Oh, my. Oh, my.

This is a post that originally appeared on Theresa Rizzo's website. I liked it so much, I asked her if I could reprint it here.

And she said yes. So without wasting another moment, please welcome Theresa to Suspense Novelist.

The publishing industry is really tough to break into. In the USA alone, in 2010 there were ~ 51,156 new fiction books published. As few as 2,500 fiction writers can make a living at writing. The odds of breaking in and being able to make a living at writing fiction aren't good, so why try? What's the point?

I've been writing for almost 13 years now and though I've accumulated over 400 rejections and spent a lot of money, I am still unpublished. But it hasn't been time and money wasted. I've recently had an epiphany that success truly is the journey - not the destination. Cliche as that might seem, it's true for me.

So I made this video to celebrate my writer's journey. It's tempting to dwell on the negatives when trying to get published, however there are so many blessings.

I've finaled in many writing contests and even won a few. I've been privileged to travel to wonderful, interesting places like Maui, Seattle, San Diego, Crested Butte, Nashville, and more to attend writing conferences. I've met and befriended many charming best-selling authors such as Susan Wiggs, Jodi Picoult, Terry Brooks, William Bernhardt, Don Maass, David Morell, Catherine Coulter, Joan Johnston, James Scott Bell . . . and the list goes on...

And then the best blessing being, not just my supportive family but, all my writing pals and agent/editor friends I've made --all because of the journey. THAT'S the true brass ring.

Sure it'll be great to see my book in print one day, however people will love it, some will not, I'll have other headaches, insecurities and worries, but my friends will remain a constant joy and blessing. And I wanted to get that message out before I got published 'cause it's easy to claim that, once you have the perceived "brass ring", but I don't have that yet and I'm still loving the journey.

And it's those blessings that keep me coordinating The Sandy writing contest and co-coordinating the Crested Butte Writers Conference.

I get huge joy from writing. I'm proud of my rejections. They signify effort and time put into my career. While this video shares the tough aspect of the business, it's meant to be an inspiration and celebration. An entertaining way to remind me of all the blessings writing has brought me.

My fondest gratitude to my family and friends - old and new - those I have pictures of and those I don't. Thank you, all.

Theresa

CR: I took a couple of hours off this afternoon to finish L.J. Seller's Dying for Justice. If you haven't read her Detective Jackson series, you really should. Not sure where I'll head next.

It's all better with friends.

Steve Berry Interview

This is one of my favorite interviews. Steve Berry is honest and direct.

Take a few minutes and see if he doesn't have something to say you can use today.







CR: Thrilled to Death by LJ Sellers.

It's all better with friends.

Waiting for My Next "R"

Querying agents sucks. Makes me begin to doubt my critique partners who said I need to "get it out there." I'm waiting for one more rejection (snail mail) before I feel like I can get my legs underneath me and move on.

I have a new, thricely (or more) revised query letter. To be fair, I think this latest round (okay, a round can be three) of agents didn't have the advantage of the Top-Of-My-Game query. My newest incarnation starts out with a kick. Pretty sure no one would be able to resist asking for a partial at least. Because they didn't get the newest and blingiest, I can't entirely blame them for not seeing the possibility.

Ugh. Anyone want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge?

For some reason, I can handle rejection only in so many numbers. It's easier to say "Next!" when you aren't getting blown down the sewer by fifteen people who (some nice and some not), tell you you're not their cup of tea. My magic threshold seems to be something under six. Three, I can do.

My cheerleader/critique partner/freelance editor, Susan Lohrer, thinks the worst that will happen with my new query letter is that an agent will wonder what else I'm working on and I'll be able to tell him/her that I have this awesome new project . . . and my other cp, author Kelly Irvin, is as bad—or is it good? Sometimes the people who have faith in us become a (loving) thorn in our sides.

In the meantime, I'll keep working on my newest. It's both my anchor and my escape.



CR: The Burning Wire by Jeffery Deaver.

It's all better with friends.

POV Shifts and 100 Queries

POV Shifts. We're encouraged to avoid them like the plague. Head-hopping is one of those things (and I totally subscribe to this notion) that gives the general reader a sense of disquiet. They're not sure why, but they really don't like this particular book.

But there are transitions that, artfully implemented, can make the shift flawless.

I think the first instruction I've seen for this notion was from Vicki Hinze, and I couldn't tell you what she said. I just want to give her credit for pushing me to consider an alternative.

