I got my first rejection letter from a publisher yesterday. It is a rite of passage for every aspiring author :) In fact I got a text from my published writer friend to say congrats! Apparently it means I am now a real writer! lol.
As far as rejection letters go, this one's not too bad actually. The publisher said "Unfortunately with the publishing industry in it's current state, I felt your novel would not be commercial enough". I want to remain positive, so I will take that to mean the novel was not completely rubbish, and her rejection is simply down to economics and timing. I've heard of editors giving some really funny reasons for rejecting a novel to the tune of "Do yourself a favour and don't give up the day job"! So FG will pick herself up and carry on. As someone else said, it can only mean I'm one step closer to meeting the right publisher.
The fear of rejection was one of the things I was so worried about when I first decided to start writing, but I think I've had to see it as one of the things that come with the business side of writing, and not take it personally. Even the most successful authors who have won long lists of awards for their writing had to face rejection at some point. Determination and resilience is an essential strength to have in this game, and a thick skin is also very useful!
On to other news:
To say a big thank you to our readers and supporters, we are running a competition and giveaway for the next three weeks on our series blog! Check it out! This is the first one and entries will close on Monday the 14th. There will be two more competitions and prizes until Christmas, so make sure you click over to the blog now and enter. You could be a winner!
Hope you enjoy the rest of the week and have a great weekend ahead.
FG
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Meeting My Mentor
The Christmas season is upon us. I can tell by all the ads on TV and the hundreds of emails I get telling me about one item or the other I need to have "the perfect Christmas". It gets on my nerves to see how much Christmas is commercialised in this part of the world, but I can't do anything about it so I just have to ignore it
Last weekend I was privileged to have lunch with Abidemi Sanusi, one of my mentors. We had been chatting online for a while and I was really excited when she invited me to have lunch at home with her. (She said she figured I was not a stalker, weirdo or time waster, lol!). She's been a great great help to me in the past two years, giving me encouraging comments about my work, taking time to teach me stuff about how the industry works, critiquing my work when I needed it. We had a very good afternoon, bonding over food and wine, talking about everything ranging from books to gender issues. She's great! I had been quite nervous about meeting her but she's very down to earth, no airs or pretenses at all and she put me at ease immediately. It felt like I was meeting up with an old friend. I learnt a lot from her in one afternoon, some stuff that other people have to pay money for :). Thanks Bidemi! I look forward to meeting you again, this time I'll host :)
It's funny how we don't realise how attached we are to our gadgets. My laptop was out of order for five days and I couldn't do anything! I experienced severe withdrawal symptoms because even though I could access the internet on my phone, I still could not do many other things! I couldn't open, write or edit Word documents or pdf files, I couldn't download stuff, I couldn't catch up on some of the programmes I had scheduled. Besides the tiny buttons and screen on the phone got tired after one day. Sigh. Thankfully I have my laptop back and the world is alright now :)
Have a good weekend everyone!
Last weekend I was privileged to have lunch with Abidemi Sanusi, one of my mentors. We had been chatting online for a while and I was really excited when she invited me to have lunch at home with her. (She said she figured I was not a stalker, weirdo or time waster, lol!). She's been a great great help to me in the past two years, giving me encouraging comments about my work, taking time to teach me stuff about how the industry works, critiquing my work when I needed it. We had a very good afternoon, bonding over food and wine, talking about everything ranging from books to gender issues. She's great! I had been quite nervous about meeting her but she's very down to earth, no airs or pretenses at all and she put me at ease immediately. It felt like I was meeting up with an old friend. I learnt a lot from her in one afternoon, some stuff that other people have to pay money for :). Thanks Bidemi! I look forward to meeting you again, this time I'll host :)
It's funny how we don't realise how attached we are to our gadgets. My laptop was out of order for five days and I couldn't do anything! I experienced severe withdrawal symptoms because even though I could access the internet on my phone, I still could not do many other things! I couldn't open, write or edit Word documents or pdf files, I couldn't download stuff, I couldn't catch up on some of the programmes I had scheduled. Besides the tiny buttons and screen on the phone got tired after one day. Sigh. Thankfully I have my laptop back and the world is alright now :)
Have a good weekend everyone!
