Every year, I look forward to Inktober. It's a challenge for illustrators to take up their pens and create one ink drawing for each day in October. I have participated for the past four years or so, and it's always a pleasant surprise to see how quickly my graphic skills return—since writing absorbs most of my creative juices the rest of the year.
To the left are Dawn and Gallant, characters from my most recent novel, Dawn Denied. Drawing them helps me visualize them better, even if Gallant isn't supposed to be the size of a pony, hah. But I believe in these characters and the story that surrounds them. Family connection, betrayal, finding a deeper meaning to life that transcends genetics—I want to share it all.
For that reason, I'm gathering my agent list and preparing to send out my first round of queries.
Depending on my mood, the query process can either give me jitters or glaze my eyes over. Few endeavors are as frustrating or humbling. I can't help but think, Surely my work is polished enough to catch an agent's eye by now?
And here's where I have to stop myself.
When I comb through literary sites and peruse agent profiles, I'm reminded that agents are just people, too. They're doing the same thing I'm doing—hoping to make a connection. If I'm meant to be published, I will get the right novel into the right agent's hands.
I've said all this before, but rejection still stings. When rejections reach triple digits, I do what any sane author is tempted to do: I question myself.
But in this subjective business, rejection doesn't necessarily equate to a lack of skills or salable material on my part. Here's where I need to hover—and also where I encourage all my fellow authors to do the same.
Publishing is a fickle business; market trends come and go. If 100 agents reject a novel, pitch it to 100 more. If the process becomes too tedious, write a new book and try again. A passion for storytelling and persistence is what counts.
Will Dawn Denied be "the debut novel" for me? I don't know, but I'm going to give it my all. I've let it go from my hands into God's. Should He choose to match it with an agent, I'll give the glory to Him. After all, he gave me this passion. I will persist until He shows me what I'm meant to do with it.
Keep on smilin'!
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