Thursday, September 30, 2010

On the verge

First, let me say that I have been "on the verge" of publishing for fifteen years now. This is both sad and funny because when I look back at my feelings of on-the-vergeness fifteen years ago, it's clear that I wasn't very close at all. My writing life has been a journey, and like any journey, I had to start somewhere. Of course if I had known then how far away I really was--that I would still be unpublished fifteen years later--well, let's just say I might have gotten off that road. But I didn't. And now, (that I'm on the verge) I'm certainly not quitting. I am too stubborn and/or deluded to do so.

A quick recap of the journey so far:
1. wrote stories since I learned how to write.
2. won a few story contests in school
3. majored in creative writing in college and won a few more contests
4. started an MFA in poetry (of all things)
5. took a looooong break to have children and teach high school English
6. began attending children's writers' workshops
7. first story published in Cicada, magazine for young adults (my big breakthrough!!!! that didn't actually lead to publishing a book!!! yet!)
8. but it did lead to four more stories in Cicada
9. wrote eight books. And revised several of these numerous times
10. received some nice rejections by editors of these books
11. found an agent (yay!)
12. latest rejection (or what my agent calls a "pass"): the editor didn't "absolutely love" my manuscript.

So. I think I'm getting somewhere. I think, in fact, that I am on the verge. And I invite all you struggling writers out there who are on this same exhilarating and exhausting and enlightening journey to join me as I am poised to cross that threshold out of the ordinary world and into the world of book publishing.
Cue inspirational music.