On overcoming doubt...

I think one of the hardest ongoing battles we authors fight is the war against doubt.

We come up with ideas, that to us seem unique and exciting. We love our characters. We pour our heart and souls into our books. They are a piece of us. But if what we want is to get published, then we have to take all of that hope and love and blood, sweat, and tears, and package it up in a little email and hit send. All with the prayer that someone is going to read what we wrote and ask to read some more. And maybe, hopefully, love it as much as we do, and ask to represent us.

Then you get to do it all over again when your agent sends your book out to editors.

Now, in a perfect, wonderful world, you would write your book, send it to ten agents, get ten offers, and then sell at auction within a week of going on submission. Right? Ah... the dream.

The reality is that most of us get to go through this horrible little detour on our path to success called REJECTION. Over the seven years it took for me to get my publishing deal, I accumulated hundreds of rejections. HUNDREDS people. That starts to sting after a while, no matter how nicely worded they were.

Enter my old nemesis: DOUBT.

When you keep getting told no, it's hard not to doubt yourself. To not start to wonder if your story is original enough (without being TOO original, because that can be scary to publishing folks, too). It's hard not to look at this piece of your heart and soul and wonder if it isn't good enough. And unfortunately, that can bleed over into real life. At least it did for me. Oftentimes I started to wonder if I wasn't good enough.

But here's the thing: the rejection never really ends. Not even after you do get an agent who loves your book as much as you do. Not even after an editor nabs your book and showers it with love and praise. Not even if you do sell at auction and get a hundred starred reviews, and make the top of every list.  (Which I obviously didn't or haven't, but I'm using my imagination here...) There will still be those who don't like you book, who maybe even attack it--and maybe even you.

And that doubt can wiggle and worm it's way into the happiest of moments, if you let it, because there will ALWAYS be people who don't like your writing, or your characters, or you-name-it. Reading is so subjective, which is simultaneously the most wonderful and terrifying part of being an author. It means, even if one person didn't like it, someone else will. But the opposite is also true.

So how do you handle it? How do you overcome the doubts and fears and rejection and keep going?

You surround yourself with people who love you and support you. You take part in real life, not just the book world. I'm lucky enough to be friends with some authors who are much wiser than I am, who help  teach me how to deal with all of this much better than I otherwise would. In fact, I was having a conversation with Ally Condie recently about all of this--dealing with doubt/rejection/etc, and she said some things that really stuck with me. She told me that when someone says something mean about your books or writing or anything else it hurts your feelings, but when something bad happens to your kids, that's what really kills you. (And this is true of all moms, I'm sure.) She told me, "I love my books, but my books are not my babies. My BABIES are my babies." And that is the honest truth--and something that has really stuck in my mind. My true loves are my husband, my children, and my family and my friends. My books and my characters are a huge part of me, and it hurts when people don't like them. But, as the release of DEFY grows ever closer, and more and more people start reading it, I know that I am going to have to deal with both sides of this equation: the love and the dislike that is bound to come.

And on the days when I struggle with doubt, because those negative reviews are going to come, and I know it, I will go read a couple of the letters and reviews that brought tears to my eyes because they were so wonderful. I will reread the letter my editor wrote me in the front of my arc. I will remember all the rejections that got me to where I am now, and know that not everyone is going to love my book and that's okay.

And then I will go hug my real babies, and remember that in the end, I did the best I could. I wrote the best book I could. I love DEFY, I love Alexa and Rylan and Damian, and in the end, that is what matters. And then I will go play another game of hide-and-go-seek with my kids.

So what's the point of this long post? I guess this: I don't have a magic formula to make it so you never have to suffer from rejection or doubt or fear. It's always there. Even for authors who have multiple published books and all sorts of accolades. There is always the fear of rejection. There are always the doubts, the worries that this time, they're going to figure out that you are a fraud. So all any of us can do is write the best book we know how, never give up, and when the day comes that you do get published, try to focus on the good. And then go outside, go for a walk, play with your kids, talk to a friend, go to a movie or to a football game or whatever it is that you enjoy.