Monday, February 09, 2009
Random Things About Me
I got tagged to write this note on facebook - 25 things about me - so I'm putting them up here as well. Enjoy!
1) I’m very shy and quiet when I’m in a crowd of unfamiliar people. But with my close friends, I’m playful and talkative.
2) I process information for weeks. For example, I could watch a movie on Monday, and still be analysing every scene a week later. Or I could read a book and be thinking of an alternative ending to the story 2 months later.
3) I'm such a keeper. I hold on to emails, letters, text messages and birthday cards for as long as possible. I still have letters my friends wrote to me when we were in secondary school, birthday cards from three years ago and more.
4) I would rather spend money on experiences like travelling, enjoying good food, going to see plays and shows than buying stuff. I think life is for living, not for accumulating material things that only depreciate. For example, I would rather spend £2000 on a nice holiday than on the latest “IT” bag.
5) I love listening to music. Even when I'm working, I have to have some kind of music playing in the background, or in my head. Can't stand absolute silence.
6) I learn songs quickly. I can hear a song twice and learn all the lyrics off by heart. Sometimes this is good, because people are impressed when I know the latest songs off by heart already. Sometimes it is annoying because I pick up songs that I don't even want to.
7) I try to avoid getting addicted to anything. When I realise I have started liking something too much, I stop doing it immediately.
8) I have a terrible sweet tooth. I love things like ice-cream, chocolates, yoghurt hmmmm.... Never put me and cake alone in the same room.
9) I am a night owl by nature. That explains why I’m awake at 2.43am typing this. That also explains why I hated the 9 – 5 work routine.
10) I recently cut all my hair and decided to start over. I realised perms and weaves don’t work for me.
11) I can be so disorganised, procrastinating with work even when I have deadlines fast approaching.
12) I have a very low boredom threshold. (I’m already getting tired of this meme).
13) I am very loyal to the people I really care about.
14) I have just started learning how to drive. Hey, better late than never!
15) I admire naturally fashionable and stylish people but I’m quite clueless with throwing things together and coming up with a striking outfit. Who can help a sister out?
16) I love reading books and magazines. My dream holiday would be: sun, sand, sea and a heap of good reading material.
17) I'm very indecisive but I can be very stubborn once I’ve made up my mind.
18) I absolutely hate feeling guilty. I would go out of my way to avoid upsetting anyone, and if I have then I’ll apologise at once.
19) The worst thing a person can do is to betray my trust.
20) I’m not really a TV person. I don’t watch many shows because they require commitment to follow. And I don’t like watching the news; most of it is depressing stuff anyway.
21) I’m obsessed with my kitchen and bathroom. I don’t care much if every other room in the house is untidy but I can’t stand a dirty kitchen or bathroom.
22) I like cooking and trying new recipes. Dear hubby gets to eat all my experiments – good or bad ;)
23) I usually spend ages brushing my teeth, often more than thirty minutes. (Totally random, yeah?) Well, actually that’s because I’m daydreaming at the same time.
24) I love photography – just haven’t found the time and commitment to focus on it.
25) I love God and I’m complete in Him.
I thought I should throw in a few extras:
26) I love travelling! I love the planning, the anticipation, and the excitement of discovering a new place, a new culture, trying new food, etc! And I love taking photographs and collecting souvenirs. *Sigh* If I could get a job as a travel writer, that would be just perfect.
27) I love seafood - give me shrimp, prawns, mussells, squid, scallops etc over chicken or beef any day. When I eat out I check for seafood on the menu first.
28) I'm a gadget girl. I love getting a new gadget and getting to grips with it, reading the instruction manual and what not.
