Another story on the never-give-up front: Susie Salom #IWSG:

Some of us first met Susie Salom as as the Girl Wizard. She's also Suze from the former Subliminal Coffee blog. (You can now find her on Twitter as @Susie_Salom.) Those of you who kept up on her blog were let in on many of the trials and triumphs of her writing journey. In case you haven't heard, here's the latest triumph---and it's a big one:
Scroll down at the link to see Susie's pretty face and  read the details of the big announcement in Publisher's WeeklyCheryl Klein at Scholastic's Arthur A. Levine Books has acquired world rights to Kyle Constantini Finds Her Way, a middle-grade novel by debut author Susie Salom

Hooray!!! This absolutely wouldn't have happened if Suze had let earlier discouragements kill her dream and belief in herself. She's truly a testament to never giving up. I asked if she'd share a bit about her writing story, and this is the wisdom she poured forth:

From Susie Salon:

I wrote a women's fic piece and didn't submit it because I knew it wasn't pub-worthy. It was more a practice manuscript. Then I wrote another women's fic piece, a coming-of-age piece and a third women's fic piece. Over the course of five years, I wrote the three, queried two of them and took two of them to conferences. I had partial requests that turned into fulls that got looped into the revise and resubmit turnstile until my heart felt it wouldn't survive another round. But then came the MG piece. And after that, things happened fast. Why? Because everything was clicking. It was the sweet confluence of variables in which the story got into the hands of an agent who got what I was trying to do and then into the hands of an editor who was looking for something like this for her list. If anything, it was mostly a matter of staying true to the kind of writing I wanted to put out there and just waiting for everything to come together to nail the moving target.

And that's what I would want every writer to keep in mind. There's no such thing as a rejection. That's toxic semantics. Disassociate that word from the valid and personally-meaningful work you are doing because what you're looking for is your moment. It's the opening you're believing is going to present itself and for which you're staying ready. Because the universe doesn't play favorites, it just plays fast and hard and you've gotta keep your wits about you and be ready to leap--and keep on leaping--when your diving board swings into view.

Tingles on the Ferris Buellerish final sentence, right? I'm so happy this latest leap took her sky high. CONGRATULATIONS, Girl Wizard!


This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by the one and clonely Alex J. Cavanaugh.


Comments

Jennifer Lane said…
Congratulations to Susie--that's wonderful news. :-) It does appear that success of a debut novel or even the first few novels is so rare, but chances improve the more we write.
Suzie was in the right place at the right time. Thank you for this inspirational post!!
L. Diane Wolfe said…
Congrats to Susie for not giving up!
Suze got an agent? That is so awesome!! Thanks for letting us know.
Suze said…
Nicki, thanks for posting this. I appreciate you celebrating the victory with me and I hope this does encourage other authors as they find their way to wherever their writing will lead!
M Pax said…
Congrats to Suze! That is awesome news. Break a pen, Suze!
Julie Flanders said…
Wow this is just wonderful!! So happy for Suze!! Yay! Thank you for sharing this, Nicki. I want to go find Suze on Twitter right now and congratulate her. Just fantastic.
Carrie-Anne said…
Congratulations to Susie on her success!
Congrats to Suzie. It's always great to hear when someone's ship comes in.
Nick Wilford said…
Fantastic! Congrats to Suze. She's such a wonderful writer and truly deserved her moment.
Liz Blocker said…
HOORAY for another success story! Major congratulations, Susie. Keep the good news coming! :)
I've watched Susie's story unfold over time and bit into my knuckles when the fatigue started to set in. I knew from the start she'd find success IF she didn't give up. I'm so thrilled for Susie that she's truly on her way now. Her stories are sheer brilliance and will bring a lot of joy to countless readers.
Jay Noel said…
Good for Susie! Nice to hear about good things happening to good people.

You're right. Rejection is a step forward.
dolorah said…
Congrats Susie. Good for you keeping to your dream, and finding your nicht in this writing world.
That is awesome and very inspiring to keep chasing your dreams no matter what you do

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