Authors' Journeys

Anna Louise Lucia

In summer 2006, I was looking back over the history of my first MS and pursing my lips at the missed opportunities and nearly-but-not-quites. I prepared to mentally put the MS under the bed, and that made me sadder than it should have done.

I’d started writing in 2001. In 2003, I’d won an online, “Most Likely to Sell in 2003” award. But by 2006, I was seriously contemplating giving up pursuing publication. I was worn out, frustrated and convinced I was just going to keep on failing.

I’d come very, very close with my first ever manuscript, but after than I just seemed to be going backwards. An editor who was prepared to work with me seemed completely underwhelmed by my second MS, and then moved jobs. I collected rejections, and, worse, failed to follow up good opportunities, convincing myself that my work wasn’t good enough.

I’d always said I’d never give up. But in summer 2006, I was starting to think I could, and should.

Then the unexpected, the unimaginable, the unbelievable happened. I was offered a contract.

Sitting down afterward to write a timeline of that MS for a writing e-group I belong to, I found that suddenly I was seeing things differently. Those missed opportunities began to look like pitfalls avoided. The nearly-but-not-quites became not-now-but-soons.

So please, please remember, however bad it looks, sometimes things can turn right around. And what looked like a series of failures and flops can suddenly seem like an adventurous journey.

One that's only just beginning.

Timeline