CHESTNUTS by Rita Stella Galieh

Winter time is chestnut time.  Who can resist these delicious potato tasting nuts once they're baked?

And I wonder why they say an old joke or story is a chestnut?

But they have another side to them. The sweet inside nuts, besides their brown shell, are covered with nasty, large prickles. Pity the growers having to remove these but it must be done.

I couldn't resist this parable similar to the whole area of Writing. I'm sure every one of us who desires to write has to suffer many trials before cracking the actual kernel. Besides the numerous steps of getting your story into shape before you can hope for publication, then begins the tricky hunt for an agent or publisher.

Many of us have felt the discouragement of disinterest, or outright rejections. Worse still the acknowledgement the story is great, but perhaps your platform is minimal or non existent. Or that particular genre is not the trend right now. So what's the next step? Give it up as being too hard?

Most of us are very aware that before finding success, we have to wade through a pond of failures. The inventor's attitude is, 'These are just ways of not doing it' and they persist until they find the way that works. Mind you, we writers have all all the rules set out beforehand and supposedly we know what we shouldn't do. Then ... some author writes a best seller that seems to break all the rules. It helps if they have published before as they have already won the confidence of the publishers.

Now this is the time to step back and work out what's really important to you. And never give up!

To quote my Canadian writer friend, Christine Lindsay:
'When life happens
Admit you can only do so much.
Do what you can and leave the rest to the Lord.
Trust God that your writing career is in His Hands.

Don't let life happen and growl that it is hampering your writing career. But instead rest in the Lord and you just might be amazed at how he takes your efforts during your weary times and blesses you.

EMBRACE your life, the good and the bad.
REST physically and mentally.
TRUST God for the outcome.'

So when you're on the point of tearing out your hair, (as I've been at times) grasp the advice and promise of Proverbs 3:5 and 6.
 
Rita Stella Galieh is enjoying the challenges and rewards of Independent Publishing.

The 2nd edition of her Victoriana Trilogy  has seen her dream realised. As an art student at her convict built college, she wondered about its history. Research revealed the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt had visited there. One of the jailers joked about the local cat, meaning the cruel cat'o nine tails.

The Bloody Code was an all encompassing method of punishment for any offence deemed illegal. Often felons were sent to the gallows or faced transportation to England's brutal prisons in the Southern Hemisphere. After tracing the life of one innocent woman, on whom she based her story, this became the theme of her novel ... Signed Sealed Delivered. Book 2: The Tie that Binds, Book 3: A Parcel of Promises.

See ritastellapress.com     for information on both print and ebooks.