To all those who’re writing, editing, creating, and dreaming:

Please, continue. Don’t let rejection letters or harsh criticisms halt you, don’t let yourself be derailed.

My second novel is due out in a few weeks, and it looks like I’m about to sign my third.

It wasn’t easy, and while my hubris is CERTAINLY to blame, I also needed to learn, to grow.

Rejection letters hurt at first, and I was personally insulted by each one. Looking back though, they taught me to back away when angry, and eventually, they became my motivation… I needed to prove them wrong. For every slip that said “we’re sorry, but we won’t be accepting your work” I learned to say “Thank you for the opportunity,” while under my breath I muttered, “To prove to you that you were wrong to decline.”

Every criticism used to feel like a personal attack.

I needed to learn that many people are skilled at different things and that I’m not perfect.

I don’t always place a comma correctly, and I might have written week where I meant weak…

And maybe, just maybe, what sounds great to me and reads spectacularly in my head, may just come off as f****g confusing to someone else.

Lastly… I needed to learn to keep going, to keep practicing my craft and improving and evolving.

I needed to learn to pick myself up when I stumbled.

The results of these lessons, well…

Picture time.

Moral of the story

Don’t let it get you down.

If I can become published, so can you.

If I can create, so can you.

Dream, practice, grow, work, SUCCEED!

I believe in you.