I’ve got a guest post for you here today on the blog. Today’s guest poster is Deanna Cabinian, author of One Night, One Love, and One Try (aka The Thompson Series). Her writing has appeared in Writer’s Digest, Writer Unboxed, and YA Interrobang. She is a graduate of the Writing in the Margins mentorship program and is represented by Penny Moore of Aevitas Creative Management.
As someone who’s spent more time than I’d like to admit scouring the internet for submission stories, I have to say Mindy’s SHIT stories are the best. If nothing else, it’s comforting to know that the anxiety felt during submission is normal (or common at least). I know what it’s like to check email nonstop and stalk deal announcements on PW and Twitter. But 2019 has been all about perspective for me. Even though writing is a big part of my life, it’s important not to let it become all-consuming. Without further ado here’s my list of Six Situations Worse than Being on Submission:
1. Falling and cracking your head open. This past February, I was walking to the recycling bin when WHOOPS I slid and fell on black ice on our front step. I fell forehead-first into decorative bricks that line our garden. There was blood everywhere, so much it clouded my vision. I looked like a crime scene and had to crawl back to the house and yell for my husband who took me to the ER. I got seven stitches and suffered painful, knife-like headaches for weeks afterwards. I’m now the owner of a Harry Potter like scar, though it has faded a lot.
2. Trying to get a quote for medical services. See a pattern here? Anything to do with medicine or healthcare is far worse than being on sub. Imagine being on hold for two hours and fifteen minutes only to find out sorry you have the wrong department, but can you try this one instead? Let me transfer you. I have wasted many an hour trying to figure out the cost of medications or procedures.
3. Visiting a loved one in the ICU. Whenever a close family member ends up in the hospital it’s always a reminder of what really matters in life. There is nothing more stressful than sitting in a waiting room for days on end hoping for positive news. It’s also very traumatic to see your mother with a breathing tube. Thankfully everything turned out okay, but it could have gone another way entirely.
4. Getting stranded at the Atlanta airport for almost ten hours. There is nothing more maddening than thinking you’re going home after a few days spent working (on a weekend no less) only to have your flight delayed not once, twice, or even three times, but four or five times. I was glad I wasn’t by myself, but only to a certain point. On the plus side I got to eat chicken and waffles at Ludacris’s restaurant and saw every bar in the airport.
5. Trying to change your cell phone plan. When you call your provider to ask if it’s possible they say yes, sure, it just takes a few minutes. In reality the process is much more complicated. Five years and multiple visits to Verizon and T-Mobile later, my husband and I are still on separate phone plans and probably will be for the next five years.
6. Learning how your favorite show ends because some people can’t keep their mouth shut. Okay, this one isn’t that bad in the grand scheme of things but man it can sure ruin your day if you’ve spent weeks binge watching Lost only to have someone tell you how it ends when you’re two episodes away from the series finale. Thanks a lot, Mario.
So, there you have it. My Six Situations Worse than Being on Sub aka your gentle reminder that writing is important to us, but it isn’t all of us. I know the submission trenches are difficult, worse than querying, but we are all trying our best which is what matters.