FEARLESS FRIDAY
Joseph Campbell, American writer and mythologist said, “The
cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
For me, the cave I feared to enter was the fiction world of
writing. I graduated with a journalism and communications degree, so writing news
or feature articles, ad copy, technical information, or grants for education
and industry was never a problem.
An avid reader, I always loved fiction, and I toyed with writing
it in my spare time. I joined a local writer’s group. When I finally gathered
enough courage to send a manuscript to an agent, I received a letter that was
less than inspiring and certainly not encouraging. I was heartbroken. Although family,
writer friends, and others had told me to disregard one man’s comments and keep
submitting my work, it took me ten years to gather enough courage to try again.
With my heart in my shoes, I submitted a short story called
“The Season of Withered Corn” to a small publication in Loveland, Colorado.
There was nothing more exciting than to receive a letter several weeks later
from the magazine editor with a check and the words, “We really enjoyed your
writing. Do you have more stories you can send us?” A whopping, ten-dollar
check was enclosed. But it was the first step into the fearful cave to find the
treasure.
Since then, I have written four books and many short stories
that had been published and won awards. I framed the first dollar from that Colorado check and have
it in my study where I write. It’s a constant reminder that a rejection slip or
email only means someone didn’t like your work—not the whole world.
Judy Ann Davis is the author of KEY
TO LOVE, published by The Wild Rose Press, now available in digital and print. http://www.amazon.com/Key-to-Love-ebook/dp/B00DNO9S8K
She also has a collection of nineteen
short stories, UP ON THE ROOF AND
OTHER STORIES, published by Whiskey Creek Press, coming out this month. Visit
her on her website: www.judyanndavis.com
or on her blog: www.judyanndavis.blospot.com
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