This is what I wrote on my blog then<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nA![\"self-publish\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/fly-photo-2-300x225.jpg?resize=300%2C225\")
\u00a0fly\u00a0landed boldly on my desk.\u00a0It\u00a0sat there for a moment, between me and my computer.<\/p>\n
That was odd enough but even odder still, it landed in an upside down position. It then righted itself and flew back to the window, semi-hidden by my venetian blinds.<\/p>\n
It (she or he) got my attention again when it buzzed. I looked over to see her upside down again, resting on the window glass. And then as before, she flipped over, right side up, and was gone. Quite the trick!<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a trick worth copying<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nThat whole notion of flipping. For me, it was\u00a0my thinking that needed flipping. I had hoped to publish my novel traditionally. It wasn\u2019t an unreasonable expectation. I\u2019d been agented before, both in Eastern and Western Canada, years back for my screenplays.<\/p>\n
Story is story, so I thought it shouldn\u2019t be hard to find an agent again, but it was.<\/p>\n
Reasons why I couldn’t find an agent<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n*The writing (oh, God no, not my writing),<\/p>\n
*the story (same thing),<\/p>\n
*the subject matter (put romance in and it should sell, right?)<\/p>\n
*or my age (I\u2019m a grandmother, enough said).<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want to admit it was any of\u00a0the reasons I\u2019d listed, but I began to wonder as the pile of rejections threatened to bury me at my desk.<\/p>\n
Was I discouraged?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nOf course. But my choices were clear. I could lament about my difficulties, or I could do something different. I could flip my thinking, inspired by the fly. I believe in craft and story. And though I couldn’t trust myself to be objective, I had enough support from fellow writers to know that my story was worthy of publication. It was also a story I wanted to read. \u00a0My choice was: do I keep waiting and \u00a0pitching or do I do something different?<\/p>\n
Flipping is like Reframing<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nThe idea of flipping, inspired by a fly, reminded me of the days when I was a clinical social worker and helped clients reframe their problem. Flipping is like Reframing<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span>\u00a0So, like the fly, I was now prepared to flip, not my body, but my thinking on how to get my novel published. And thought, like the old clich\u00e9, (which I\u2019m quoting, because it\u2019s good),\u00a0let the chips fall where they may.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nAnd the chips have fallen<\/span>![\"Coho](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Coho-Bestseller-300x225.jpg?resize=436%2C327\")
<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u00a0fly\u00a0landed boldly on my desk.\u00a0It\u00a0sat there for a moment, between me and my computer.<\/p>\nThat whole notion of flipping. For me, it was\u00a0my thinking that needed flipping. I had hoped to publish my novel traditionally. It wasn\u2019t an unreasonable expectation. I\u2019d been agented before, both in Eastern and Western Canada, years back for my screenplays.<\/p>\n
Story is story, so I thought it shouldn\u2019t be hard to find an agent again, but it was.<\/p>\n
Reasons why I couldn’t find an agent<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n*The writing (oh, God no, not my writing),<\/p>\n
*the story (same thing),<\/p>\n
*the subject matter (put romance in and it should sell, right?)<\/p>\n
*or my age (I\u2019m a grandmother, enough said).<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want to admit it was any of\u00a0the reasons I\u2019d listed, but I began to wonder as the pile of rejections threatened to bury me at my desk.<\/p>\n
Was I discouraged?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nOf course. But my choices were clear. I could lament about my difficulties, or I could do something different. I could flip my thinking, inspired by the fly. I believe in craft and story. And though I couldn’t trust myself to be objective, I had enough support from fellow writers to know that my story was worthy of publication. It was also a story I wanted to read. \u00a0My choice was: do I keep waiting and \u00a0pitching or do I do something different?<\/p>\n
Flipping is like Reframing<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\nThe idea of flipping, inspired by a fly, reminded me of the days when I was a clinical social worker and helped clients reframe their problem. Flipping is like Reframing<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span>\u00a0So, like the fly, I was now prepared to flip, not my body, but my thinking on how to get my novel published. And thought, like the old clich\u00e9, (which I\u2019m quoting, because it\u2019s good),\u00a0let the chips fall where they may.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nAnd the chips have fallen<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n
Of course. But my choices were clear. I could lament about my difficulties, or I could do something different. I could flip my thinking, inspired by the fly. I believe in craft and story. And though I couldn’t trust myself to be objective, I had enough support from fellow writers to know that my story was worthy of publication. It was also a story I wanted to read. \u00a0My choice was: do I keep waiting and \u00a0pitching or do I do something different?<\/p>\n