Dickens Knew How to Say It or It Has Been One of Those Weeks by Debra H. Goldstein
“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times” is how Charles Dickens began a A Tale of Two Cities. His words definitely describe my past few weeks. Some of the high points included everyone being together to celebrate Jennifer’s wedding, having brunch with Stephen and sixteen of his closest friends in Chicago, watching Joel salivate while sitting in the second row when the Chicago Bulls played the Indiana Pacers, and seeing Abby in her first Halloween costume.
Rejection bums me out so you can imagine what receiving two rejections did to me. Happily, one was accompanied by a suggestion that the story needed a rewrite, but they would be happy to read it again in the future. The writer was right – there is something lacking in the story. I would have worked on it more immediately, but I had some minor things removed near my eyes and the ointment and drops have kept me in a state of blurred vision for the past few days. Being slowed down is not easy for a Type A person – it makes for the worst of times.
I would be lying if I told you the moment I turned into a sludge Type D person I found time to smell the roses. The reality is I lay around feeling bored and sorry for myself until I decided to play mental games. Perhaps listening to a TV show and seeing if I could come up with the line before the character said it (amusing game with a certain poorly written police procedural), making lists of things I wanted/needed to do in the future, inventing plot lines in my head (I think I feel a new series in the back of my brain) were acts of desperation, but I appreciated telephone calls and friends who came bringing dinner and conversation to distract me.
These things made the time pass, albeit perhaps not as quickly as I normally would have liked, but at a pace that gave me time to relish the pendulum swinging back to the good times. In the space of two days my vision is clearer, my short story “Early Frost” received a Mobile Pensters award, the November Bethlehem Writers Roundtable is featuring my story “A Political Cornucopia” and “Suggestions for a Top Ten List” at http://bwgwritersroundtable.com, and I drafted my first blog as a member of The Stiletto Gang.
The Stiletto Gang is an established blog, written by a group of women mystery writers (http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com ). I hope you will check out my Stiletto Gang posts on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month and continue to read my personal and guest blogs on “It’s Not Always a Mystery” every other Monday. The fact that guests already have signed on through mid-2014 for “It’s Not Always a Mystery” is a pendulum high point for me – and for you. I’m looking forward to us continuing to share the best and worst of times. — Debra
Ah, the rejection notice. Makes us doubt our very existence. But a rejection notice with a comment means someone read it, saw good things and cared enough to comment. It is cause for celebration. You are getting close, just keep forging ahead.
As always. What you do you do with gusto. Proud of you.
Sent from my iPhone
Thanks so much….it has been quite a time!
Thanks for the encouragement. Our network of support is what makes everything worthwhile – even when things don’t seem to be working out quite the way one wants. I always believe in the adage that when a door closes, a window opens. We just have to be willing to go through in a slightly different manner and eventually things happen the way they are meant as opposed to exactly how we would plan for them.