Yes to Hope!

After 200+ queries and ten requests for my full manuscript for consideration, I finally have a literary agent. Her name is Hope, and she gives me hope for the next chapter of my career. Writing isn't for the faint of heart. Anyone who can't take loads of rejection should consider a different job. In some ways, I'd say tenacity is my best character trait, though I'm pretty patient too. Mainly, it's just something in my blood that won't let me give up.

Along the way, it might have made more sense to simply call it quits. My background is in teaching, so it would have been easier to stop putting so much energy into my writing and jump back into that industry. My specific background is in Spanish American Literature and Linguistics (which I do love; don't get me wrong). It's not that I didn't enjoy teaching college students, but I LOVE writing.

It's all been used for the big picture. In my opinion, the pieces of our lives connect together as building blocks preparing us for the next step along the way. That said, I've learned so much from my literary background. Without my previous training, I wouldn't be the writer I am today. Laura Esquivel, Isabel Allende, and Carmen Boullosa gave me a strong foundation for writing fantasy. Magical realism is the equivalent of fantasy in Spanish literature in many ways, with a slightly different shape and voice. I'm currently finishing up the third book in my first series, in which Gabriel Garcia Marquez's over-sized butterflies played a huge role.

If you too have experienced more rejection than you thought possible, just keep hanging on. The voices I listened to, studied, and observed-- like in James Patterson's Master class and throughout Stephen King's ON WRITING kept telling me to press on. So I'm saying the same thing to you. I believe in you even if no one else does. And as a person with great faith (not explicitly a Christian author), I have found hope in two Bible verses along the way.

1) Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

2) Philippians 1: 6, "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Some of you don't believe in God or in the Bible, so these verses may not offer equal encouragement. So, I'll add a few secular quotes to the list that sit next to me at my desk.

3) "Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars, to change the world," Harriet Tubman.

4) "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game," Babe Ruth.

5) "Life is trying things to see if they work," Ray Bradbury.

When you get your next rejection letter, just remember, you're one step closer to the right fit. It's coming for you, so don't give up. Eventually the math works itself out.

DianneBright has written for a variety of magazines and professional blogs, including Scholastic's Parent & Child. She has also written SOUL READER and SOUL JUMPER. Her young adult fantasy duology is on query with her agent, Hope Bolinger.