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| Lisa Karon Richardson |
Is your pile of rejections starting to deplete your confidence? Do you need a little pick-me-up? Lisa Karon Richardson is here with encouraging words that will energize and keep you moving on your writing journey! ~ Dawn
Encouragement for Your Writing Journey
This month I am celebrating the “birth” of my eighth published story. ‘Whoopie zip for you’, I hear you say. I don’t blame you. Please let me explain. The Peacock Throne, which just came out is actually the first book I ever wrote. It has been the subject of untold angst over the years. Essentially this story grew up with me. It bears almost no resemblance to the initial story I started way back in high school which featured a heroine disguised as a boy and ninjaesque assassins. There have been countless revisions over the years and I poured the proverbial blood, sweat, and tears into that sucker. In spite of all that effort I didn’t sell it first. I had to move on to another story. Which remains unsold. I then wrote a third and it didn’t immediately sell. When I finally landed a contract it was off a one-page synopsis for a novella that wasn’t even written yet.
I know I’m here to be an encourager. I promise to get to that part soon, but I want to acknowledge that this publishing gig is hard. It would have been easy to give up after The Peacock Throne garnered rejection after rejection, or when book two received the same brutal treatment, or especially after book three when it just seemed like it was never going to happen for me. I could have packed my writing ambitions neatly away in a box under the bed and turned to baking since we all know that carbohydrates offer solace to emotional pain.
But here’s the thing, none of that writing was wasted. Writing those books prepared me to write that first contracted novella. Even though it felt like it, I never lost anything. Those unpublished manuscripts are still there for me to draw upon at the right moment. Are you ready for the encouragement part yet? Just because a story hasn’t been published doesn’t mean it won’t be. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a stack of 62 rejections, all you need is one yes.
Sometimes it’s a matter of timing. Is the market looking for this kind of book? Sometimes it’s a matter of finding a publisher who shares your vision and can reach your readers. Sometimes we need to let a manuscript lie fallow until we can come back to it with fresh eyes when we’ve got the skills to make the appropriate fixes. So keep writing.
Yes, this publishing gig is hard. But if you have a passion for writing that keeps churning away regardless of the temptation to quit, then pursue that passion.
It is my suspicion that many great writers bought into the idea that it would never happen for them. Discouragement swamped their dreams and the world is poorer for it. I’ll leave you with something I learned from Cynthia Ruchti, former president of ACFW, a fantastic writer’s organization. Never, not ever, does God's direction come in the form of discouragement or in attacks on our value as a human being. Research it. I can confirm it’s true. When you hear voices, internal or external, that seek to turn you into rubble, you can rest assured that it is not the voice of God. While God does sometime have to correct His children, He isn’t out to destroy us or our dreams. I cannot express to you how freeing it was when I absorbed those words into my soul. It meant I didn’t have to listen to those voices or give them the slightest bit of credence. I hope that you too can receive this truth and know that just because your moment hasn’t come yet, doesn’t mean it won’t. You’re closer to it now than you’ve ever been.
Miss Lydia Garrett is no stranger to loss, but when her guardian is murdered and the authorities refuse to investigate the odd circumstances, she vows to catch the culprit. The same night, in a much more fashionable part of London, the Earl of Danbury is murdered in his bed and his son, Anthony, wants vengeance. Against all odds, it soon becomes apparent that the murders are connected by a decades old secret and a treasure of incalculable value.
Marcus Harting, is an agent for His Majesty’s secret service. Information has surfaced of a French plot to devastate English influence in India, but he finds the trail obstructed by two determined amateurs who have no idea of the stakes. Reluctantly embracing their assistance he discovers that the scheme goes far beyond his fears. Together with Anthony and the lovely Lydia, he races to find the legendary Peacock Throne and thwart Bonaparte’s latest dreams of conquest.
Influenced by books like The Secret Garden and The Little Princess, Lisa Karon Richardson’s earliest stories were heavy on boarding schools and creepy houses. Though she’s (mostly) grown-up she still loves a healthy dash of adventure in any story she creates, even her real-life story. She’s been a missionary to the Seychelles and Gabon and now that she and her husband are back in America, they are tackling the adventure of pastoring a church plant while trying to raise a family. Lisa’s most recent novel, The Peacock Throne released in November 2015.
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