July brought computer problems, a coup d’etat for my old printer, and more writer rejections. Three of them in one day. Stop!
This, on top of the other rejections I’ve gotten for my writing since January 2016.
I’ve been depressed for days. I even yelled at teenagers for throwing a soccer ball against a neighbor’s shed. I blamed the heat, but there are certain signs that I am getting old. One is realizing my doctor is younger than me. Another is having to check the final age range on a survey (60 – Death). A third is yelling at neighborhood kids.
Goo Roo of Pine Level straightened out my computer problems, but it took time. Three weeks to be exact. I kept showing up at their offices, hoping that my sad looks (“this is my main writing tool!”) and couch-slouching (“I’ll just sit here and read all 577 pages of Look Homeward: The Life of Thomas Wolfe”) would make the process go faster. Working around me, and ignoring my prolonged and meaningful sighs, Josh, Greg and Denise of Goo Roo got the job done.
Now that the new laptop is humming along, I’m back to working on my current project, a new short story called “Shelf Life.” The story is part of a Camp NaNoWriMo challenge to myself to write 50,000 words this month. With five days to go, I’m only at 14,000. That makes me one of the slower participants among the 11 virtual cabin mates I’m with on the NaNoWriMo website. But I’m not giving up.
Now I find out my printer is terminal. This device has served me faithfully for at least a dozen years, which I’m sure galls Hewlett-Packard to no end. So the company hastened its demise by doubling the cost of the ink and making the driver obsolete. Planned obsolescence depresses me. I became used to picking up pages off the floor because the output tray was broken. I didn’t mind, except for one writer in my critique group who didn’t number her manuscript pages (and you know who you are).
It’s okay. I only have two ink cartridges left. As soon as they are gone, I will hook up the new printer we bought on sale today at Office Max in Smithfield. We even purchased ink at back-to-school sale prices.
So I will stop whining and get back to work. Rejections are part of the process. Equipment problems happen. Yes, it was a horrible month. But I’m attending a gathering of writers in Greensboro this weekend as a guest of my friend, poet Barbara Presnell. And I hope August will be better! I’m already looking at new places to submit my creative writing.
cookies 4 nataka 
I just don’t understand why anyone would turn you away. Sitting on the back porch with my granny watching her snap green beans for dinner on a hot July afternoon, walking home from school with my best friend Sandy and stopping for a cherry coke and a Snicker’s bar in a drug store that looked like it could have starred in, “It’s AWonderful Life”, I still long for that place in my memory. Every time I see Cookies for Nataka on an email I am filled with anticipation that, just for a few moments, I’m going to visit someplace wonderful. Looking forward to more.
Thanks so much for the encouragement, Penny. You are a fascinating storyteller – I hope you are moving forward in the process of getting your works out there as well!
Rejections are the thing that make us writers! It is the thing we have in common, it is our antennae to the market, the net we cast over and over until we get a few fish. I sent out 60+ queries for my first book, got three notes of interest back, one sale. I believe that’s typical, from other writers I’ve talked to. I tell people my job is to get rejections! We all feel THAT pain. It isn’t about whether our work has merit, but whether we fall into the best fitting slot on the right day. You are a writer because you write and you put yourself out there. Most people don’t!
Sending loving sisterly writer kudos for you on your doing it, and describing it so well, my writer friend!
Thanks, Laura! I hope to listen to your latest podcast soon! http://www.ourbetterhalf.net/
Every single writer I know has gone through all of this. We’re all in it together. Take heart!