Cat Johnson Braves Doll Lil’s Word Association Challenge!

I had thought this month’s article was going to be shorter than normal, as it turns out it’s not. It is however on the sad side and full of my raw emotion. Since May I haven’t gotten to write much due to family medical issues, so right now it’s like having writers block yet I’m not blocked. The thoughts and ideas there but when I go to put pen to paper or fingers to keys they seem to fade away. I shouldn’t say my thought and ideas are fading they are still in my mind they just won’t transfer to paper…

I’m calling this writers mourning, why because the medical issue was my father battling cancer and him losing that battle. Hench I’m in mourning. I’m saying I’m in a writers mourning because I’ve been trying to write my article for a good two weeks and it took a good two weeks to come up with something to talk about. I strongly urge you not to try this at home, until you are ready, and yes I could have asked the lovely Dolls to give me a pass this month but I wanted to try and get something to them and to you.
So you may ask what does a writer who is trying to publish a book do when they are in a state of mourning when writing really isn’t working for them.

Well what I did was send out queries and submission packets to agents. During the first week of hearing the news that I my father only had weeks to live, I couldn’t get up to see my father, I had other family obligations so I sent out three queries. From that batch I’ve gotten two rejections. Both were form letters.

When I was able to get to my father’s side I spent a week with him having him ask me questions about Legacy. In that weeks’ time I saw how excited he was about it and wanted something good to happen so I sent off ten more queries. I got one form rejection letter back that day but haven’t heard back from the other agents. I’d hoped to give my dad some good/happy news before he had passed.

Granted, sending queries out for that purpose isn’t the best idea and I don’t suggest doing it either. So when I say that I’m not bothered by the fact that I haven’t heard back from the agents trust me I’m not. I’d love to hear from them but I was sending the queries out for reasons that were good but also not realistic. I knew the agents wouldn’t get back to me before my father past and I didn’t tell him about the rejections. No bad news, we had plenty of that. So while I got my name and Legacy’s out there a little more, I’m not sure it helped. So if you find yourself in a writers mourning state make sure you write for right reasons and send out queries/submissions as well.

There was two pieces of writing that I was able to put to paper during my writers mourning. I wrote two poems titles Battle part 1 and 2 for my dad right after I found out the doctors said we weren’t fighting. I read Battle part 2 at my dad’s gravesite. I’m thankful I had the forethought to write the poems at the beginning of my writers mourning when it only took me a three hour car ride to write two poems. The poems aren’t very long.

So if during your journey you happen to hit a bump in the sky and you get the dreaded “writers mourning” remember you’re not alone. At one time we’ve all been with you. We all send hugs and please write what you can before you get in to deep; otherwise it may take you a few weeks, months to be whole again.

Until next time… keep reading.

~Teresa

Find out more about Teresa at - www.wickedcoolflight.com

Paperback Dolls is made up of women from different parts of the world, with different backgrounds, different tastes and beliefs that were brought together through a love of reading. We like to think of ourselves as a cyber version of "The View" that focuses on books, authors, and reading. We are proof positive that one common love can unite the most opposite of people and form lasting friendships that introduce other ways of life and perspectives to each other.

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