Terri Dulong | There Is A Season

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.