First the good news: A Tale of Two Djinns won 2nd place in the novella category of the 2013 National Excellence in Romance Fiction Awards. WooHoo! I'm happy dancing over the moon in W. Texas :)
Every story I write comes from deep inside and is important to me, but this one is special because I dedicated this to my parents and donate 50% from every sale to UNICEF in my dad's memory. So it does my heart good to see Two Djinns doing well in the Universe.
This is also a personal validation. I have been writing fiction seriously and pursuing publication for about five years now. It's a hard business and my biggest challenge has been: Discouragement.
We are taught to respect experts and often
we auto-buy into their opinions. In the writing business, you’re constantly
facing rejection from editors and agents. In fact, someone told me my first
genie story would never sell. I still sent it out into the world and
fortunately an editor at Harlequin loved the story enough to buy and publish
it.
I had to learn to trust myself. I did this by honing my
craft and evaluating my work for myself, and then pushing past my fears and
putting myself and my work out in the world.
There are no guarantees. I'm married to a West Texas cotton farmer and every year he works hard to plant his crops. Yes, he weeds and waters and cares for them. But at some point he has to let go and hope for the best. He can't control the weather. Some years he makes a bumper crop, other times he's grateful to have enough, and sometimes it's zilch. But he does it again next season. Why? Because he loves being a farmer.
Well, I love being a writer and telling my stories. I continue to learn, evaluate and
create every day, with every story.
You don’t need anyone’s permission to dream your dreams. So,
dream big, figure out what you can do to make them real, and achieve with
confidence. Believe in yourself and give your best to every story. And don’t forget to say thank you to the universe by giving back
and paying it forward.
Thanks for visiting!
