Monday Mentionables: Revisiting Rejection Letters

"Never, never, never give up!" ~Winston Churchill

Happy Monday! I FINALLY got around to sorting the piles of stuff in our office over the weekend - hooray! And as I was moving files from one file cabinet to another, I came across my folder of rejection letters. They're from both agents and editors/publishing houses, and I vowed always to keep them so I could remember how hard it was to get a contract and how many times I had to pick myself up from disappointment. As I was flipping through, I found some that made me smile, and I thought I'd share them with you:

Rejections for One Night in Boston

"I regret having to tell you that I've decided to pass on this. I wasn't convinced enough of being able to place this manuscript, considering the very tight and demanding conditions of the market."

"Thanks but because of your location, I suggest you would be better served by a NYC agent."

Rejections for One Night in Memphis (which went on to become an EPPIE finalist and earn 4 stars from Romantic Times)

"Unfortunately, we have problems with this story. [Our house's] contemporary romances are generally more light-hearted in tone than your novel."

"When it comes to contemporary romances, I am very picky about what I am looking for. I really want to feel a strong connection with the characters and to truly want to see them together. I also look for a story that has a strong purpose and sense of place. Unfortunately, I just did not see what I was looking for in this story."

"You are a good writer, but somehow the story did not strike the right chord with me."

Rejections for Lost in Paradise

"Unfortunately, I just did not fall in love with the story."

"I just was not enthusiastic about this story."

"As I conduct a legal practice in addition to my work as an agent, I am forced to be very selective in the literary projects I take on to represent. While I am eagerly looking for quality women's fiction, I ultimately concluded that your writing was not strong enough to make this a clearly marketable project."

***

Then I went through my folder of "Fan Mail" and pulled out 2 emails at random:

"Just finished reading 'One Night in Boston' last night, well this morning at 1:10 am. It was great and I couldn't put it down! I can't wait to order 'One Night in Memphis' and 'Lost in Paradise'!"

"I just read your first two books and loved them both! You have amazing characters, gripping plots, a fantastic vocabulary, and fresh comparisons. I just had to drop you a note to let you know."

***

Sooo...don't ever give up! One person's rejection is simply that: one person's. The next letter (or email) may be the one you've been waiting for, the one with the wonderful news that says, "I am happy to offer you a contract for..."

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

"Drama is life with the dull bits cut out. " ~Alfred Hitchcock

Today: I am in NYC on a field trip with my students. It's supposed to be chilly but sunny...I'll be back with a full report (and maybe some pictures!) soon.

Tomorrow: I am getting rid of my Facebook account. Sigh. I loved keeping in touch with people, especially as I was planning my high school reunion last summer, but there got to be too much drama recently - leave it at that. Anyone else experience anything similar, on FB or Twitter or another social networking site?

Writers' Wednesday: Links for Writers

"All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Wednesday! Okay, not every link today is for writers. Some are for readers too...

First off, check out the Book Video Contest over at JK Coi's blog and vote for your favorite!

The Meadowland Review is a small, new online literary journal that's accepting submissions for its spring 2010 issue. Details here.

Revelry Magazine is another small, online magazine that's just starting out and welcoming submissions from authors ~ in their words, "anything that relates to the literary world."

Since there were a couple of articles in last month's Writer's Digest about using small markets to boost your writing resume, I highly recommend checking out either of the above and submitting anything you might have. Those publications look great when writing your query letters to dream agents!

Finally, Summer's Song releases in ebook two weeks from yesterday...very exciting...and I'm currently thinking up some kind of cool giveaway events. Oh, I'll be promoting the book in a variety of places that week, too, so stay tuned for the places and times as release week gets nearer. Many cool prizes to be given away, including (of course) the ebook itself!