And if I ever get down because of a bad review, will you remind me to do the same thing? Thanks. :-)


Now, for those of you who actually made it to the bottom of this post, congrats!! Here's your reward: Next week marks the 3 month mark until DEFY comes out! So, on October 7, I am going to start my first contest to win a signed ARC of DEFY + chances for signed swag for a few other lucky people!!

Here's the catch: I'm still trying to decide what exactly to do for this contest. Give me a suggestion in the comments, and if I love your idea enough to pick it, you'll win signed DEFY swag! So put on those thinking caps, and give it your best shot! (I reserve the right to not pick anyone's if nothing feels quite right. But I have faith that you will come up with something awesome!) Good luck!

The impact of powerful stories

Recently, Baby Girl (who is really not a baby any longer, but let's not talk about that) has decided she loves Disney princess movies. She's always asking, "Mommy, I watch Little Mermaid?" (You should hear how she enunciates Little Mermaid. It may be the cutest thing ever. Like, so cute that I sometimes make her ask me a couple of times before I respond just so I can keep hearing her say it. But I digress...) or "Mommy, I watch Belle?"

So if you hear me singing Disney songs, now you'll know why.

But the point is that watching these movies again has reminded me of when I used to watch these movies years ago. Particularly Beauty and the Beast. I have always loved Beauty and the Beast stories and movies, particularly BEAUTY by Robin McKinley and the Disney movie. (Except for how weird the beast looks once he's human again. What happened to the guy in the portrait? Anyway...) I used to feel like I could be Belle (minus the being so beautiful that guys were having bands waiting outside for me, preparing for our wedding before they even proposed). But the book-loving, kind of odd, not understood, somewhat lonely part? Yep. I totally related to that. And I'd dream of meeting my prince (even if he seemed like a beast at first, as long as he had that LIBRARY). (Wow, I'm using lots of parentheses in this post. [sorry about that])

Luckily, I eventually met my prince, and he wasn't even hairy at all. And he is going to build me a gorgeous library someday. Woot, woot! ;-)

The point is that watching this movie again has brought back those memories and got me thinking about the impact stories can have on us. They can help us to dream, give us characters to relate to. They can transport us out of our lives and take us anywhere in the world--or to completely different, new worlds. We can experience love, pain, loss, triumph--anything and everything in the pages of a book, or in a good movie.

And that's why I love to not only write, but also to read as many books as I possibly can. I love creating my own stories, in hopes that I will be able to do all of that for someone else--and I love reading fantastic books and letting someone else take me away into their world. I love that feeling of, "I can't stop, I have to finish this book! Except I don't want it to end... what do I do?!?!" (Even though that often leads to exhaustion the next day because I stay up too late finishing the book...)

Good stories wield a powerful and amazing kind of magic, don't you think? The kind of magic that can make an exhausted mom of three give up sleep to find out what happens. That is power, people.

So, tell me, what are some of your favorite stories from when you were growing up or now?

Local ARC tour for DEFY!

Calling all local peeps!!

If you're a book blogger, author, or librarian/teacher (particularly if you have a blog), and live in UT or Southern ID there is going to be a "local ARC tour" for DEFY starting in the next week or two! There are a limited number of spots available, so if you're interested you need to tweet @WindyAphayrath or comment on THIS FACEBOOK post to get on the list. She'll then email you with more details! Hurry, space is limited and it's first come, first serve.

So, uh, anyone out there want to read DEFY before it comes out???

*bites nails*

*is nervous*

Oooh, this might tempt you--there's a special letter about DEFY in the front of the book, that I didn't know would be there until I got my ARCs. And it made me cry. Pretty sure it's ONLY in the ARC, so if you want to see it...well, you know what to do! ;-)


BTW, did you know that as of this Saturday, it will officially be 4 months until DEFY is released??? *flails*

Lots of exciting stuff coming soon, so stay tuned!!

Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest to win RELIC + THE HEALING SPELL! The contest has ended a winner was picked...

And the winner is...


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ARIEL!!! Congrats to you Ariel! I will email you shortly to get your info and send your prizes!

Happy Tuesday everyone!