Tonight I read a downloaded sample of award-winning author Louise Penny's Bury Your Dead. It's received flattering comments on DorothyL and 4MA (two online groups of mystery lovers), and I decided to check it out.

Ms. Penny's POV shift threw me at first because of my training. When I went back to see what happened, I saw a master at work. I described it to my critique partners as taking her POV character and walking around a corner, where the next one takes over flawlessly. If you can download a sample of her book, I highly recommend it as a study piece.

How long does it take? I just read a guest post on agent Nathan Bransford's blog about two siblings having a contest as to who could get 100 rejections first. This from agents, not publishers. Can I just say . . . ugh?

I've re-begun the query process for a complete my critique partners tell me is worthy. I think I have about six rejections so far, and at some level, I've felt every one of them. The little girl in me who wants to please everyone is having a difficult time making room for the big girl in me who is determined to carve out a path in this jungle. There are poisonous plants all around, teeth-baring tigers, and vines so thick I have to hack my way through. But still. This is where my heart is.



CR: The Queen of Patpong by Timothy Hallinan in hardback.

It's all better with friends.

The Writing Spirit

I have writing friends who, after a certain amount of rejection, pulled their necks into their shells and turned out the lights. I'm hoping and praying to see them emerge again, healed however they needed healing—stronger, better equipped to focus on the things that matter.

Others are playing the waiting game while Powers That Be take their own sweet time to make a decision on whether or not they're willing to give a green light to a new project. Still others are taking what they've learned, re-girding their efforts and plowing ahead, immersing themselves in creating something wonderful.

Writers need to write. When our spirit flags, sometimes we need to be reminded to write.

We need to follow our hearts.








CR: Caught by Harlan Coben.

It's all better with friends.

Writer Wrejection

The Resilient Writer from Catherine Wald is a terrific book for seeing how the guys who've made it, er . . . made it. She interviewed 23 top authors and compiled their stories in one volume for the rest of us to both heed and take heart.

Her interview with Chris Bohjalian (Midwives) garnered this nugget: "At some point, you go from taking pride that you're sending your material out, to fear. At around number two hundred fifty, I began to stop taking pride in this wall of rejections that I had built, and I began to wonder if I was ever going to sell anything."

And this one: "Every novelist's first or second, or even third novel is an apprentice work that should probably never be published. It's the same way that a concert pianist never goes directly to Carnegie Hall; you've got years and years of practice first."

I'm also reading James Scott Bell's new book for those of us who are trying to figure out the pieces of this endeavor, The Art of War for Writers.

Bell's chapter 8 has more highlights than any other chapter I've read so far. It's about the kinds of fear we face as writers.

" . . . Fear of not being good enough; of not getting published; of getting published and not selling; of getting published once and never again; of getting stomped by critics (even those within your own family)."

He closes the chapter out with some concrete things we can do:

"1. Determine that you will act as if you have no fear. Act as if you are a successful writer. Don't do this with arrogance, but with determination.

2. Don't wait for your feelings to change; turn fear into energy for writing. . . .

3. Set writing goals that challenge you. . . . "

Neither of these are books on craft, but they are filled with the kind of details and inspiration we all can use on a daily basis.

OT: I'm sitting at my nearby Border's Cafe, trying to get some work done. There are a few quiet people here, intent either on their own laptops, or reading. But there is a group in the corner who are talking in Spanish. Quietly, but it's still kind of weird. This is when I wish I'd kept up with my Spanish lessons last year rather than making it a resolution for this year.

I'm such a snoop.

CR: Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein. At the moment I'm bogged down in one of the biggest information dumps I've ever seen. Although it's interesting, I'm wondering how much of it is going to actually be meaningful to the story.

It's all better with friends.

Getting in the Game

There's a stretch on busy Parker Road where people wait—and wait—to try to get into traffic from parking lots. Maybe they're waiting for some kind of miracle causing three lanes of drivers to come to a complete halt for them to carefully pull out and move to the farthest lane to make their turn. In the meantime, cars file past them as they sit. And sit.

Every time I happen to be there when this happens, I think, "You've got to get in the game to take your turn."

They might not be able to get to the farthest lane fast enough for their personal agenda to work, but they sure as heck weren't going anywhere sitting on the sidelines.

I've added a tenth goal to my 2010 list. To get ten rejections.

That means I'll be in the game.

CR: Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein.

It's all better with friends.