Monday Mentionables: Thoughts on Halloween and Daylight Savings Time

"One need not be a chamber to be haunted;
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place." ~Emily Dickinson

How was your Halloween? Do you get a lot of trick-or-treaters? None at all? Somewhere in the middle? I've found there are 2 theories to people who hand out candy (or, in the case of my best friend from high school, who hands out candy to the kids and jello shots to the adults bringing them around): you either buy candy you like, so whatever's left you'll eat yourself...or you buy candy you hate, so whatever's left won't tempt you.

Which one are you?

We don't get any trick-or-treaters at all, which always makes me a little sad, but I guess that's OK. We did go to a party Saturday night, which turned out to be a little more raucous than I expected: one of our friends is recently separated and dating a much younger woman (24), so all of her friends were there...and let me just say that it's been a long time since I was 24 and partied like that. Hmm. I don't really miss it, either, truth be told - though it was good for some character ideas for future books. Of course, what isn't good for character ideas?

*****

And then there's Daylight Savings Time. OK, while I do appreciate the extra hour when it comes to early morning (I suppose), this day in fall always seems like f-o-r-e-v-e-r long. Doesn't it? I was ready for bed at 6:3o, and not just because it was pitch back outside. Ugh. It really does just make me want to crawl into bed after work for the next 4 months!

But enough about me. How was your weekend??

Friday Fun Facts: Random Pages from Entwined

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection." ~Anais Nin

So NaNoWriMo is nigh upon us...for those of you writers out there, that means that November is the month in which if you're crazy enough, you sign up to write a 50,000-word novel by the end of the thirty days. Yes, many people do it every year. No, I have not ever been one of them, though last year I chose December as my own month to attempt to do the same. That produced the first 30,000 words of Entwined...and now here I am a year later, trying to finish it. Yikes!! Where does the time go?

Anyway, for kicks, and also to motivate myself to finally finish this story, I thought I'd have my husband choose 5 random page numbers and then post the first 2 sentences on each one. I thought, I don't know, that maybe it would kick start me into remembering why I like this story and where I still have to go with it. Here they are...

5 - Edward Meacham stands to the side, watching. He waits until the sea of black parts and only Alex Smithson and his wife Trinity stand beside Natasha.

86 - His smile changes a little, grows rueful. “If I tell you I don’t really believe in that sort of thing, will you still have dinner with me?”

157 - Of course she wants to know. But it has taken so much effort to heal her heart that she suspects reading Maggie’s journal will undo all the work of the last six months.

211 - “Listen, I’ve got it bad,” she confesses. Her smile is a half-moon singing to him.

234 - There are truths that reach beyond what we can see or read or believe in consciousness. There are truths that should stay hidden, truths that belong to no one except the people who create and hide them in the first place.

Ooh, now I'm excited again! OK, how about you? Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? Do tell, and your reasons why or why not!

Writers' Wednesday: A Blog Post from Yours Truly!

"If you don't allow yourself the possibility of writing something very, very bad, it would be hard to write something very good." ~Steven Galloway

Well, I'm blogging over at the Samhain Publishing Blog today....do stop by and visit me there, would you? Love to hear from you!

Monday Mentionables: Pics from the Boston Trip!

If you didn't check in with my blog last week, I traveled to Boston for a whirlwind 2 days. While there, I accepted a teaching award at Boston College and visited with 3 friends from high school/college. had a WONDERFUL time! So, here are some pics...

With (from left to right) the former student who nominated me for the award, the Dean of the BC School of Education, and the president of the BC Student Senate




With my husband, standing in front of the BC flowers (there were a few of these, all around campus). Boston College has a gorgeous campus, and the weather on the day we visited was 70 degrees~

With my former student, Kerry, in front of one of the many beautiful buildings on campus

A view in Boston Public Garden

In Boston Common, downtown

One of a few squirrels foraging in the now-empty flower beds in Boston Public Garden - they each had their own, by the way. No sharing. Hmm..wonder if it's a squirrel-etiquette thing

They do love posing for pictures

And this duck was hard at work catching something for lunch...