I’m sixty years old, and my debut mystery, Model Suspect, a humorous cozy, hits the shelves November 14, 2023. I’ll be sixty-one when the sequel is published. To paraphrase Erma Bombeck, she who lasts … laughs.
To celebrate my book’s publication, I wrote an article about rejection for a creative magazine. Why? I’m not positive. I felt happy about the blessed event, not depressed. But my suspicion is the topic had to do with perseverance, continuing on through the writing process even though I had doubts. During my journey as a novelist, I’ve been rejected more times than I can count, God knows. (And He really knows! The fellow can count to infinity, after all, which is what all those rejections felt like.)
We are told to persevere. Our Bible stories, parents, teachers, and friends tell us to push through pain, fear, and rejection. Excellent advice, well and good, until one is in the thick of it and rejection’s darkness has descended like a cloak that makes one’s queries invisible to potential agents, and makes one’s manuscript submissions seem to be penned in disappearing ink. There’s a famous meme of a lion with a bloody and scarred face, and its caption says, “Everyone wants to be a lion … until it’s time to be a lion.”
Point taken. I have an author friend who received three rejections on the same day. Not just throughout the day. No, the knife-like missives arrived within three hours of one another! At least she received replies, I thought. That’s better than being ignored. It’s a twisted process when one wants acknowledgment of being rejected. But that’s an aspiring author’s journey, eh?
As C.S. Lewis wrote, “Crying is all right while it lasts, but you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do.”
Decide what to do. Persevere, that is.
I was born a horse-loving child who adored books. Books and horses were it. One couldn’t find enough horses or enough stories to satisfy me. But life’s demands stepped in, and they needed my attention during my younger years. I was blessed. I’m not complaining about the way my life turned out. However, God knew before I did that writing novels were still on my resume. (Talk about invisible ink!) I’d doubted I had the skill to write full-length stories—I’d given it up despite earning a master’s degree and teaching college writing for years. One cold winter morning, exhausted and sick in bed, I called two writer friends and gasped that I was finished with novels, abandoning the journey.
God had other plans. Lo and behold, an agent called the next day to offer representation. If that isn’t God stepping in, handing me a tissue to wipe my tears, and showing I had dreams to fulfill and stories to tell, I don’t know what is.
And so, it came to pass three years later, I have an agent, a debut mystery, a debut romantic comedy, and a debut screenplay “in the can,” so to speak. Children’s horse stories, too. They are humorous, poignant, life-affirming, and joyful. That’s the writer God meant me to be, I believe.
I cried a lot in my journey to become a good writer. Laughed some. Prayed even more. I am here as a soon-to-be-published author to tell you:
Do. Not. Give. Up.
Trust in your skills. Get to the keyboard and be disciplined. Read good writing. Persevere. Learn from rejections. Trust and believe that God will meet your needs in the journey to become a novelist.
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:19
TK Sheffield writes for readers who want to laugh and escape; she is represented by The Seymour Agency. Her debut mystery in The Backyard Model Mysteries, Model Suspect, earned Honorable Mention in the RWA Daphne du Maurier awards for excellence in Mystery/Suspense. Her debut screenplay has been nominated for four film festivals and more. She holds a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison and a master’s degree from Mount Mary University. She and her husband reside in rural Wisconsin, where they enjoy biking, hiking, horseback riding, and pontoon boat rides.
TK Sheffield’s humorous cozy mystery, Model Suspect, The Devil Wears Prada meets a Wisconsin supper club, is on preorder here. For updates about her books and encouragement about writing, follow her instagram @TheBackyardModel