Wednesday, August 03, 2005

A Ben and Jerry Night

Dawn Rachel Carrington


Crying again and no, it has nothing to do with my boyfriend’s forgetfulness. I mean, it’s entirely feasible he would forget my birthday. After all, it only comes around once a year.

No, I’m crying for a different reason. Rejection-that horrid word that’s the bane of every writer’s existence. Yes, I’d been rejected. And yes, I’ve heard the patronizing attempts to reassure me the manuscript had been rejected not me personally. Big deal. I still held the letter in my hand.

"Thank you for your submission. However, we do not feel your project works for us. We wish you the best of luck in placing it elsewhere."

How could my three-hundred page historical romance novel not work for this publisher? With trembling hands, I checked the printout of the company’s guidelines. Historical. Check. Romance. Check. Novel. Check. I had all the components!

Sniffling, I crawled from my bed and shuffled to my computer. The screen blinked at me, the tumbling stars I once thought cute as a screensaver now mocking me.

It was my first rejection. And yes, I was taking it personally. How could I not? Did that publisher not know what I went through to get to this point in my life? I’d finished a novel-the next Gone with the Wind. I was going to be famous. Just not with this company.

I returned to the pint of melting ice cream.

That was almost eleven years and thirty pounds ago. I went through a lot of ice cream and other fattening foods before I finally absorbed the notion that I really wasn’t getting personally rejected. And then it finally came. I got THE CALL.

“We’d like to buy your story.”

Great. Perfect. But couldn’t my fifteen minutes of fame have come when I could still fit into that snazzy little pantsuit I bought half-price at Dillard’s three years ago

Dawn Rachel Carrington is a multi-published author of fantasy and paranormal romance, the editor of Vintage Romance Publishing and a freelance editor. She resides on the East Coast near the ocean which provides the perfect backdrop for working at home.

www.vrpublishing.com
www.dawnrachel.com

http: http://www.queenpower.com/
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