Spectacular failures

Okay, I've recovered enough to blog about it, although it's still stinging a bit. You know how I gave my manuscript to an agent I knew? She hated it. She said she didn't connect with any of my characters and that I should just put the manuscript away in a drawer and write magazine articles and short stories until I develop my voice. I guess she didn't hear my scream of frustration after our talk. I'm kidding. I didn't scream out loud. I gave it to her expecting her to point out parts that worked and parts that didn't, things she liked and things that needed to be revised. Maybe a younger agent would have connected with the characters more, I don't know. Because she's several decades older than I am, I thought she'd offer tips to improve it and hoped she would become an encouraging mentor. I never dreamed she'd condemn my story altogether. I guess that's the problem with dreams, they don't account for reality. But that's the wonder of them too. If you take a dream and work hard enough, it can become reality. So for those of you who read parts of my story but were too nice to tell me it stunk, never fear, I've been told. However, I'm choosing to take this as a life lesson verbalized in Meet the Robinson's - congratulations on the spectacular failure, may it lead to success in the future. In the mean time, I'm enjoying the cheery flowers from my awesome husband, the fun company of my sister who is visiting, and the big bag of M&M's I hid in the cupboard. Ah...the healing power of chocolate!