories helped to put things in perspective for me. I wasn’t alone. Others had been rejected before and lived to tell about it. I started to realize the only way to get better was to continue to write, continue to read and listen to the advice of others who were on the same journey. 

I think one of the best things I did was enter Harlequin’s 2013 SYTYCW contest. I put myself out there. Pushed myself out of my comfort zone and guess what? I met a ton of great authors and editors through it. They were all so supportive and it was like a little family outside of my own where I could get encouragement and feedback. I didn’t win, (congrats Tanya Wright - IF ONLY releases July 1st!!!) but I took away a whole new perspective. I have author friends (pops collar) and I get to share their success. I get to see what hope (did I send that to the correct submission email address), blood (paper cuts), sweat (from the many walks and runs authors take to clear their heads) and tears (rejection letters, need I say more) can do. I also had the confidence to keep submitting and come November, The Christmas Tree Guy will be available for your reading pleasure! (Thank you 5 Prince Publishing!)

Some of the best advice I’ve gotten on this journey has been to make friends. Connect with people. I will say, it’s probably the best thing I could have ever done.