I’ve always loved the words from Ecclesiastes that begin: To every thing there
is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. I find the words
profound, not only because I strongly believe them, but also because in relation
to my writing career, I’ve seen them in action.
Although many times I have been disappointed, frustrated and impatient . . . all
of the events leading up to my securing a two-book contract with Kensington
Books unfolded exactly in their own time.
Writing has always been my passion, yet I truly never gave a thought to writing
professionally until my early forties. Some people express dismay or ask why I
never thought to submit even a short story somewhere. Looking back now, I feel
certain it all had to do with timing. The timing for me just wasn’t right.
I needed to reach a point in my life where I had experienced enough to have
something to write about. And I want to say, my path isn’t for everybody-many
people are able to write brilliant pieces on topics, issues or events that they
never experienced, and I applaud them. For me, I unknowingly needed to know who
I was before I could focus on my writing career.
In the end, that involved returning to college following a divorce and three
children to obtain a degree as a legal secretary. I needed to be happily
remarried and develop the confidence to return to college again and become a
registered nurse. I needed to travel to Europe, expand my horizons, form my own
opinions and viewpoints, meet a variety of people from all walks of life,
experience loss, pride in my accomplishments, betrayal, trust, and most of all .
. . I needed to learn how to listen to my soul.
And like the words in Ecclesiastes-a time to plant, and a time to pluck up
that which is planted, I instinctively knew when to pluck all that had been
given to me, all that had created the person that I was meant to be: a
published author. And with that realization, I went forward and began actively
pursuing my writing career. Was it easy? Not in the least. And while I truly
admire an overnight success, that was not to be my destiny.
Lots of work remained ahead. I needed to attend writer’s conferences and fully
understand what was required to end up where I wanted to be. I was such an
amateur in the writing industry that I can still recall hearing the word
query letter and not understanding the correct definition. I needed to
learn more about the craft of writing, gain more knowledge of the various genres
and figure out what, exactly, I wrote. And that voice in writing that so many
talk about? I needed to find that voice. I had to learn networking and make
contacts and most of all-I needed to learn patience.
Because during all of this, I was now beginning to send out my work. I remember
hearing at a conference that "it’ll never get published if it only sits in your
computer." But of course, once writers make the leap to get their work
considered, we set ourselves up for criticism, disappointment and the inevitable
rejection letters. However, since writers can’t not write-we don’t give up.
This is another area I just know I wouldn’t have handled very well in my
twenties or thirties-rejection. I would have taken it personally. So it’s
wonderful to have the advantage of maturity and be able to naturally feel upset
and disappointed but to also have a thick enough skin to keep going forward.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance
These words in Ecclesiastes are now particularly meaningful to me. I’ve had my
weeping and my mourning and now my time has come to laugh and dance.
With the recent release of SPINNING FORWARD by
Kensington Books, I know my season has arrived and believe me, I’m
enjoying each and every moment as I dance further ahead.
8 comments posted.
Terri, I absolutely *love* what you had to say here and think you are a very wise lady. I look forward to reading SPINNING FORWARD and hope there are many more books to come from you!
(Kay Martinez 10:29am November 10, 2009)
Good for you. I hope to have my time to accomplish something to fullfill that craving.
(Theresa Buckholtz 12:34pm November 10, 2009)
What an inspiring post! We all have our dreams and desires, but you had the courage to follow your heart. Congratulations!I am anxious to read 'Spinning Forward'.
(Rosemary Krejsa 10:27pm November 10, 2009)
A huge thank you to all of you that left a comment here. And I do hope you'll enjoy reading SPINNING FORWARD.....I'd love to hear from you via email when you finish the story.
All the best,
Terri
(Terri DuLong 11:37am November 27, 2009)