Please welcome Susan Palmquist as our guest blogger today. Susan has a touching account of her writing journey. She also wears Author Coach and Marketing Services hats. You'll enjoy her post. Read on!
Eavesdropping and yes, maybe greed first got me interested in
the writing life.
I was visiting one of my great aunts when her neighbor
dropped by. As they sat drinking tea, the neighbor mentioned that she’d just
received a royalty check for a book she’d written 15 years ago. Now that
sounded like a career I should check out.
Arrogance told me that it would be easy because I’d been an
avid reader all my life.
How hard could it be to write a book?
So off to the library I went and checked out a book on
writing. I can’t remember the title or author but I do recall one piece of
advice that stood out.
Writing is like waiting for a train. Sometimes
it’s late and some people give up waiting so they leave the station just before
the trains roll in. However, only a handful of people are patient enough to stay.
With that sage advice in hand, I was ready to write my first
novel and watch those royalty checks roll in.
My first story was a children’s book…yes, greed took over
again because I’d heard the children’s market was where you could make big
money.
If you’re a writer you know what I’m going to tell you next.
The rejection letters started piling up.
I did however get one lucky break. Not a contract but my
first $250 earned as an author when the story won first place in the Loft’s
Children’s Literature Award.
Arrogance reared its ugly head again. I was convinced editors
would now see that my story deserved to be published.
Most of them didn’t share that view.
Back to the library I went to get more books on writing.
What do you like to read? Asked
one author.
That was an easy answer because I loved mystery and suspense and
was soon penning one of those.
However, about half way into the story, life intervened.
My dad was diagnosed with cancer and given just six months to
live.
My writing stopped so I could spend as much time with him as
I could.
After he died, I tried and tried to get back to the story but
couldn’t. I even tried switching to another story and realized, the story
wasn’t the problem, it was me.
Maybe it was a sign that I wasn’t supposed to be a writer
after all and just greed and arrogance had taken over.
While I didn’t write another novel, I did however write some
short stories that got published, but novel writing was in my past.
Fast forward ten years and my mom was cleaning out a cupboard
when she found two birthday cards that my dad had sent me. They’d fallen behind
a shelf and she asked if I wanted them.
Yes, I did and guess what he’d written inside?
Happy writing and write a good book.
Dad had been my biggest cheerleader and I knew if I didn’t
get back to writing that novel, I’d be letting him down.
It got finished but I still couldn’t get published. However,
the rejection letters were in fact getting more positive and I could hear the
vibration of that train about to arrive at the station.
I switched genres again and decided to write a time travel
story.
Like the mystery, the rejection letters became handwritten
and very positive, and then one day, the day all authors dream about finally arrived.
We’d like to offer you a contract…
It had taken almost twenty years but I’d done it.
And guess what?
I eventually got contracts for both the children’s story and
mystery too.
Every story has some sort of my moral and this one isn’t about
not being greedy and arrogant. This one’s about not giving up on your dream.
If you know you’re supposed to be an author, no matter what the rejection letters tell you, no matter how long you wait, please stay on that platform because the train’s about to pull into the station.
About Susan
Susan, also known as the accidental writer has worn many hats
in the publishing world. She’s an author, former freelance writer and editor,
tutor, teacher, writing coach and mentor to other writers who wait for the
train to reach the station. And yes, she even worked for a publishing company
as a publicist.
You can find out more about Susan at www.susanpalmquist.com, under
her pen name, www.vanessadevereaux.com and her
own writing blog at www.thiswriterslife.com
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