How 80′s television saved me from rejection

A few weeks ago I sent a copy of my thriller Asylum Lake to a literary agent whom I have the utmost respect for.  I won't mention any names, but chances are you've seen posts from this agent on here and elsewhere. She is a true professional.

I recently received her feedback and as you can imagine from my lack of cartwheels, the news wasn't all good.  Now I'm no stranger to rejections. I've thought about wallpapering my bathroom with the stack of letters from publishers and agents. This one was different, however. This time it was my self-published product that was rejected, not merely a completed manuscript.

As far as rejection letters go, this was by far the nicest and most enlightening. Yes, my novel was adequately creepy for her tastes. And she went mentioned my talents as a writer several times within the three paragraphs of rejection.  Her criticism was more with the structure of Asylum Lake than with the content.

Of course, my first reaction was disappointment. Nobody likes to be rejected – especially not by someone who makes their living by judging the chances of success for novels and authors. But then a funny thing happened, a very nice woman from Fresno, California sent me an email. She had picked up a copy of Asylum Lake off Amazon and loved it. In the span of just twenty minutes I had experienced both ends of the spectrum.

The entire affair reminded me of that ear-worm of a theme song from The Facts of Life. You know, that 80′s sitcom about the all-girls boarding school. Oh how I miss the days of coming home from school and watching Blair, Tootie, Natalie and Joe try to navigate their way through adolescence. Regardless, it's the song that came rushing back.

You take the good, you take the bad,

you take them both and there you have

The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life.

Never before have truer words been sung. The agent was right. Asylum Lake does have some structural issues – and its a good, creepy read. Marie from Fresno is right, too. The mystery of Asylum Lake does suck you in and keeps you guessing until the very last page. As an author, you have to learn to take the good with the bad.

I'm smart enough to know that Asylum Lake isn't perfect. Hell, it's my first novel and I'm a much better writer now than I was then. In many ways I'm learning how to be an author on the fly; I've no agent, editor, or publisher guiding me. I do, however, have more than 3,000 copies sold, an ever-increasing list of people anxiously waiting for me to announce how to pre-order its sequel – Grave Undertakings, and a wonderful support group of authors and friends on twitter with #pubwrite.

So although I've been rejected yet again, this time it's different. This latest letter hasn't left me questioning whether or not I am worthy of having my stuff published – Asylum Lake is already out there on numerous bookshelves.  It has, however, reinforced for me the need to look at everything I've already accomplished with greater pride.

Marie from Fresno thinks I spin quite the yarn and is waiting patiently for the next chapter.  What more could I ask for?