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What’s
on my mind…is what’s on my mind.
From www.karintabke.com
Hello everyone! I'm
absolutely thrilled to be here and want to extend a
flurry of air kisses to Karin, my buddy and soon-to-be
co-author when our antho is released next year, for
the invitation to join you today. I love the energy and attitude of this blog – no surprise
since a major Fun Girl is at the helm – and hope
I can add a little of my own mojo to the party.
Karin asked me to blog about my journey
to publication, not just connecting the dots of what
happened but how I felt and what I thought about at
that time. And
that fits perfectly with what's on my mind today.
I'm thinking about thinking. Can you tell I'm reading The
Secret? Are any of you out there Secret readers? Have
you seen the movie, read the book or soaked up the
concept yet? For
those of us who are craning our necks as we peer
up at the slippery slopes of Mt. Publishing, hoping
to get higher, The Secret – hell, any secret – has
a definite appeal. But,
be warned, this book might also make you want to
ball your hands into fists and howl at the moon.
First of all, let me say that I am
not a Self Help Book kind of girl. I've
read about four in my life – including writer's
craft books. (Stephen King's On Writing and Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird are the only two craft books that I've read beginning to end.) I just don't get turned on by advice
books, except for a few when I was battling infertility
and then, having won that war, when I was basking in
the pregnant glow.
I did not see Rhonda Byrne, the author
of The Secret, when she appeared on Oprah, but only hours after
that show aired, I received three emails from friends
who wanted to bring it to my attention. Once
the book, and concept, hit my radar, I couldn't seem
to escape it. Everything I read or heard seemed to corroborate the way I
live my life and, validation-seeker that I am, I bought
the book.
If you haven't read it, let me summarize. And while this may seem like a gross
oversimplification, it is the truly the essence of
the book: You are what you think.
Or, if you have a slightly more jaded eye, try: You get what
you think.
The author and her many experts put
forth this theory in a variety of ways, offering quotable
quotes, examples, testimonials, tips and shortcuts in
a precious undersize hard cover that is as lush to
the fingertips as it is to the eye. Subtle artwork,
pleasing fonts, soothing design elements and creamy
faux parchment paper all make the mere act of holding
the book a sensual pleasure. (Go
Simon & Schuster!) There
is evidently a companion DVD, but I have not seen it
yet.
The message is simple (ridiculously
so, some say) and it is repeated (too often, others
say) and it is not new (ancient, in fact, says the
author).
The Secret is
all about the laws of attraction, putting forth the
precept that our thoughts (all 60,000 per day, including
those that are spoken to no one, ever, ever) are
physical entities that are – this gets into
quantum physics, so hang with me, right-brainers – transmitted
into the universe and reflected back into our lives
as what we have in life. The
book states (ad nauseum)
that when we stop thinking about what we don't
want and start thinking about what we want, we will attract it.
Do you believe that?
The reviews are mixed, ranging from this
is new age BS that is nothing more than a recommendation
that we think positive to this changed my life. My
own reaction to the book is somewhere along the continuum
of spine-tingling confirmation to a great big eye roll,
and, quite frankly, no small amount of disgust at the
emphasis on financial and material gain over fundamental
contentment with what you already have. And
don't even start me on how repetitive and simplistic
the book is, purporting the basic tenet that all one
has to do is think, as opposed to, say, work, produce,
create, network, sweat, toil, rise before dawn and,
in our case, write.
But I can tell you this: During my road to publication, and every step of the way since,
I have felt the power of this concept and, yes, I'm
stepping out on The Secret limb
to announce that I believe that visualizing and expecting certain
things from the world at large can and will influence and impact the ability
to attain them. Nowhere
in my life has that been truer than on my writing journey. (With the possible exception of those years of infertility
I mentioned above. Different blog.)
Yes, yes, yes,
you have to write a fantastic book in a fresh voice
with an original premise that still meets market
demands, deliver it to the right editor/agent's desk
and then garner all manner of luck, timing, serendipity
and celestial alignment to get a contract. You
know how hard that is, or you wouldn't be here, seeking
support and guidance and the will to go on. To
be perfectly, brutally honest, not everyone who wants
to write that book is capable of it, and no amount
of visualization is going to write it for you. Sorry, Ms. Byrne, but there is doing involved in getting. But if you are capable, and if you have written such
a novel, then sending the right message with it might
help that fantastic, fresh, original, market-ready
book see the light of day. Can't hurt, huh?
Karin asked how I felt on that journey
to selling my first book. I
felt certain. Oh,
yes, I felt stomped upon and flattened by the heel
of each and every frequent rejection. I
felt terrified that I'd embraced the Impossible Dream,
and frustrated when it didn't happen fast enough to
suit impatient me. But
I always felt certain.
Once I'd finished a manuscript, entered
and finaled in contests and began to learn the ins
and outs of this business, an utter belief that I would
be a published romance novelist settled over me like
that first sip of a good martini – numbing my
fears, reducing my doubts, enhancing my confidence. Over
and over people would tell me they just knew I would
sell – they could feel it. What
radiated off me, other than a whiff of White Linen,
I hope, was my own belief in my fate and my direction. And
after I sold, those thoughts didn't stop. In fact, four years, sixteen books, numerous editors, and
a helluva lot of hot heroes later, I'm still certain
of what I'm doing and where I'm going. I'm
not sure how I'm going to get there (this is very similar
to the way I plot a book, by the way), but I'm certain,
barring circumstances beyond my control, I will. And, I assure you, I do think about it
every single day.
I can't tell you how to write your
book in your voice, how to tell your spectacular story. I
can't tell you who to submit it to, what to include
in the query letter and when it will get read. I
can't tell you how to craft a plot, a character, a
GMC or a dark moment. I can, however, remind you to send that
message of certainty to the universe in every word,
deed and thought. I don't recommend a cocky attitude of
entitlement – that won't get you far in this
business. But confidence, and a bone-deep conviction
that you can succeed, will make a difference. And that could be the difference between
a rejection and a contract.
Say what you will about The Secret – and, please do, it won't offend me and will
make for a lively discussion today – Rhonda
Byrne has owned the top slot on the New
York Times bestseller
list since the book came out. Nothing
in it is new, and the author readily admits that
on almost every gorgeous page. But
her style is fresh, the market is ripe and the publishing
gods are clearly on her side. She must have been thinking something
right.
Rocki
www.roxannestclaire.com
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