Pages & Paws

Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie


Leave a comment

So I Decided to Give Up

So I decided to give up.

I say that every few months or so.  Especially after some crochety curmudgeon of an acquisitions editor can be so dim-witted as to refuse my latest literary gem.

Now, lest you think I’m hyper-sensitive, let me hasten to add that the last rejection letter was… The Last.  (Actually, it’s a little worse than that. Like I said somewhere else, I had a novella accepted for publication, signed a contract and then the publisher decided “we aren’t publishing fiction anymore.” Harumph!)

So  I decided to give up.  Forget the whole writing gig and move to Tibet.

Then I stumbled upon Jeff Goin’s The Writer’s Manifesto: Stop Writing to be Read & Adored.  “Coincidence?”

Naw.

If you’re ready to give up on your writing career, take heart.  Read Jeff’s Manifesto.  It’s quick, easy and uplifting.  I promise.

It’s also a lot cheaper than moving to Tibet.

***

Have you ever felt like giving up as a writer?  What’s kept you going?  Share in the comments section.

 

 


Leave a comment

Warm Weather Whirlwind?

School’s out.  Finally.  Summer sure took her time getting here, eh?  She gimped onto the calendar with the alacrity of a crippled snail.  Even so, as every cell of my being opens to the long-lost sun, drinking in a taste of summer, I’m celebrating.  Sort of.

Why?  Well, have you noticed?  Summer is a con artist, spritzing myths into gullible ears like mist in a hothouse.

Examples? After the ninety-miles-an-hour-with-your-hair-on-fire frenetic pace of the school year, summer cons us into thinking we’re in for a “break.”  “Slow down,” she coos, “kick back.  Rest up.  Wind down.  After all, it’s summer!”

Warm weather whirlwind?

Oh, really?

Continue reading