29) I really want to learn a foreign language - French, Spanish and Italian top my list.
30) I'm still not sure if I want to have kids..... Oops, did I just type that, the in-laws mustn't read this...
YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED IF YOU READ THIS!!
1) I’m very shy and quiet when I’m in a crowd of unfamiliar people. But with my close friends, I’m playful and talkative.
2) I process information for weeks. For example, I could watch a movie on Monday, and still be analysing every scene a week later. Or I could read a book and be thinking of an alternative ending to the story 2 months later.
3) I'm such a keeper. I hold on to emails, letters, text messages and birthday cards for as long as possible. I still have letters my friends wrote to me when we were in secondary school, birthday cards from three years ago and more.
4) I would rather spend money on experiences like travelling, enjoying good food, going to see plays and shows than buying stuff. I think life is for living, not for accumulating material things that only depreciate. For example, I would rather spend £2000 on a nice holiday than on the latest “IT” bag.
5) I love listening to music. Even when I'm working, I have to have some kind of music playing in the background, or in my head. Can't stand absolute silence.
6) I learn songs quickly. I can hear a song twice and learn all the lyrics off by heart. Sometimes this is good, because people are impressed when I know the latest songs off by heart already. Sometimes it is annoying because I pick up songs that I don't even want to.
7) I try to avoid getting addicted to anything. When I realise I have started liking something too much, I stop doing it immediately.
8) I have a terrible sweet tooth. I love things like ice-cream, chocolates, yoghurt hmmmm.... Never put me and cake alone in the same room.
9) I am a night owl by nature. That explains why I’m awake at 2.43am typing this. That also explains why I hated the 9 – 5 work routine.
10) I recently cut all my hair and decided to start over. I realised perms and weaves don’t work for me.
11) I can be so disorganised, procrastinating with work even when I have deadlines fast approaching.
12) I have a very low boredom threshold. (I’m already getting tired of this meme).
13) I am very loyal to the people I really care about.
14) I have just started learning how to drive. Hey, better late than never!
15) I admire naturally fashionable and stylish people but I’m quite clueless with throwing things together and coming up with a striking outfit. Who can help a sister out?
16) I love reading books and magazines. My dream holiday would be: sun, sand, sea and a heap of good reading material.
17) I'm very indecisive but I can be very stubborn once I’ve made up my mind.
18) I absolutely hate feeling guilty. I would go out of my way to avoid upsetting anyone, and if I have then I’ll apologise at once.
19) The worst thing a person can do is to betray my trust.
20) I’m not really a TV person. I don’t watch many shows because they require commitment to follow. And I don’t like watching the news; most of it is depressing stuff anyway.
21) I’m obsessed with my kitchen and bathroom. I don’t care much if every other room in the house is untidy but I can’t stand a dirty kitchen or bathroom.
22) I like cooking and trying new recipes. Dear hubby gets to eat all my experiments – good or bad ;)
23) I usually spend ages brushing my teeth, often more than thirty minutes. (Totally random, yeah?) Well, actually that’s because I’m daydreaming at the same time.
24) I love photography – just haven’t found the time and commitment to focus on it.
25) I love God and I’m complete in Him.
I thought I should throw in a few extras:
26) I love travelling! I love the planning, the anticipation, and the excitement of discovering a new place, a new culture, trying new food, etc! And I love taking photographs and collecting souvenirs. *Sigh* If I could get a job as a travel writer, that would be just perfect.
27) I love seafood - give me shrimp, prawns, mussells, squid, scallops etc over chicken or beef any day. When I eat out I check for seafood on the menu first.
28) I'm a gadget girl. I love getting a new gadget and getting to grips with it, reading the instruction manual and what not.
29) I really want to learn a foreign language - French, Spanish and Italian top my list.
30) I'm still not sure if I want to have kids..... Oops, did I just type that, the in-laws mustn't read this...
YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED IF YOU READ THIS!!
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