Feeling Grateful
We’ve all had those days and weeks as writers when nothing seems to go well. We get a slew of back-to-back rejections, our critique group is less than thrilled with our latest submission, and our work-in-progress is, well…stalling. Only that pesty compulsion to write keeps us going.
Fortunately, there are other weeks when lots of nice things happen. Recently, I had one of those. First off, I was pleasantly surprised by the warm response I received to my blog, “Unexpected Gift,” about the upside of having had a rocky recovery from major spinal surgery. I realized that health challenges are something all of us deal with sooner or later, and they really do lead us to a kind of awakening and changed perspective in our lives.
The second nice thing this past week has been writing an expanded version of a short fiction piece, “Betrayal.” The editor of Louisville Literary Review had invited me to submit work after hearing me read an excerpt of MISSING MOM this past summer as part of the Voice & Vision Reading Series. I sent her several pieces to pick from and her favorite was “Betrayal” which I’d originally written in response to a writing prompt. The editor wanted me to include more about the characters and their motivations. It felt good to dig deeper into the piece, and I was delighted that the editor loved my revisions and plans to include the piece in the spring issue.
Another lovely moment was when a fellow member of my senior chorus bought copies of four of my novels to give as Christmas gifts. He’d previously bought copies for himself and told me he wanted his son and daughter to enjoy them as well. It made me feel so warm and fuzzy on the inside that I had a fan!
Finally, I got the news that Jay Hartman, the editor of White City Press, plans to republish my novel, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU. When the original publisher refused to print any more copies, I requested my rights back. I was absolutely thrilled to find a new publishing home for IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU. Whenever I’ve sold my novels at book events, it’s been a big favorite of readers. 
Obviously, not every week brings wonderful news to us writers. But when they do, it sure feels lovely to savor those feel-good moments!