Friday, February 27, 2009

Happy Place...Happy Place...Happy Place...


Well, I think I'm fine now. After I had that melt-down of sorts the other day. It wasn't a total nuclear thing, just a minor ordeal. It got me to thinking though. We've become so comfortable with the known and expected, that when BIG change comes, we freak. At least I do. It's hard for me to digest that our country is morphing and groaning with alteration, and with it, so is business as usual. It's a little hazy out there...a little murky.

This whole publishing thing is driving me up the wall. Are we going to have to build a "web presence" just to get read? Are cyber-fans a writer's future? Will we be holding Kindles instead of flipping lovely worn pages. I had mentioned in an earlier post that maybe Yankee Candle will have to come out with a new fragrance called "Dusty Pages" or maybe "Leather Binding." Who knows? All I do know is this...I LOVE to write. And I feel that this is what I'm supposed to do with my life (along with a few other things). So, whatever the changes are in this crazy industry, whether it be the raising of the writing standards because agents are taking on fewer previously unpublished authors, or the increased rejections by agents because publishing houses are cutting back and aren't taking the risk on new authors due to the economy, or WHATEVER...I just have to remain quietly discontented. Quiet in my heart and discontented in my writing. I have to keep growing and sharpening my skills, while refusing to lose my peace in all of this craziness.

It's gonna be a long hard road for those of us who have not yet broken into the industry. But, won't the victory be all the sweeter? To be noticed during such a turbulent time as this will speak volumes (no pun inteded). We have to be on our best game. Put our best stiletto forward. Reach deeper, and go farther, than ever before. More discipline, more stretching, and more challenges to self. More writing! More reading!

Rachelle Gardner posed a great question today. Check it out. I've asked myself many times if I'm supposed to be a published author or just a writer for hobby. How do I know which I am? (How do you know which one you are?) By listening to our inner-most self. Being brutally honest and forthright. That's how. Is this our true identity or one we've adopted on our own? Are we self-ordained or destined? These are the questions that rise to the top during times like these. You know? When the going gets really tough. It is now that we discover what we are truly made of, and why we are made that way. And, if we truly believe that we are to be one of the "published ones" then no hell or high water should serve to discourage us during this arduous process. It will only serve to sharpen our iron and strengthen our resolve.

XOXO CJ

Shoe Mood:










My best stiletto is forward!

7 comments:

Angela Ackerman said...

Great post. I'm glad you're feeling better. :-)

Bish Denham said...

Hang in there girlfriend. Your changes of publication are probably much better than mine as you are young. And still, I'm banging on the doors. Lets us bang on them together!

C.J. Raymer said...

Angela - Thanks, I am feeling better. I think I have more resolve than ever! XOXO

Bish - Together now...BANG! BANG! BANG! ;-)

Marcia said...

Great post! So true. Not to introduce more angst, but STAYING published is no cakewalk, either. I've had to reinvent myself with the shifting of the industry, and it's tough. But I never can quite manage to give up.

Nora MacFarlane said...

Chin up, girl! We'll get there!

Kelly Polark said...

We must all just keep on going!

C.J. Raymer said...

Marcia - Yes...everything is upside down, even for previously published authors. I wish you the absolute best!

Nora - Yes, we will!

Kelly - Yes, we must!

XOXO

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